andyonbass Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 (edited) Hi I want to put a decal onto a headstock, which is finished in gloss. I'm not sure whether its nitrocellulose or polyurethane gloss, how can I tell? I will need to seal over the decal with a clear gloss finish and I want to get something thats compatible with the existing finish. Any help would be much appreciated Thanks Andy Edited August 25, 2008 by andyonbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 [quote name='andyonbass' post='269295' date='Aug 25 2008, 09:09 AM']Hi I want to put a decal onto a headstock, which is finished in gloss. I'm not sure whether its nitrocellulose or polyurethane gloss, how can I tell? I will need to seal over the decal with a clear gloss finish and I want to get something thats compatible with the existing finish. Any help would be much appreciated Thanks Andy[/quote] Unless you can get the official word from whoever made it, it would be very difficult to tell what the finish is. To be honest, I'd remove all the hardware, sand down the face of the headstock to the bare wood and start from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyonbass Posted August 25, 2008 Author Share Posted August 25, 2008 Thanks for the quick reply, I have some polyeurethane varnish, left over from a recent diy job, I might dab a little somewhere on the reverse of the headstock, where it doesn't notice and see if it reacts to the finish, before I make with the sandpaper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonshelley01 Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 [quote name='neepheid' post='269305' date='Aug 25 2008, 09:27 AM']Unless you can get the official word from whoever made it, it would be very difficult to tell what the finish is. To be honest, I'd remove all the hardware, sand down the face of the headstock to the bare wood and start from scratch.[/quote] Thats the way I've done it in the past as it just looks better in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Acrylic or manmade over cellulose is fine. Acrylic over acrylic is fine. Cellulose over acrylic is bad. So unless you are using cellulose lacquer- go ahead you'll be fine.... make sure its uber clean and flat. maybe wet and dry teh surface to key the new lacquer but theres little need to strip it, infact you'll make yourself a 5hit load of work doiing that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyonbass Posted August 25, 2008 Author Share Posted August 25, 2008 Thats good! I thought there might be a rule of thumb of sorts. I'll give it a go! If it was an expensive instrument, I'd probably strip it, as suggested, but its a pretty cheap project bass. Thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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