"Wrapping" A D-10 ?

[Bob Snelgrove]

I have a maroon D-10 Franklin and am curious if anyone has ever had their steel wrapped like they do cars these days? I'd love it to be black without actually re-doing the mica? Crazy idea or doable? I would need a new Franklin decal too.

thx

bob

[Dennis Montgomery]

Hi Bob,

Absolutely! I wrapped my Mullen G2 SD12 and a BMI SD12 a few years ago using snowboard vinyl. Here's the most recent thread that goes into detail.

viewtopic.php?p=2956634&hilit=vinyl+Mullen#p2956634

I did the job myself so had to disassemble and remove everything off the top deck (fretboard, tuning tree, arm pad, switches, etc) to get it done. Wrapping the BMI was simple as the fretboard easily came off, the Mullen though was another story as removing the fretboard was much more difficult. Over the years though, I believe some people have mentioned taking theirs to a vinyl car wrap or cabinet wrap specialty shop and having it done there and since they do this for a living didn't necessarily have to remove the neck to get it done.

I would say though that my Mullen is a studio beast and I don't gig with it...I can't say how durable the vinyl would be for someone constantly packing/unpacking/setting up/breaking down. Hopefully someone with a vinyl wrapped PSG who plays out frequently can comment

[Bill McCloskey]

My Mullen D10 G2 is wrapped. It looks great.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I wrapped a couple wood grained D10s. A Zum and a Mullen.

Probably best to have it done by a professional wrapper.

In my case, I removed the necks of both guitars and had a graphic ad shop rough size it, cut out the pickup holes and transfer tape the backing as you do not want to stretch the unforgiving material.
I used a Oracal 351 wrap, but if were going to DIY another one, I would use only a vinyl that is re-positional instead so do your homework.

I wouldn't attempt this project without removing the necks and the keyheads.
On both guitars, I was able to remove the keyheads and the necks with loosening only a few rods and cranks. Otherwise, I was able to maneuver my tools around the mechanics to get to all the screws.

I'll have to find the threads but I posted photos of them here.
It was worth it to me just of hide that wood grain mica. They both looked much better wrapped IMO.

This was several years ago and I have no idea how the material held up as I sold both of them haven't seen or heard from the new owners since.
The Mullen went to Lubbock, as I recall. The Zum went to Nashville from here, but dunno after that.

[Bobby Hearn]

Maroon is a really nice color, in my opinion but I would wonder if it would affect the tone to wrap it. Painting a 6 string guitar can sure affect tone. Anyway, you know what you get when you combine pedal steel and wrap? Pswrap!

[Bob Snelgrove]

How durable and can it be undone?

bob

[Jerry Overstreet]

as I stated above, I sold my guitars not long after the wrap so I don't know about the durability. If they wrap automibiles with the stuff, I would have to think it has a pretty good life.

The material I used is pretty agressive but could pretty easily be removed from mica and cleaned up with a little ordinary rubbing alcohol or like solvent. If it's installed over poly or lacquer, I doubt it could be removed without some finish damage.

Again, if anyone is considering doing this, select a material that is repositional and/or has an air release feature.

[Chris Templeton]

I know nothing about "wrapping", but wonder if it slightly dampens the resonance of the body?

[Jerry Overstreet]

I don't know the answer to your question but I can tell you it was not a consideration on the 2 that I did. Matter of fact, I never even thought about.

I may not be the best test subject when it comes to hearing as I don't have bat ears, but if it affected the sound, I didn't know it.

The material I used was 2.5 mil oracal vinyl. That measures out to 25/10,000 of an inch. Some automotive air release vinyls are 3 mil. Some of the premium wraps go up to 4.5 mil.

I doubt anyone has done such a study but there might very well be a nerd out there that has.

It is not something I would even consider if do another one.

While I'm here, I'll link to an old post with pics of the Mullen I did. The mahogany is OK I guess and when you're playing, do you really notice the cabinet color? I found out yes, I do.

Notice how the black covering tranforms the guitar by bringing all the other black and shiny parts together and makes it look complete....at least to me. Even makes the fretboard colors pop.
viewtopic.php?t=241581&hilit=oracal+wrap