fotoflame tops?

superbassman2000 · #1 08-05-2006, 11:28 PM

what exactly is a fotoflame top? i mean, i understand it's some kind of picture of a flame top, but how is done?

Wreck · #2 08-06-2006, 06:18 AM

I sthink it is a piece of real wood but thick about 0,6mm

vintager · #3 08-06-2006, 06:57 AM

i think it's a foil with a picture of some flaming that they put under the transparent coat of the cheapest instruments.. but maybe it can be also a very thin wooden veneer.

budman · #4 08-06-2006, 07:33 AM

It's a clear plastic film that has a flame pattern printed on it. It's glued to the body so it appears to have a flamed top. I have a MIJ Fender fotoflame jazz bass. You can see the grain of the actual wood body through the fotoflame material. It's also applied to the entire neck, minus the fingeboard.

Nick Ioannucci · #5 08-06-2006, 10:26 AM

huh, thats interesting.

Larry Davis · #6 08-06-2006, 12:06 PM

If you are familiar with "knock down" furniture you're familiar with "fotoflame". Paper or vinyl film is glued to a substrate of MDF, particle board or high quality plywood in 4 x 8' stock sheets in a prefinishing plant. Panels are fed into a machine called a "laminater" and the film roll is mounted above the feed rolls and is automatically pulled down onto the panels which have gone under a glue roller, run under a roller press and Bob's your uncle. Box car loads of this material goes to the cabinet and furniture industry. Good quality substrates are important to eliminate telegraphed marks from showing thru as budman points out. Application of the process has moved into the cheap-o off-shore guitars including acoustics from China and other countries. "Foto" is a play on "photo" of course which is what the rolls of laminated film are copied from...mile after mile after mile....

This info brought to you by a former production manager and quality control supervisor in a large prefinishing plant

superbassman2000 · #7 08-06-2006, 04:29 PM

is it expensive?

i would guess no, since all the cheap-o guitar companies do it...is there special equipment to do it?

spudmaster34 · #8 08-06-2006, 05:21 PM

it is cheaper than regular flame, however I would still tell you not to do it.

a: people can tell fotoflame from real flame
b: it isn't that much cheaper

when I say it isn't that much cheaper I mean it, you save yourself a few dollars and make your whole instrument look less nice, check out ebay, you can get a flamed top set fairly cheap, not the nicest figure, but beter than foto

fish man · #9 08-06-2006, 06:38 PM

Weird.
Anyone have a pic?

superbassman2000 · #10 08-06-2006, 06:42 PM

http://www.wizardsofaz.com/guitars/tele.html

also

http://www.bunnybass.com/e-zine/amus...ngbass24.shtml

superbassman2000 · #11 08-06-2006, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry Davis

If you are familiar with "knock down" furniture you're familiar with "fotoflame". Paper or vinyl film is glued to a substrate of MDF, particle board or high quality plywood in 4 x 8' stock sheets in a prefinishing plant. Panels are fed into a machine called a "laminater" and the film roll is mounted above the feed rolls and is automatically pulled down onto the panels which have gone under a glue roller, run under a roller press and Bob's your uncle. Box car loads of this material goes to the cabinet and furniture industry. Good quality substrates are important to eliminate telegraphed marks from showing thru as budman points out. Application of the process has moved into the cheap-o off-shore guitars including acoustics from China and other countries. "Foto" is a play on "photo" of course which is what the rolls of laminated film are copied from...mile after mile after mile....

This info brought to you by a former production manager and quality control supervisor in a large prefinishing plant

can color be transferred on the special film?

Larry Davis · #12 08-06-2006, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbassman2000

can color be transferred on the special film?

Yes.....go check out any furniture store and look at the printed laminate stuff. It's no different than gluing a photograph onto particle board.

Rolls of commercial "film" come in 4 foot (or other) widths and can be several thousand feet long..just like plastic wrap.

I've not seen how it's done in a guitar factory, but some flattops are obviously meranti plywood covered with film cut from a large panel.

This is not the same a real wood veneer.

seanm · #13 08-06-2006, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spudmaster34

it is cheaper than regular flame, however I would still tell you not to do it.

a: people can tell fotoflame from real flame

Actually, people can't. I have a Fotoflame P bass and people argue with me all the time that it is real wood

The problem with the Fotoflame is that Fender put a very thick clear coat on, and it usually cracks. I have some major cracks in the clear coat.

spudmaster34 · #14 08-06-2006, 08:12 PM

I was told that if you tilt a fotoflame piece back and forth, you can't see the individual reflection on each "flame"

seanm · #15 08-06-2006, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spudmaster34

I was told that if you tilt a fotoflame piece back and forth, you can't see the individual reflection on each "flame"

I just went and looked and couldn't see it. However, I was not in a real strong light.

I think one of the things that throws people off is that only the top of the bass body is covered, the sides and bottom are not. So people are fooled into thinking it is laminated. Which I guess it is, just not with wood!

The bass in the link below shows the fotoflame well. However, the body wood is very well matched on my bass. You have to look closely to see where the pieces are joined. That bass looks like it was thrown togeather Friday at 4:00

http://www.bunnybass.com/e-zine/amus...ngbass24.shtml

And yes, I have the Hamburgler on the neck. I tried to get a picture with my web cam but it was just too crappy.