Fedex faceplate question

[Tonegeek]

I may do my faceplates on vinyl. The last ones I did, I had laminated on both sides and they are holding up well (4 years so far) but do I need to laminate at all? Anyone done just the vinyl alone? I am mostly concerned about installing the pots but was thinking you could enlarge the hole in the vinyl so that the nut does not touch it and then it won't spin. Also I understand prepping the surface of the chassis is critical (no burs!) Its going on a Fender conversion.

[selloutrr]

it sounds like you have a good idea of what to do. the only thing I can think of would be if anything got on the surface how well it cleans up?

[Luthierwnc]

I've made a bunch of these. I wouldn't recommend it if you plan to make more than one of anything because they are easy to scuff -- but it is a good, cheap way to do custom work and they can always be replaced.

Laminating will make the surface shiny and much tougher. The detraction is that it doesn't handle corners well. If you have to make it stick to a 90 degree bend -- even a fairly rounded corner, it will come up over time. It works well in cases where: you can cut the material flush with a sharp chassis edge, the cab has trim ledges to hide the edge or the cab design pinches the corners in place when you bolt it in. A blackface or vox/matchless style cab is fine.

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