custom design on DK2M jackson?

[alfredpotter]

Hello my name is Alfred. I will soon be buying a Jackson DK2M (white), which I must say I'm very excited about! I'm a BIG fan of Autograph - If anybody can recall, they were an 80's Glam metal band who unfortunately died out quickly.

Nevertheless, the electric guitarist Steve Lynch from Autograph is truely an idol to me so I had the idea of putting his design on the white jackson DK2M I'll soon own

What I'm asking is, how should I put this design on the guitar and end with the finished result looking as if the guitar came with that design on it 'straight out of the box'?

Do I remove the shiny finish? Stencil + spraypaint the design on? Then re-apply some sort of shiny coat again? please help!

Are there professionals that do this very task I'm inquiring about?

Thanks for the help - Jackson guitars rule

(See here - I drew the design onto the ordinary jackson DK2M model)
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h32/alfredpotter/both.jpg

[emperor_black]

welcome to the board!

that looks like a job for red-tape.

I think the right person to contact would be "kelly user". He's the recent expert in applying a clear coat over a guitar. As far as painting it goes, I've no idea.

here is kelly user's thread about a guitar he finished up...

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71166

[MountainDog]

Steve Lynch, great guy, I got this from him in 1989:

[alfredpotter]

Unbelievable!! How the hell did you get that?? That's the coolest thing ever

[MountainDog]

I called on an ad in the Recycler saying "USA Jackson for sale, call Steve". It was the last one he got from Jackson and needed money to finalize his divorce. Went to his place, he opened the door, I saw gold records on the wall, and immediately handed him the money without even seeing the guitar. He asked if I wanted to play it and I said "not in front of you!" He plugged it in and did a little jamming/two hand tapping. I regret that in my excitement I didn't get him to sign the back of the headstock or anything.

I later got a Carvin Ultra V from Steve Plunkett (the other Steve in Autograph), and had him sign a Kahler ad that pictured both Steves in it.

[alfredpotter]

Wow! You got to meet him :O I'm jealous of your story and your guitars. Absoloutely fantastic

[OnlineStageGear]

Ya, that's a cool story. That guy is an amazing guitarist.

[Sunbane]

Hello Alfred, and welcome to the JCF!

Refinishing is tedious and difficult to do well on your own, and the pros often charge a lot for it. It also tends to diminish the resale value of a guitar, especially if it was a "home done" job.

The tape idea that emperor mentioned isn't half bad actually. It can look good if done well, and it comes off easilly if you ever wish to sell the guitar. I used to have EVH style stripes taped to one of my first axes.

If you're still determined to refinish the guitar, check out projectguitar.com for some useful articles.

[MountainDog]

The 'tape' idea as mentioned a couple times above would probably be your best bet. Years ago I put a similar 'autograph squiggle' on a guitar and a zakk bullseye on another.

What I did was go to a large 'arts & crafts' type store. They have large sheets of paper in any color you want with adhesive on one side. With a ruler/pencil (and a compass for the bullseye), I put down the shape I wanted (for example on my Jackson above, you can break up the pattern into 4 distinct sections, the swiggle behind trem, the upsidedown V between trem and pickup, etc). I then carefully cut out each pattern, peeled off the adhesive backer and placed on the guitar. These papers are pretty thin, so it looked very good from just a couple feet away.

[kelly user]

okay here is my personal idea....... there is a product that removes the glossy film left over by the clear, buy it, use it......... you could....
A) red tape the design, then apply a clear coat.
B) (what i would do if i were you) tape off the guitar and only leave the area exposed that you want to be red. shoot red, two coats max, color sand it a bit, take off the tape and apply your clear.

now none of that is going to look factory finish as you wanted, for that you have to call a pro. MM2002 is a member of these parts and he does good work, or you can call GMW. Factory finish is impossible by a DIYer, but you can get it pretty damn colse though, just go slow read a lot, a lot a lot.

BTW that bass took a long ass time to finish, and thats because i rushed some parts.

[stevoc]

Send an email to Marty Bell and ask for a quote. I believe he would be fairly inexpensive for what you're looking to do and would have a quick turn around.

http://www.martybellfinishing.com/

Many here have used him and swear by him for custom guitar paint work.

[alfredpotter]

Marty Bells's work is outstanding, I was just taking a look through his gallery. Unfortunately I live in New Zealand and I get the feeling that he lives abroad.

Can anyone enlighten me on those 'decals' one may often see on street racing cars? They're like stickers but you can't actually feel where the bodywork ends and the sticker begins. Has anyone heard of this?

After your replies (and the wincing at the thought of attacking the brand new guitar with sand paper or chemicals), I've concluded that perhaps a DIY isn't the best option.

I'm still thinking though. Thanks a lot for the help!

[Newc]

Don't believe the hype about resale value of an import Jackson. They will always go down no matter what (except in the case of 1990-91 neckthroughs).

You can leave a DK2 in the case for 50 years and you will not be able to sell it for as much as you paid.

Do whatever you want to it, however you wanna do it, and ignore the hype.

[VitaminG]

You can leave a DK2 in the case for 50 years and you will not be able to sell it for as much as you paid.

Of course you can!! But then, a loaf of bread will probably cost you $80 by then too

[stevoc]

Marty Bells's work is outstanding, I was just taking a look through his gallery. Unfortunately I live in New Zealand and I get the feeling that he lives abroad.

Yep, he's in San Diego, CA USA. Sorry, I didn't notice your location.