Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey everyone - I have a japapnese floyd rose strat that I just refinished (couldn't take the fake foto flame....lol) and generally I like it but the neck profile is a bit too chunky for what I'm going for on this guitar (sort of a 80s/90s superstrat).

So rather than sanding down the neck profile, which makes me pretty nervous, I bought another neck on ebay, and some waterslide decals. They went on perfectly and I sprayed many coats of vintage amber tinted lacquer-in-a-can from stewmac.

I can still clearly see the decal however. Not the edges; that's starting to even out, but the color is slightly different or something. In certain light, the color difference disappears entirely and it looks normal, but if I rotate the headstock, the decal is clearly visible at certain light angles.

I printed my own custom decals once for a telecaster and finished in clear lacquer. I don't remember this problem, but it has been several years.

Is this just a matter of more coats? or is there a problem with using the amber tinted lacquer? Or perhaps with the decal or application...any ideas would be appreciated -


Thanks!
Geoff

It's likely to do with the amber and the thickness of the decal.

The thinner the decal the better. Also, it's a good idea to apply the decal over a completely laquered surface sanded smooth to 600 grit. To minimize what you're describing, the undercoatrs should be clear to match the decal, and the overcoats should be the amber coats. If you have amber, laquer with a clear transparent decal over it, and then more amber over it, you the decal will appear a different shade than the rest of the finish. Having all the amber coats over the decal minimizes this.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Ok, good to know - I think I'll sand down, give a clear coat and then start over!

Thanks for the advice; I appreciate it!


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just wanted to circle back and say this was exactly the fix. sanded down to the wood, applied a few clear coats, sanded with 600, applied the decal, then did many coats of clear and a bit of sanding, THEN coats of the tinted laquer to get it to match the rest of the neck. And finally a few coats of clear over the whole thing.

Looks great so far, i'll be sanding and polishing soon.


Thanks!
Geoff