Vinyl wrapping a bass

[uncle psychosis]

Not going to lie, I thought that would look terrible but I was completely wrong - great job and it really suits the bass. Nice! 

[Silky999]

Mines only wrapped on one side with a seam of tape around the edge;

Edited March 4, 2021 by Silky999

[Adee]

6 hours ago, Silky999 said:

Mines only wrapped on one side with a seam of tape around the edge;

That looks excellent !!

I had a Kramer wrapped in leopard, the wrap is actually very durable

[funkle]

Very cool wraps guys!

@Adee is that wrap front and back?

[Adee]

45 minutes ago, funkle said:

Very cool wraps guys!

@Adee is that wrap front and back?

Thanks, no just a small overlap and black on the back

[kendall]

10 hours ago, Silky999 said:

Mines only wrapped on one side with a seam of tape around the edge;

That is superb!  I love it!

[Silky999]

The best thing with wraps is they are very durable and protect the body underneath from scratches and knocks. If you get bored of it, just take it off. 

[baa]

On 03/03/2021 at 16:53, funkle said:

Is it possible to do a non-overlapping seam along the side, using e.g. 3M knifeless tape? Or does there always have to be an overlap to prevent peeling at the edges if there is a seam at the side? I've seen some impressive butt joints using vinyl but wasn't sure if the butt joint then had to be covered over. 

It's possible...

But the risk of the vinyl shrinking (it can shrink 0,5 - 1 mm), or you peeling it with your arm, are pretty big.

So its a question of taste and priorities. I do the back first and then the front with about 5 mm overlap, so its invisible

when you look at the bass from the front.

 

[funkle]

49 minutes ago, baa said:

It's possible...

But the risk of the vinyl shrinking (it can shrink 0,5 - 1 mm), or you peeling it with your arm, are pretty big.

So its a question of taste and priorities. I do the back first and then the front with about 5 mm overlap, so its invisible

when you look at the bass from the front.

 

Where did the overlap land on the back? Beyond the line of the belly contour, or even further in than that?

[baa]

3 hours ago, funkle said:

Where did the overlap land on the back? Beyond the line of the belly contour, or even further in than that?

I try to make it as much as possible along the "ridge" of the instrument.
(I'm swedish and can't think of a better way to describe it in english, so i made a drawing 😊)

That's also the easiest place to do it.
 

Edited March 5, 2021 by baa
New info

[funkle]

Ah, you are a star, thanks for that. That’s about where I planned to try the butt joint. However the belly contour on the upper part of the bass is a challenge. I might opt for the overlap after all. 

[baa]

14 hours ago, funkle said:

Ah, you are a star, thanks for that. That’s about where I planned to try the butt joint. However the belly contour on the upper part of the bass is a challenge. I might opt for the overlap after all. 

I use a scalpell and a very light touch when I cut the vinyl, but knifeless is a very good way to cut with absolutey no risk of damaging the bass. 

You could start with a buttjoint, and if the vinyl starts to shrink or unravel, you can put a stripe of vinyl along the joint.

A stripe in a constrasting colour can make a nice touch.

 

[funkle]

7 minutes ago, baa said:

I use a scalpell and a very light touch when I cut the vinyl, but knifeless is a very good way to cut with absolutey no risk of damaging the bass. 

You could start with a buttjoint, and if the vinyl starts to shrink or unravel, you can put a stripe of vinyl along the joint.

A stripe in a constrasting colour can make a nice touch.

 

I had thought about a contrast stripe. What a great idea, though, to start with the butt joint and then cover it if needed.

I'm waiting on 4 testers of colour swatches now to arrive, so I can figure out which one to use. I'm going to wrap an old Fender HM Bass I picked up in a 3M colour - choice of carbon fibre, gloss deep blue metallic, gloss flip psychedelic, or gloss charcoal metallic. Carbon fibre might be too much of a challenge, but I want to see what it looks like anyway. 

  

[baa]

1 hour ago, funkle said:

I had thought about a contrast stripe. What a great idea, though, to start with the butt joint and then cover it if needed.

I'm waiting on 4 testers of colour swatches now to arrive, so I can figure out which one to use. I'm going to wrap an old Fender HM Bass I picked up in a 3M colour - choice of carbon fibre, gloss deep blue metallic, gloss flip psychedelic, or gloss charcoal metallic. Carbon fibre might be too much of a challenge, but I want to see what it looks like anyway. 

  

I really like 3M charcoal and psychedelic flip.

We did a Tesla at work in matte Psychedelic Flip. And it looked great!

 

[dudewheresmybass]

I’ve just bought an old bc rich from eBay in a “well reliced” condition. 
I’m currently trying to restore the body shape with wood filler, but once that is done, I’m thinking about doing a cover similar to the joker one above, but using a poster like an old movie poster. 
can someone help me out on the process pls? Or point me towards someone that would be able to do it for me? 
cheers 

[baa]

51 minutes ago, dudewheresmybass said:

I’ve just bought an old bc rich from eBay in a “well reliced” condition. 
I’m currently trying to restore the body shape with wood filler, but once that is done, I’m thinking about doing a cover similar to the joker one above, but using a poster like an old movie poster. 
can someone help me out on the process pls? Or point me towards someone that would be able to do it for me? 
cheers 

If you do a search for signmakers / car wrapping in your area, they should be able to help you. 

Either if you want to only buy the material or let them do the complete job.

The hard part is usually to get hold of a good enough original.

[daz70]

Finding this thread very informative, as I'm considering buying another Dingwall D-roc Standard later in the year. A black one, which I would like to vinyl wrap deep metallic red, but just the front of the wings, leaving the raised centre matte black.

[dudewheresmybass]

9 minutes ago, baa said:

If you do a search for signmakers / car wrapping in your area, they should be able to help you. 

Either if you want to only buy the material or let them do the complete job.

The hard part is usually to get hold of a good enough original.

Cheers 👍🤘

[BassBunny]

3 hours ago, dudewheresmybass said:

I’ve just bought an old bc rich from eBay in a “well reliced” condition. 
I’m currently trying to restore the body shape with wood filler, but once that is done, I’m thinking about doing a cover similar to the joker one above, but using a poster like an old movie poster. 
can someone help me out on the process pls? Or point me towards someone that would be able to do it for me? 
cheers 

The guy that did the 2 examples I posted above could do it. Either the print on vinyl for you to apply or the full wrap if that's what you want.

[Geek99]

On 05/03/2021 at 15:52, baa said:

I try to make it as much as possible along the "ridge" of the instrument.
(I'm swedish and can't think of a better way to describe it in english, so i made a drawing 😊)

That's also the easiest place to do it.
 

“The edges”

[baa]

12 hours ago, Geek99 said:

“The edges”

Of course! 😀

Thanks 

[Geek99]

5 hours ago, baa said:

Of course! 😀

Thanks 

English is hard and as someone who’s had to work in a foreign language a lot, I know you’re always struggling for a word 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Geek99

[funkle]

Of interest..other people wrapping a bass..

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by funkle

[funkle]

My goodness, the 3M tri-line tape is expensive. You can only get it in a 50 metre roll, and it’s nearly £30. 

The guys in the videos above both do overlaps.

The first one, he does a separate piece all around the edges, then does the back and then the front.

The second uses 3M knifeless tape but again uses it for clean cuts and does an overlap of the front piece over the back. 

I’m almost tempted to do an overlap on the sides of the bass just to avoid paying £30 for the tape! 

[baa]

I tried to find an alternative, because i seemed to remember

someone else having something equal. But i came up empty.

When i'm extra careful, i put tape where i plan to cut, wrap over it and cut against that, 

and then remove the tape.

But it's a bit tricky to remove the tape.

Edited March 8, 2021 by baa
Misspelled