Decals ... why do they sometimes show the horrible outline?

[GhostPlayer]

So I've been GAS'ing quite a lot recently, prepping up for my next buy /mod.

I see tons of new and very old Fenders where you can clearly see the decal outer line, not of the text, but the total application surface outline. Some, the vast majority dont have this "effect". Be it both over the natural finished wood, or painted/matched headstocks. Be it newer or oldies, or refins.

I think this just looks horrible. Makes it look like really cheap knock-offs / modded make believes.

What do I need to know about this?

I may be taking a crack at having my luthier assemble my own JM to specs with my own custom made named decal, but I would absolutely hate to end up with such effect. Or, if I find a goos specimen, just buy it - but those marks really put me off

here are some examples, you can really tell where the decal ends

[HNB]

Vintage Fender decals were applied on the surface and not covered in clear coat. That is why many vintage guitars have decals that have flaked or scratched off. Modern guitars have their decal under clear paint normally and sanded flat to hide the edges of the decal. Even modern guitars can sometimes show the edges if you tilt the headstock right. I have some Japanese Fenders where you can see the decal shape when you look at the headstock at certain angles.

When I do my project I am always nervous about sanding too far and taking the decal off, so I normally just sand it a little and polish to make it more glossy. The edges show, but really that is a cosmetic choice. Since it kind of looks more like the vintage ones, I kind of feel like it is win win.

[FrankRay]

You can see a lot of examples where the decals have stopped the paint underneath from yellowing as much as the rest of the finish; they seem to have a certain amount of UV filtering which shows up increasingly over time. LPB, for instance, is often a lot less green under the decals.
I wouldn't knock it; it's a good sign of genuine aging.

[O Drones]

Yeah, I love decal outlines tbh.

[spacecadet]

That second pic is mostly the light. Even a decal under the clearcoat will look like that when the light's at a certain angle.

That said, I wouldn't worry about this at all. It's kind of like tan lines. Some people may not like it, but it's a natural thing and as others have said, it's a good indicator of real age.

It's an honesty thing. Fender wasn't trying to hide that these were decals. The idea isn't to make it look like paint. It's a decal. It's one step up from a sticker. Everybody knows that, so why try to hide it by putting it under the clear coat?

IMO finding a nice decal on a vintage guitar (as I did on my Mustang) is just that much sweeter because of it.

[Danley]

Aren't Squier "decals" just silkscreened?

[HNB]

Aren't Squier "decals" just silkscreened?

The black ink ones I believe are, the newer ones with gold and such are decals I believe.

[Hyphen Nation]

On an old guitar, I think it's beautiful.

If you are worried about your own build, put it under a clear coat.

[Mechanical Birds]

I got a headstock painted by a boarder and while I initally was bummed that you could see the decal outline, I soon learned that this was a vintage appointment and began to kind of appreciate it a little. Plus you can really only tell by holding it at certin angles anyway

[GhostPlayer]

Hmm... ok yeah, granted... I do get the "genuine old" argument

But on new guitars I just think it's lame and sloppy. I seriously hand no clue people applied decals over the finish. Ageing marks under the finish, sure no problem there, but over it? Really?

Is it that troublesome to sand down the area and reply the finish? No critiquing, seriously asking, as like I mentioned I'm thinking of naming a guitar my own.

[Jaguar018]

like I mentioned I'm thinking of naming a guitar my own.

If you are doing one on your own, just ask/have the decal applied under the clear coat. It's easy to do and it looks good.

Some people like the vintage decal contrast, others do not. Since you are in the latter category-- just make it happen.

Here is a decal under clear.

[GhostPlayer]

Live and learn gals and gents... live and learn. I always assumed its was bad craftsmanship.

[spacecadet]

Aren't Squier "decals" just silkscreened?

I'm not sure, but my Squier JM headstock looked inferior to my Fender ones:





It might be a little hard to see at these sizes, but the Fender decal is sharper, has better color and is more consistent. The Squier headstock has some odd font things going on (some letters are higher or lower than others, the text itself is kind of blurry) and some actual breaks in the spaghetti lines. The lines themselves are also just lighter and less consistent.

I don't have the Squier anymore so I can't look at different angles to see if that's a decal or not.

btw you can easily see there how the Fender decal has no outline in normal light, but if I tilted it to be in light like the photo at top, it'd show the decal outline just as visibly. This decal is on top of the clearcoat (as all the AVRI and AV65's are).

[missionguitars]

If decal edges really bug you, and you don't want to spend an extra day of clearing/sanding/clearing/etc, use some Micro Sol to soften the edges - http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/mer ... _Code=MI-2

[Ben17e]

As mentioned above some Squier logos are silkscreened on the headstock. I actually think this typically looks more professional. I would bet if history was reversed and fender took the time to silkscreen them traditionally and Squier was applying decals, the decals would be "cheap looking" which I kind of think they are by comparison. That said, a cleared decal looks nice.