Protect vintage Yamaha logo on headstock?
 

I recently bought a 1972 Yamaha FG110 with a gold lithograph logo on the headstock similar to this. I tend to use kyser style capos and clip them to all my guitars headstocks. On this guitar, however, I’m afraid of rubbing this logo off since it sits on top of the finish.

How would you suggest I protect this logo?

Acrylic nail hardener brushed over the logo might work, or a small square strip of heavy duty shipping/packing tape applied over the logo. Either way you would have to be careful that the "fix" was not pulled, or scratched on too much as either might well lift or scrape the logo off of the headstock.

Another thought is to call either the Taylor or Breedlove guitar companies customer service lines and ask them. They are both known to have really helpful and friendly folks working those phone lines, and someone in either companies repair department might have a good idea for you.


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

As I see it you have two options. One: You can try to protect it somehow and in so doing alter or even damage to logo. Two: Learn to live without your capo attached. My J35 has a silkscreen logo. I'm reasonably sure it's durable but other than on and off with a tuner I'm not about to test that assumption.

I've got a few where I just won't clamp a capo or headstock tuner on the site of the logo. I've never really liked the capo/tuner on headstock look when playing out and the wear factor convinced me not to do it.

Bob

Put the capo in your pocket.

Bring a small table with you. You can put your tuner, capo, cell phone, a drink, a few picks, a slide and even a few snacks on the table.

:D

I would remove the tuners and do a couple of coats of clearcoat.

What kind of finish did tan label 1972 Yamahas have? Lacquer, nitrocellulose or something else? If I clear coat it, I’d want to match the current finish or does it not matter?

Dump the Keyser and get a yoke style capo. IMO Keyser capos are just about the worst for tuning stability and they are ugly to boot.

I’m not asking for opinions on capo choice. Appreciate your comment.

They used poly. It was sprayed on. I'd imagine it will look fairly bad if you try just brushing some hardware store poly on there yourself. It'll also knock the value of the guitar down if that's something you care about.

The big issue I see with whatever you use is that to properly apply more finish, you need to sand the headstock a bit, thus messing up the logo.

There's plenty of headstock space in your photo to clip the tuner on a corner rather than centered over the logo. Easy peasy.

Op is asking about a caoo.

Taylor makes (or at least used to make) a static cling on pick guard that you could temporarily apply without adhesive and remove when you were done. I'd look into buying one, cutting it to fit the top of your head stock and leave it there. No adhesive, they stick pretty well and won't harm the poly finish. A chunk of static cling screen saver would probably work too. I wouldn't recommend leaving on installed over nitro long term but you should be OK.

Scott

I have applied a sheet of clear plastic shelf liner on the back of my 1957 nitro Gibson J50. It’s been on there for 20 years to protect for buckle rash. No interaction with the guitar finish. It peals off and on easy. No problem. Lifted part of it off last week and stuck it back on. Static holds it.

But I don’t know if the decal would interact with the plastic. You could apply a sample to another decal somewhere to feel more confident there’s no reaction.