covering guitar surface

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cat-eggs

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hi,

hey i want to cover the surface of my dreadnought just for looks, and i'm wondering if anybody else has ever tried this? paper and shellac maybe? i dunno

any tips or info would be really cool

thanks,
Donovan Chunkles
 
That's gonna alter the tone of the instrument. Not advisable, unless it's a cheapie guitar that you don't care if it sounds "dull".
 
I agree-make sure this isn't your main guitar if you do that.
On a side note-cat-eggs,I noticed your website was gone. I'm gonna miss the tunes. Please continue to post them here if not there.
 
it's not a great guitar, but would a sheet of paper make a whole lot of difference, tone-wise? by the same rationale, seems that my arm resting on the body would affect the tone too, and my pick guard, and my stomach and my thigh... the type of clothes i'm wearing and lots of occasional elements that modulate the tone formula

either way, doesn't bug me. i just want a cool looking guitar
 
Buy a pre-war OM. Doesn't get any cooler than that!
 
cat-eggs said:
it's not a great guitar, but would a sheet of paper make a whole lot of difference, tone-wise? by the same rationale, seems that my arm resting on the body would affect the tone too, and my pick guard, and my stomach and my thigh... the type of clothes i'm wearing and lots of occasional elements that modulate the tone formula

either way, doesn't bug me. i just want a cool looking guitar
Click to expand...

I don't understand. Are you going to just tape the paper around the edges or something? If you affix it permanently to the top you will totally fuck it up.
 
You know, this thread reminds me of the Kenny Chesney concert. He had a beautiful les paul strapped on. When I told my date that the guitar wasn't even plugged in, she said 'Yea, but doesn't he look cool wearing it'.

So, if you can't play and sound real cool, then wallpaper your guitar and look like a fool. Wow, I should put that line in a song.

I am sorry about blasting you like this, but someone took the time to design and build your axe. You should really respect that.
 
coplinger -- thanks, that's nice of you to say


juststartingout -- are you serious? respect my guitar??? you know nothing about my guitar. maybe it was previously hitler's and an offensive swastika must be concealed. you know nothing about my playing ability either. the only thing you DO know is that kenny chesney doesn't plug in his beautiful les paul. ride that little secret all the way to the bank, my non-friend. here's a good line for your next hit song:

"My posts are not constructive because I'm a cunt."

i'm sure your dates admire mindless presumption among other traits that preserve your bachelorhood, but that crap doesn't fly when the big time operator is doing his thing. (and i'm the big time operator in case you didn't know.)



that said... the design is on thin paper. i think i'm going with spray on poly. still gladly welcome constructive info if anybody has some
 
The concensus is don't do it.

But that's not what you wanna hear...........
 
Builders worry about finish films thickness to the thousanth of the inch, and the same with the wood for the top. The piece of paper I just measured is four thousanths of an inch thick. That is enough to make a huge difference. My advice, as a builder, is not to do it. I say this particularly because if you do something like paper and shellac, like you suggested above, it is imposible to undo it without refinishing the guitar, and you never want to do that.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
light... i appreciate the reasoned response

c7sus... you're right, sucka. i DON'T wanna hear that. because it ain't the issue. i'm gonna to do it regardless of consensus. i posted for tips on HOW to do it, not IF i should do it. in reponse i receive:

"thou shalt not cover thine guitar's surface with a piece of paper!"

just to be clear... i'm definitely going to do this. i've got nothing to lose. i don't care about the sound of this guitar anymore.

incidentally, i don;t know what a pre-war om is

i also want to apologize for calling that one guy a cunt. that was mean and i'm sorry.
 
Pre-war OM's are among the Holy Grail echelon of flattop steel-stringed instruments. How many did they build, Light? Maybe a couple hundred, tops. I doubt it's that high. Somewhere I have a Martin book that may say...............
 
I'm sorry, cat-eggs, but the multiple posters above are right, whether you want to hear it or not. You ask us how to destroy a guitar, and then are upset because you are advised not to do it.
How do I shoot myself in the foot, anyway? Revolver or automatic? Do you hold it with one hand or two? Do whatever you want.-Richie
 
What the hell, cat-eggs, its your guitar. Do what you want with it. Post some pics when you're done. And the new song you record with it.:D
 
I suppose it's your guitar to screw around with.

If I was going to do something like this I would think about Willie Nelson's guitar, the Martin classical with the hole in it. They have put dozens of coats of shellac on the thing to keep it from falling apart, and maintained the sound (not that it sounds anything like it originally did) for use with his pickup (I don't know what electronics he uses) pretty well. So I would try thin coats of shellac, making my design using pigmented shellac (or whatever) in a couple of the coats.
 
Go for it

I purchase cheap solid bodies on e-bay and hit them with an angle grinder all the time. I then do a custom woodburn on top and refinish in polyurathane. Tone difference? Who cares it looks great and my resale $$ reflects that. I think the paper covering idea sounds unique, I would go for it. Just call me the anti-cunt..
 
dick monroe -- i know i'll continue to value your advice in the future, but not when it's so uncharacteristically pointless. this isn't a moral dilemma. nothing valuable's at stake. it's for FUN. i'll appreciate this guitar more if it looks COOL and sounds BAD, than if it looks BAD and sounds BAD. get it now? some of you should either lighten up, or abstain from getting involved here. it's a piece of paper on a guitar. for fun. i guess that makes me an insane masochist in the eyes of purists but i mean... jesus h crotch. the big time operator DOES make house calls, so if any of you punks could use some fixing, my number is 666

li_slim -- that gives me some good perspective, thanks. willie nelson's guitar is inspirational in a creppy kind of way

gvarko -- that sounds really cool. do you have any pictures of stuff you've done?

i started this morning, i'll post a picture when it's done
 
cat-eggs said:
i guess that makes me an insane masochist in the eyes of purists
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No, just an idiot to anyone who is older than 12 on this board!!

Please do post your pics. Here is my refinish job
http://home.comcast.net/~bonrox/guitars/Callie.htm
I am sure, with your big time operation, and billions of dollars from CD sales, you could afford the best crayons to do your drawing.

Ritchie - I wish I could as diplomatic as you were, but it's not in my nature.
 
Check this out

This was my first attempt at the woodburning on a guitar, I called it the Phsyco Lizard..
 

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This was my next venture in the woodburning, I added some color with colored woodstains. I think it came out pretty cool.
I called it the Mad River Hellcat, not sure why, just popped into my head after I finished it. Both were sold on Ebay for more than double what I paid. So you see it is not always destructive, some would call it creative. Please post a pic of the paper covered guitar when it is done.
 

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