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Project 0001 – #1

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RossMusic, Project 0001 decal, Fender, headstock, logo, Stratocaster No Comments

As mentioned a while ago, I’m collating the parts to assemble a copy of a Fender Stratocaster; specifically a copy of David Gilmour’s (Pink Floyd) 1954 Strat with the serial number 0001. Huge tracts of information exist on this guitar, so I won’t go into details on the original – suffice to say that it wasn’t actually the first Strat off of the production line, and I happen to think that it looks rather fine…

Anyway, on to the meat of this post.

Although I’ve still yet to obtain all of the parts, I decided that the headstock was looking a little bare… So how did I do it?

After a bit of messing around with Inkscape and GIMP, I came up with the logo I wanted – it looks like the Real Thing(TM) from a distance, but there’s no danger of confusing it close up

I then printed (in reverse) onto some dry-rub transfer paper from Crafty Computer Paper. I had toyed with the idea of using the water-slide decal paper, but couldn’t be certain that I could apply the decal in reverse.

A quick colour in with a metallic gold marker from WHSmith and things were good to go. I left the transfer to dry overnight, then applied the sticky backing (per the instructions). I actually printed two logos; just in case one went wrong. This was a Good Thing(TM) as I inadvertently peeled off the wrong sheet when checking; thereby screwing it up totally.

Again, I left the backing sheet to work its magic overnight, before cutting the two transfers out. Application was done very carefully to avoid any bubbles in the transfer, and the completed logo was gently burnished with some soft tissue paper.

Success! And I’m really pleased with the outcome.

Next step – stripping/refinishing the body… Watch this space!