Pedal Labeling

aord43

So, I finished my TS808+ clone.  The "+" is because it has some mods including some of the Keeley alterations, plus a centre-off switch for distortion type, and also a switch for the AMZ "Fat bass".
So I need a way to label the various controls and switches.  It's in a plastic box, because that's what I had around.
What do people recommend for cost-effective (ie. cheap!) labels whilst not looking too crap?
For my previous build, a Fuzz-Face clone in a painted metal box, I just laser printed some white on black text and cut-and-stuck them onto the case.
Looking for alternatives though.

Roland

You could make waterslide transfers. Laser or inkjet print onto the relevant paper stock, and spray with a coat of varnish. Apply to the pedal, and seal with a coat of varnish.

bbill335

One of those label guns? 

stickyfiddle

bbill335 said:

One of those label guns? 

Yes! Love them for DIY pedals.

aord43

A bit industrial-looking for my liking!  Also it takes a lot of space for the little switches on my pedal.
I might look for some waterslide transfer paper.

Alvin

    After using a marker pen i thought i should try and do proper labels so i wasted ages looking through magazines to get the right words or be able to make the words up .  Getting the the right size you wasn't as easy as i thought .  After one attempt this way i gave up and bought an electric Dymo machine .  White on clear or black on clear tape works a treat . Mine can do different sizes .  Also a lesson learnt was to go for the largest size tape as you can then do two lines and not use so much . The one annoyance was that when they say they have so many fonts and they don't really, they include size/bold/capitals/underlined/boxed/vertical as fonts which they aren't really .  The standard font is just right for pedals on mine though.  The cheap ones are less than £20.00 well worth it to finish things off nicely .

DannyP

I have used waterslide decal paper to print stuff I've drawn on the computer and I've found the simple stuff works

[IMG]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt192/p1eces/61cd0585-7d12-4f05-8916-46bf27335423.jpg[/IMG]

[URL=http://s611.photobucket.com/user/p1eces/media/Mobile Uploads/Pedals.jpg.html][IMG]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt192/p1eces/Mobile Uploads/Pedals.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s611.photobucket.com/user/p1eces/media/Mobile Uploads/08005f0e-c6f2-45ad-813a-84d5c7c1fdb6.jpg.html][IMG]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt192/p1eces/Mobile Uploads/08005f0e-c6f2-45ad-813a-84d5c7c1fdb6.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

lasermonkey

I've been using waterslide inkjet decals for quite some time now.
  If you want to apply the labels separately, I'd use something like Bare Metal Film's clear inkjet paper (Bare Metal Film is the name of the company, by the way) or the stuff by Mr Decal Paper (with a name like that, what else was he going to do?). Seal with a couple of coats of Microscale's Liquid Decal Film. Make sure you apply it to a smooth, glossy surface and once dry, spray a coat of clear varnish to seal it in. It is vey thin though, and very easy to stretch. Some practice is definitely recommended!

If if you want to print an entire front panel, I'd use Lazertran's inkjet paper. This stuff is quite a bit thicker than normal decal paper, but is far easier to apply as a large decal, as it doesn't want to stretch and curl up like the BMF/Mr Decal stuff. The Lazertran decal paper will not bleed ink whatsoever, and colour density is better than normal decal paper, but there are a few quirks with it. The decal film is a fairly translucent "eggshell" colour until you seal the ink with a polyurethane lacquer, whereupon it goes clear. I use the cheap, rattlecan yacht varnish you can get on eBay, which works very well.

Adam_MD

Self adhesive inkjet paper is the easiest way to get a label on there IMHO.  Then you can finish with clear lacquer or epoxy resin.  

If you'll just be using it in the house and aren't too fussed about longevity then you could just put on a label and leave it.  

aord43

Adam_MD said:

Self adhesive inkjet paper is the easiest way to get a label on there IMHO.  Then you can finish with clear lacquer or epoxy resin.  

If you'll just be using it in the house and aren't too fussed about longevity then you could just put on a label and leave it.  

That's what I did with my first one.  I would like to try something better-looking for the latest one.  Will try some waterslide stuff.

thermionic

The other alternative is some rub-on decal paper, which some ebay sellers seem to have. I plan on trying some of this at some point as I've suffered from bleeding decals no matter how I try and seal them before letting them near water. I think the rub-on Letraset style stuff would work well on simple legends for control knobs etc.

oaf

Acid etching can look good I think (but isn't all that easy to do really well) or laser printed waterslide transfers are easier (if delicate, take care when transferring them and don't overspray when sealing, spray on light coats).

Gagaryn

thermionic said:

The other alternative is some rub-on decal paper, which some ebay sellers seem to have. I plan on trying some of this at some point as I've suffered from bleeding decals no matter how I try and seal them before letting them near water. I think the rub-on Letraset style stuff would work well on simple legends for control knobs etc.

It does work well - I used this on a MkII TB clone I built and it looks good. - will post pics when I am home.

Adam_MD

aord43 said:

Adam_MD said:

Self adhesive inkjet paper is the easiest way to get a label on there IMHO.  Then you can finish with clear lacquer or epoxy resin.  

If you'll just be using it in the house and aren't too fussed about longevity then you could just put on a label and leave it.  

That's what I did with my first one.  I would like to try something better-looking for the latest one.  Will try some waterslide stuff.

I prefer the ease of just peeling off the backing and sticking the decal down rather than faffing around with water and having to spray some clear coats to seal them so the ink doesn't run when I tried waterslides.  I think it's a lot quicker and has more options available you can get clear, white, silver or gold paper.  Once the decal is down I finish them with envirotex again I find this a lot easier and less work than spraying clearcoats of lacquer.  

These were all finished with self adhesive inkjet paper - first two are on white paper and the third was on printable gold foil.

aord43

You make a good argument @Adam_MD ;
I was just thinking of a few little control labels though