The Mr. Destructoid guitar

1:09 PM on 08.03.2008   |   Brad Nicholson

32 comments

I’m not much of a prolific thinker when it comes to figuring out how to jazz up my plastic instruments, but I thought I would share my latest creation. I recently got Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and I thought the original Aerosmith artwork really blew. What better way to celebrate yet another instrument to the collection than with Mr. Destructoid?

Since I’m not much of an artist myself, I decided to use two of the awesome wallpapers that readers have sent in to us. The first one is called Don Destructoid, and it was created by ceark. It is both very beautiful and revealing. The second wallpaper that I used is Paper Robot from Virtualgirl. It’s got an awesome border, and I thought the ripped edges would go together nicely.

At this point, you may be wondering, “How could Brad possibly create such a lovely device?” Luckily, I have the answers and a challenge for all of you after the break!

It’s all incredibly simple, partially because I’m exceedingly dull. I don’t like to get my hands messy with paints. You’ll need a couple of things to do this yourself if you’re interested. Here’s a list:

• Scan of a guitar
• Wallpaper (or digital art of your choice)
• Printable sticker paper
• A printer
• A computer (preferably under six years old)
• Scissors
• Deft fingers for applying stickers

Because I used the new Guitar Hero guitar, I was able to physically take the faceplate off. If you want to use an older guitar or Rock Band’s stuff, I suggest finding a really large scanner or a guy that likes making decals.  The two blank templates that I created by scanning in the faceplate can found here and here. Since the sticker paper I had was your basic 8.5 in. x 11 in., I had to make sure that was the maximum area I scanned at any given time.

I know it sounds simple enough, but I must admit that I had some issues with sizing that I'm still not sure I fully understand. You see, I scanned the guitar at a 1:1 ratio, didn't resize it, and didn't scale it for printing, yet somehow when I printed, my sticker was a little smaller than my faceplate. This wasn't much of a problem for the lower half. I just got neat black and white stripes to frame my design. The more curvy upper half, though, really took some creative cutting for a decent fit. I suppose if your design is beautiful enough, no one will notice these flaws.

After you get your scan on, open it up in Photoshop or Gimp. I used Gimp, because I’m a Macintosh guy. At this point, you’ll have to finagle the image you want in the software. Be weary of all the buttons holes. I actually forgot about them at one point, but by changing the opacity of my image, I was able to see the holes and consider them in my image placement.

As you can see, I wanted two different designs on the guitar. I made one design for the lower portion and a different one for the higher portion of the faceplate. I really wish I could give you advice on this, but my hours of frustration really yielded nothing amazing or provocative in terms of inference into the procedure nor do I have any spectacular advice on how to make a seamless singular faceplate design. If you want to just copy what I did, my two templates are here and here.

At this point, all you have to do is print, cut, and be careful while applying the stickers. You might want to wipe down the faceplate first to make sure it is clear of particles that will cause bumps under your sticker. If you've ever applied a screen protector to an electronic devide like your PSP or iPhone, you should have absolutely no trouble with a large paper sticker. If you’re worried about integrity and longevity, you should be. I already managed to put a scratch in my beautiful creation. You could always buy a clear sealant after the fact and let your guitar set in the sun for a bit.

If you really want to let your imagination run wild, I actually created a guitar based off of KMFDM artist Aiden “Brute!” Hughes’ Big Dick art.  For this, I dissembled my Guitar Hero II guitar, spray painted it, then went to my commercial creative design studio for a special decal. It's pretty hip, feel free to check it out. Also, if you want to see the Mr. Destructoid guitar in action, click here!

Now, I want to see what you guys can do. I can’t offer anything more than my heart, but I’m eager to see your designs and creations. How many different ways can you put Destructoid on your guitars?