Vincent S. had a pale quilted maple top and chose not to stain it. He covered it edge to edge in tattoo-style stickers instead. Here is how he layered, masked and coated it, and what to test before you try it.
Finishing is the step that scares most builders. Stain can blotch. Paint can run. And you only get one top.
Vincent S. had a top most builders would guard with care. It was pale quilted maple. The kit is our Semi-Hollow Offset Electric Guitar Kit. He did not stain the top. He covered it edge to edge with tattoo art. Then one part of the job turned out harder than the rest.
The build hanging in the garage. Blue tape covers the fretboard. Green tape lines the two pickup holes. Courtesy of Vincent S.
What kind of art is this, and why put it on a guitar?
It is old-school tattoo art, the kind you see on the wall of a tattoo shop. Think anchors, ships, roses, skulls and sailors, drawn with bold lines and flat color. The style is loud, and it reads well from across a room.
Vincent used stickers of that art as his finish. He laid them on one by one until they covered the top. In his review he called the build his new favorite hobby.
New Favorite Hobby. VERRY Adictive
Had a great time designing and learning the tricks and ins and outs of guitar building.
The whole top. The art runs from horn to horn and right up to both f-holes. Courtesy of Vincent S.
Why does this kit suit a top like this?
Three things about this kit help. The top is a thin sheet of maple that comes sanded flat, so paper and vinyl sit down well on it. The binding is on the body when it arrives, so the edge is clean before you start. And the body is semi-hollow. It has two f-holes, which are long curved openings in the top. They give the art a shape to wrap around. You can read more about tops like this in our guide on how to finish a veneer top.
There is a cost. A top like this hides the wood grain for good. That is a real choice, and Vincent made it on purpose.
How do you cover a guitar top with art?
The photos show the method. He started at the edges and worked in. Each piece laps over the one beside it, so the gaps between them stay small. Where a piece crossed a hole, he cut the hole back open.
Art cut back along the edge of an f-hole and around a control hole. The cream edge of the f-hole still shows. Courtesy of Vincent S.
Then he masked. He wrapped the fretboard in blue painter's tape, fret by fret. He lined both pickup holes with green tape. Finish that gets on a fretboard or into a pickup hole is hard to get out, so tape first and coat second.
Tape covers every fret before any clear coat goes on. The thin dark lines of the binding still show on both horns. Courtesy of Vincent S.
Why is a clear coat over stickers so hard?
This is the part Vincent warns about.
The finishing of the guitar (painting/staining/ "bursting" is the hardest part and is where the learning curve was.
Here is why it is hard. A sticker has an edge. Lay one on a guitar and you get a tiny step. Put one sticker on top of another and the step gets taller. A clear coat does not fill those steps in one pass. It follows them. So the top looks bumpy at first.
The fix is slow and simple. Put on a few thin coats and let them dry hard. Sand the top flat with a block, and stop before you reach the art. Then coat again. Each round fills the low spots a little more. After a few rounds the top is flat and the art sits under the gloss. Our guide on sanding a guitar body covers the block and the grits.
There is one more risk. Some clear coats react with vinyl or with printed ink. The art can wrinkle, lift or bleed. You cannot know until you try the two together. That is why his last tip matters.
Do your research and test your materials and you'll be fine.
Spray outside or with the door open, and wear a mask rated for paint fumes. His garage door is up in every photo. Our finishing safety tips cover the rest.
A close view. The gloss on the tape shows a clear coat going on over the art. Courtesy of Vincent S.
What makes this build so creative?
It is not the stickers alone. It is how he used them.
Look at the top in layers. The first layer is small cream pieces, packed tight. They work like a background. The second layer is a few large pieces with bright color and white edges. He set them apart from each other: a rose near the neck, a black cat by one f-hole, an anchor on the far horn. Your eye jumps from one to the next.
Then he added a third layer. Bold black figures run across the lower half, right over the art. They cover some pieces and let others show through. That step turns a pile of stickers into one picture. It also takes nerve, since black on top cannot be undone.
Black figures laid over the art on the lower half of the top. Small pieces show through the gaps. Courtesy of Vincent S.
The back is the surprise. He left it as plain mahogany under a clear gloss, with one small sticker near the edge. A busy front and a calm back make each other look better.
The back: bare mahogany under a glossy clear coat, with a single sticker. Courtesy of Vincent S.
What Vincent got right
He glued the neck in before he finished. On a kit with a glued neck, the wood in the joint has to be bare for the glue to hold. Finish first and you have to scrape it back off.
He masked before he coated. Tape on the fretboard and in the pickup holes takes a short while. Cleaning finish out of them takes far longer.
He kept the edge clean. The dark lines of the binding still show around the top. They frame the art the way a border frames a poster.
He hung the guitar to work on it. A hook through a tuner hole lets him reach the top, back and sides without laying wet finish on a bench.
He tested first. By his own account, the finish was where the learning was. Testing on scrap is how you learn it without paying for it on the guitar.
Did he make mistakes?
Yes, and he says so. He also took on more than one project at once.
Made a few mistakes and I had 2 builds going at the same time.
We like that he put this in a five star review. Every builder makes mistakes on a finish. The ones who end up happy are the ones who keep going. If you want a simple first finish to learn on, start with Guitar Finishing 101.
How does it look so far?
These photos are from early October, with the tape still on. So this is a build in progress, and we will not guess at the last steps. But the hard design work is done, and it shows. The art is even from edge to edge. The holes are open. The binding is clean.
The top from the side. No two pieces of art are the same, yet the cream color ties them into one surface. Courtesy of Vincent S.
Highly recommended!
Vincent, this is one of the boldest tops we have seen on this kit. Thank you for showing it. We would love to see it with strings on.
What you can take from this build
Pick one style of art and stick to it. One style reads as a plan. Five styles read as a mess.
Lay small pieces first and big pieces last. The big ones become the spots your eye lands on.
Lap each piece over the next so little bare wood shows.
Cut every hole back open before you coat. It is much harder once the finish is on.
Test your clear coat on a spare sticker stuck to scrap wood. Wait a day. Look for wrinkles, lifting or ink that bleeds.
Build the clear in thin coats. Sand flat between rounds, and stop before you touch the art.
Now a question for you. If you had a quilted maple top on your bench, would you cover it or show it? What art would you put on yours?
What do builders ask before they put stickers on a guitar?
Can you put stickers on a guitar body and clear coat over them?
Yes. Seal the bare wood first, let it dry, then lay the stickers down and press out any air. Coat over them with thin layers of clear. Test the clear on a spare sticker first, since some finishes make vinyl wrinkle or ink bleed.
What clear coat is safe to use over stickers?
There is no single answer, since stickers are made of many things. Water-based clear coats are often gentle on paper and vinyl. Strong solvent finishes are more likely to wrinkle vinyl or lift ink. Stick a spare piece to scrap wood, coat it and wait a day before you trust it.
How do you hide the edges of stickers under a clear coat?
You fill them with finish. Put on a few thin coats, let them dry hard, then sand flat with a block and stop before you reach the art. Coat again and repeat. Each round fills the low spots until the top is flat.
Do stickers change the sound of a semi-hollow guitar?
Not in a way most players will hear. Stickers and clear coat add very little weight to the top. On an electric guitar the pickups and the strings do most of the work. Keep the f-holes open and the guitar will sound like itself.
How do you keep finish off the fretboard?
Cover it with painter's tape before you coat anything. Press the tape down along each fret so no finish creeps under it. Pull the tape off with care once the finish is dry to the touch.
Should you glue the neck in before you finish a guitar kit?
On a kit with a glued neck, yes. Wood glue needs bare wood on both sides of the joint. Line the neck up, glue it and let it set. Then finish the body and neck as one piece.
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