Ruining a perfectly useable acoustic...Advice wanted

Legionreturns

This is gonna sound weird no matter how I say it so I'm just gonna spill it. 

I play a number of Live Action Role Play (Hereafter: Larp) games and have bought a cheap acoustic that I'm intending to customise to make it look more fantasy based than a cheap epiphone. Putting things like painted / vinyl vine leaves and leather thonging as well as some words written in Elvish. 

It's a cheap guitar that doesn't sound incredible so I'm not bothered about dulling the sound a little but I wondered if anyone had painted / stickered our otherwise an acoustic before and what I'd be best using? 

Thanks all. Once I've got this planned out I'll document it for anyone interested. 

Here's the donor guitar: 

WezV

I think I would be combining pyrography, gilding and airbrushing to make it look otherworldly... stuff that doesn't detract too much.

maybe make some new tuner buttons, carve a pattern into the bridge and do something fun with the inlay.   I think we need pictures of your outfit for inspiration

WezV

Maybe large DIY water slides too, but hand painting may be better

lose the plate, replace it with something fancier in shape with a pattern

WezV

these are the things that jump to mind:


you could do a lot with just a sharpie

Legionreturns

WezV said:

I think we need pictures of your outfit for inspiration

Well...there are a great many pictures of me in ridiculous costumes, but not many more weird than this one... 

WezV

An aluminium leaf finish would work well there.  Finished with black wax perhaps.  I wouldn't do the whole guitar but maybe as a base for additions 

Legionreturns

Thanks for those ideas @WezV ...I really like that Les Paul! I'm now toying with the idea of making it look like it's been made out of an old dungeon door or treasure chest.

Legionreturns

WezV said:

An aluminium leaf finish would work well there.  Finished with black wax perhaps.  I wouldn't do the whole guitar but maybe as a base for additions 

Where might I find aluminum leaf? I didn't even know that was a thing! 

Adam_MD

WezV said:

these are the things that jump to mind:


you could do a lot with just a sharpie

And talent.  Wow they look great.

WezV

Legionreturns said:

Thanks for those ideas @WezV ...I really like that Les Paul! I'm now toying with the idea of making it look like it's been made out of an old dungeon door or treasure chest.

The easy way would be to do most of the patterns with pens then use metal leaf or sticky back vinyl to do the rest.  Won't look quite like the fully carved version, but you  could get close

WezV

https://www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk/gold-metal-leaf/aluminium-imitation-silver/aluminium-leaf-booklets/aluminium-leaf-loose/

Bridgehouse

Legionreturns said:

WezV said:

I think we need pictures of your outfit for inspiration

Well...there are a great many pictures of me in ridiculous costumes, but not many more weird than this one... 

Why the hell doesn't that photo work???????

ICBM

WezV said:

maybe make some new tuner buttons

I would just take the opportunity to put non-shit tuners on it .

I'm not a great one for changing tuners if the originals work or can be made to do properly, but those ones are pretty close to the bottom of the barrel…

Something with screwed-on buttons which can be changed for wooden ones that you could carve a design into might be nice, if a fair bit of work.

WezV

ICBM said:

WezV said:

maybe make some new tuner buttons

I would just take the opportunity to put non-shit tuners on it .

I'm not a great one for changing tuners if the originals work or can be made to do properly, but those ones are pretty close to the bottom of the barrel…

Something with screwed-on buttons which can be changed for wooden ones that you could carve a design into might be nice, if a fair bit of work.

I was thinking he could find an object to  drill and fit as new buttons.  Or something to stick on some buttons


although the easy options would be some Grover sta-tites with the slightly fancier button.  Nice reliable tuners too

http://www.13thfret.com/articles/images/grovers/image3.jpg

Legionreturns

To be fair, it was a second hand, cheap as chips purchase because it's going to be used outside, near fires and surrounded by regularly drunk people wearing lots of heavy armour. I don't think the tuners are going to be an issue  

Legionreturns

Bridgehouse said:

Legionreturns said:

WezV said:

I think we need pictures of your outfit for inspiration

Well...there are a great many pictures of me in ridiculous costumes, but not many more weird than this one... 

Why the hell doesn't that photo work???????

Someone painted me silver, stuck me in a curtain and I'm STILL smiling more than you do when you're playing bass

bbill335

Legionreturns said:

WezV said:

I think we need pictures of your outfit for inspiration

Well...there are a great many pictures of me in ridiculous costumes, but not many more weird than this one... 

This is the 21st century pal, silver elfface is offensive 

Legionreturns

Right, thanks for the suggestions. I shall now go into my usual planning / thinking / sticking it in a cupboard until I grow a pair and actually try anything phase! 

Would bones work for tuner knobs? 

Any ideas for the head stock. It's got that usual Epi "massive brain" look which I hate... I'd like to attack this in some way 

ICBM

Legionreturns said:

Any ideas for the head stock. It's got that usual Epi "massive brain" look which I hate... I'd like to attack this in some way 

Pixie hat/leaf.

Plenty of material to work with at least!

Rox

You could also consider a slightly different route; Elvis (Elfis?) had a leather acoustic guitar cover:

http://www.scottymoore.net/images/D28.jpg

Bridgehouse

@Legionreturns - I'm smiling now. A lot. I'm also doing that thing where a bit of noise happens at the same time, Er, laughing I think.