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Permalink Reply by Barsymes Cratchnee on February 2, 2014 at 5:49pm

I've tried this method on bare wood.  I don't know for sure, but I can't imagine it makes a difference what kind of shellac or finishing product you use as I believe its the gel medium that takes up the ink, not the finish.  I will tell you the most difficult part is the paper removal without affecting the image.  I actually found this to be near impossible, but I think the more care and time your take the better success you'll have.

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Permalink Reply by Manny Lopez on February 4, 2014 at 1:59pm

The paper is tricky yes, the secret I believe is to use crap paper that will get soggy and rub away easy. If it's sheeny, it won't get wet and peel away as easy. I've done this on canvas but never tried on a guitar yet. The reason I wanted to use shellac was so I could apply more overtop of the graphic as well as the box including the labels. I guess I left that part out. Apologies.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on February 2, 2014 at 8:00pm

if you are printing on transfer paper the image will need to be fixed so the ink won't run, you can buy artist's fixative spray and the transfer will stick without smudging, but best to use spray lacquer otherwise shellac might react with the fixative, or try it, maybe it won't, all the fun of guitar building! (-;

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on February 4, 2014 at 6:24pm

I saw this technique used with inkjet transparency film...  Nothing to wash away.  If you're using paper, laser printers work good as the toner isn't water soluble...

You can also use a hot-iron process with laser printing, but a household iron isn't hot enough...

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