Official Luthiers Forum!

My box is about to go together (this or next weekend) and i'd like to try and come up with something for a label. Wanted to get some ideas from every one and see what they do for designs or logos, I was thinking of just going with some simple pinstripe style boarders, my name, where it was built, the number and date.

Also for those that dont have a printer do theirs, what type of paper do you use? as well as glue (I'll be putting shell lac on the inside of the box before it's closed so i was thinking just a 3m spray adhesive.) how do they hold up over time, ect...?

Thanks!

If you do a search (labels .........under title) you'll find good discussions of your questions, including examples in this one.
viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=16488&hilit=labels

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Dave
Milton, ON

Ah, thanks Dave, I tried the search and didnt seem to come up with any that really helped, guess i didnt look back as far as i should of!

Thanks that helps a bunch, looks like ill need to water proof as i'll probably have to print mine on an ink jet, very good to know.

I created a label by using MS Word, and sized it so that it would fit on the back of one of my business cards. Printed it on a blank piece of paper to establish placement. Then taped the upside-down business card right on top of it.

Cut out the oval shape with scissors. I heard somewhere that Galloup uses a glue stick to affix his labels, and he says it holds up well, so I did that too.

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

I use Parchment paper.
Looks like old money !
Available from Staples or other office suppliers.
We have Windows 7 and there is a piant file.
We just go in there and create whatever label we need(some need names&such)

I use doubled sided tape to hold mine on.
There is a spray for labels with water base inks.
So the ink will not run;if wetted.
It's available also at office supply places.


Mike

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Mike Collins

If you want the lettering to last, they should be laser printed. Inkjet printing fades fairly quickly, according to the guy who does my printing.
I have used yellow glue or white glue, watered down to make a very thin film & both worked fine. I use fish glue now & it works very well.
To avoid big gaps next to your back strip, it's best to use lightweight paper. I've found that business card stock is way to stiff to conform the the graft.
I think that a minimum of text is best... Just a personal opinion...
Name - (Company name, if you have one.) A line for serial #, completion date & signature, the city & state / province & country is all that's printed on my label. I have my logo very pale, in the background... Simple & uncluttered. I find many labels look too big. Mine are a little smaller than a business card.
I'll see if I can upload the image, if you're interested.

I use caligraphy paper and write on it with caligraphy pen. the paper comes in few different colors and has a nice pattern to it almost like water marks, My wife does scrap booking and i use one of her edge treatment tools. i glue it on with lmi's white glue.

Brent

Mines pretty standard - I print it on parchment paper, cut it out and put it on with Titebond. I also paint over the top of the label with Titebond thinned with water. I've used this method to put paper on wood successfully for over 10 years.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

These days I engrave my guitar labels on 1/16" thick alder, then cut them out (oval shape), all using my laser engraver. I glue them into a matching recess in the back of the guitar opposite the soundhole. Looks great and should last forever.

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Good advice.
Not all laser printers are 'created equal', though. My long-departed HP LaserJet used to really 'melt' the toner on to the pages (they came out hot) and I could print on just about anything. My current printer (Brother) will not print very well on non-standard papers- I tried printing on some vellum and the printing would rub off quite easily.

I use regular paper glued in with fish glue, and overcoated with ModPodge (sp??).
BRW, I've taken to putting in the label 'offset' so that you can read it easily if you look , but it isn't staring out of the soundhole at you!

Cheers
John

In lutes and other historical instruments I write them with Rotringpens on paper from my moleskine diaries.

I used MS Publisher. Printed it with a laser printer on regular white copy paper. I then cut out the oval and put it in a bowl with strongly brewed tea for ten or twenty minutes to "age" it a bit. Let it dry then, some thinned down white glue. One thing...shellac, or rather the alcohol in solution, will wash any ball point pen ink. So if you're going to number it that way, or sign it, the shellac will smear it.

Good luck.

Darrin

Seems theres more than one way to skin a cat

Darrin, i have seen the tea leaves method before and i very much like the effect!

For reference, right now the design is just some simple pinstriping for the boarders, my name, (who it will be presented too should that be the case) #, date and location built. I do try and follow the rule of KISS where possible




This was what i was thinking about doing from the onset. How well would the 3m spray stick to shellac? the back will at lease have it on the center strip/braces in Bogdanovich style or i may mask off the where my linings go and for assembly and coat the whole back, ill cross that bridge when i get to it...

Todd;
Do you coat both surfaces, or just the back of the label?
Sounds easier than brushing on a water based glue.
Thanks. Dan

Interesting, Todd. We are in the same camp! I dust my labels with Krylon on one side and 3M 77 on the other! I thought I was the only guy doing this. I guess with this business, nothing really is original.

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

There was a great thread on this topic 4 or 5 years ago in the "Luthier's Corner" over at Acoustic Guitar magazine. As I recall paper made from Italian spruce chips eaten and regurgitated by Carpathian nuns in a remote alpine cloister was the consensus. I can't remember what they agreed on for ink.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.