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From the Workshop: ‘Re-Guilding’ Logos

20th July 2023

Often on woodwind instruments, engraved or recessed logos with gold detail can wear thin and lose their lustre. Sometimes that little brand name can mean a lot to the owner – the bright gold against the wood of the instrument contrasts beautifully and offers a lovely bit of detail.

During routine maintenance it’s great to be able to offer to restore this tint for customers as it’s quick and easy, but also really visually effective. This small gesture can make an instrument both look and feel brand new to the owner after servicing. We keep stock of 2 different ‘re-guilding’ crayons, and can offer some comparison on both to help guide you towards your choice.

FD48: Gold Trademark Crayon (pk of 2)

This Ferrees guilding crayon is firm, hard and waxy. The rich warm gold colour can be pushed into worn emblems on instrument bodies, or you can gently warm the tip of the crayon in a flame to allow a more fluid application. Excess can be wiped away, revealing a bright orange-gold result. These come in a pack of 2, which should keep you going for years.

GVL025: Sennelier Oil Pastel in Rich Gold – Gold Crayon (Buffet Colour)

We now also keep stock of the Sennelier Artists Oil Pastel. This luxuriously smooth, soft and hyper pigmented pastel can be pushed into the logo recess to re-fill the area with luminous gold. Different to the Ferree’s crayon, this cooler gold tone will match any Buffet branded instrument perfectly. The paper sleeve is perforated so you can tear it away as the pastel gets shorter in length.

To help illustrate the difference we’ve used both options on this previously blank Backun Protege clarinet. You can clearly see the FD48 used on the BACKUN is a warmer tone (more towards orange) and the GVL025 on the Protege is a lighter gold.

In Summary

We think it’s worth having both models in your workshop stock so you have options to match the instruments current logo detailing. We all know as repairers our primary goal is to make sure the instrument is set-up and playing its best, but the aesthetics and pride in an instrument is also important to the customer.