Laser Engraving on Guitars

[Pete Bejmuk]

A customer wants me to engrave the body of his guitar, but he is concerned that the engraving may effect the sound quality of the guitar. Does anyone know?

[Dan Hintz]

Well, there will be an effect on sound... whether or not your client can hear it is up for grabs.

[Jim Burr]

You may want to see if it's a custom or "off the rack" guitar. If it's a custom, the sound board will have been shaved in different places based on desired tonal qualities. Mine is as thin as 2mm in places. Off the racks are normally a uniform thickness. If they want it engraved on another spot...the point is moot.

[Josh Jackson]

I spoke with the owner of a local music store and he advised I look at engraving the clear coat on the top of the guitar so I don't mess with the wood tension. If you guys have advice and places for me to learn more about this, because I've gotten two requests.

[Joe Pelonio]

I have engraved (and cut) wood parts for a guitar maker, including inlay, but the difference is he adjusts the sound quality after. If you engrave only into the finish it will be barely visible. I wouldn't touch it, too much risk for liability if something goes wrong. If he's willing to sign a waiver and perhaps supply an old one to practice on to get the settings right, maybe.

[James Rambo]

This is a guitar I engraved with supplied image. He said there was no sound change after.

[Joe Pelonio]

This is a guitar I engraved with supplied image. He said there was no sound change after.

I wouldn't expect any change on a solid-body electric, but would be more concerned with a hollow.

[John Coloccia]

Is it an acoustic? Where does he want it engraved? Are we talking about just a little burning or going deeply? A guitar top is nominally just about .100" thick (depends on a lot of things, but that's not far off). If you remove .010", you've removed 10%. That's why we worry about finish so much on acoustics...it can get significant.

On a solid body? Unless you go crazy, you probably won't change a darn thing. Give more details what you're trying to do.

[Kevin L. Waldron]

If it's an acoustic I'd advice against lasering the top.

What you will find is that the spruce will have radi and the softer wood in between the radi will burn at different depth than the radi ( deeper because the radi are denser ). When we first started making guitars we were cutting/inlaying our rosette's with laser..... we did figure out how to do it but it was very difficult to be consistant between various materials. We since have changed the process and no longer use the laser......

You'd have better success on the back or side and probably be less of a problem with sound change.


Blessings,

Kevin Waldron

Waldron Instruments, Inc.

[John Coloccia]

If it's an acoustic I'd advice against lasering the top.

What you will find is that the spruce will have radi and the software wood in between will burn at different depth than the radi. When we first started making guitars we were cutting/inlaying our rosette's with laser..... we did figure out how to do it but it was very difficult to be consistant between various materials. We since have changed the process and no longer use the laser......

You'd have better success on the back or side and probably be less of a problem with sound change.


Blessings,

Kevin Waldron

Waldron Instruments, Inc.

I just brought a CNC into the shop. It's amazing just how difficult it is to get the CNC to spit out guitar parts that are usable. Yeah, everyone knows that wood moves when you cut it, but when you build by hand you naturally have a sequence of steps that continually flattens things out as you go along. Duplicating that on CNC is really an art form. As you also mentioned, acoustics "flat" tops are not flat....they are radiused, and if the guitar is more than a few years old you can even throw that out the door. It will be a funny shape as it settles in and deforms under string tension. That's something I didn't even consider.

Engraving on an acoustic top via CNC (or other engraver) can be a seriously complex problem.

[Mike Null]

I would engrave on the neck or the pick guard.

[Joe Hillmann]

I engraved on my own acoustic guitar. I engraved a large picture on the back and just barely burned through the finish. It was intended to be displayed in my store but in actual use the engraving got very dirty. I didn't refinish it because I thought that may cause the picture to disappear.

I am just throwing this out there for another thing for you to think about. Once you do the engraving are you or the customer going to refinish the guitar somehow or leave the engraving exposed to get dirty.

[Josh Jackson]

Wow. Great insights! I appreciate it. I will find some full bodies to do test work on, but based on what I am seeing I will only work on the pick guards, necks, and headstock for acoustics. In answer to the questions of what I am looking to do. I was not quite sure, but have seen engraved guitars and guitar parts so I was looking into it as an additional opportunity. Thankfully there is still a lot of opportunity without accepting working on the acoustic bodies. I am looking at doing some color filling as well, but baby steps.... Thanks so much for the pointers!

[Mike Null]

Here's a pick guard for a Stratocaster-(don't be fooled into thinking I know what I'm talking about) my customer advised me what it was.

He brought this in as solidly filled art and had his own idea on how to engrave it which I refused to do and instead suggested he simulate a scrimshaw look. He took the drawing home to show his son and he instantly said do it. Alice is the name his son gave to the guitar.

I got a pretty good buck for this and I'm not looking for more. Customer's basic design with my modifications. Took a fair amount of time to position.

As you can see I've mastered the art of "fuzzy fotografy".

[Mike Null]

Kevin Waldron who has replied to this thread is a Friend of the Creek and in the business of musical instruments. I'm sure he'd be glad to offer advice and maybe supplies as well. http://www.waldronmusic.com/

[Cindy Rhoades]

I am working on engraving a second guitar for a customer because he loved the first one. It is an acoustic, I engraved around the sound hole and the neck. It did not hurt the sound quality. He makes a lot of money playing for events so I have to believe him when he said the sound would not be effected enough to notice, you just make a tiny adjustment when tuning.

[Josh Jackson]

Wow Mike! So how did you get the diagonal lines? Thanks for the reference too. Always helpful.

[Mike Null]

Josh

I tinkered around with a Post Script fill (hatch) until I got the line width and frequency that would show up on the engraving.