Inside labels

[whurd]

I am looking for ideas for a label to place inside the mando...Any Ideas?

[RJinRI]

use word processor of choice, possibly colored paper & glue it in

[JEStanek]

Hi,
Is this for a label for a mandolin you built? If so, this is like your signature on a painting. I've seen rectangular labels, oval labels, wood burning designs, etc. At the very least, include your name, the build number, build date and your signature. If this is just a sticker you want to put in to various instruments, use Kilroy was here. :)

Jamie

[Paul Hostetter]

My ideas (I've done quite a few different ones) are rather personal and probably wouldn't work very well for you. Simple is better, most of the time, but making a fancy one can be fun. Start with the soundhole through which it is to be viewed. Then think of the information you want on it, then format that info.

If it has to be viewed through an f-hole, this is a thought:

http://www.lutherie.net/gibson.loar.label.jpg

Gibson has a history of simple and effective labels:

http://www.lutherie.net/gibson.label.jpg

http://www.lutherie.net/gibson.A-jr.label.sm.jpg

[Paul Hostetter]

And some others:

This is one I did for a special run of guitars, the open area bore three signatures and the serial # and the date:

http://www.lutherie.net/trimmed.label.gif

Some others to regard:

http://www.lutherie.net/mango.label.jpg

http://www.lutherie.net/vega.label.jpg

http://www.lutherie.net/gibson.violin.label.jpg

http://www.lutherie.net/MarcaAquilaLabel1.jpg

Most of the ones I do are for violin family and are simple black and white, so I can print them with a laser printer. But it’s fun to make fancier ones sometimes.

[buddyellis]

I typically design my labels in the Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/), and then print out a page full of them on plain white parchment paper which I then stain lightly with Tincture of benzoin (http://health.howstuffworks.com/aromatherapy-benzoin.htm). The benzoin gives the labels a nice, old looking patina, a rather nice inside the box smell, and the alcohol doesn't smear the ink I print with.

[sunburst]

I designed mine in Photoshop and had several pages of them printed commercially (offset).
Use archival paper and use archival ink for any information that is written by hand.

I'm getting ready to use some vintage reproduction French perfume labels for a couple of guitars. They're pretty fancy, but they're cool!

[JEStanek]

Paul's got some cool examples. I briefly used Google Image Search (http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q=) for criteria like Mandolin labels, guitar labels, vintage instrument labels and found others. You could save those images to a library for inspiration. That Gimp software looks pretty nice and the price is R I G H T .

Jamie

[Jim Garber]

The first one is my favorite from my bowlback by Carlo Colombo Bruno from Torino. And a few other assorted ones here.

[buddyellis]

That Gimp software looks pretty nice and the price is R I G H T .

Jamie

Gimp is every bit as powerful (maybe a bit more in the scripting realm) as photoshop, and amazingly, its totally Open Source Software (totally free). Highly recommended

There's even a little hack to make it look like photoshop if you're familiar with that:

http://www.gimpshop.com/ (never much used it though)

[Andrew DeMarco]

And it has single window mode now!:)

Bell pepper stamp! Huzzah!!!

[whurd]

Yes it is for mandolins I am building....Just trying to come up with something nice and professional looking.

[JEStanek]

FWIW, there are PLENTY of free font resources on the web too for you to use to build your own label. Google free fonts or free ttf (TTF is the file extension for True Type Font).

Jamie

[whurd]

Thank you to everyone giving me ideas on where to begin the design for my label...this is harder than building the darn mandolin

[JEStanek]

There are probably several people who would barter a design with you... ;-)