
I used the same grit of sandpaper and sanding block. Let it dry overnight and sanded only the decal for about a minute, then stopped. So I shot two coats of clear on the headstock. I burned through to the decal in about a minute 20 seconds, give or take, for each.

Ltd Headstock Decal Serial Number 83840
Thus, Help! marks the first appearance of a Stratocaster in Beatles music heard in the low drone throughout that album’s “Ticket to Ride” and in the solo for “You’re Going to Lose That Girl.” Near the end of 1965, both Strats were put to even more prominent use on groundbreaking album Rubber Soul, most notably on the ringing chordal solo in “Nowhere Man”, and again on mid-1966’s Revolver.Guitar Neck Waterslide Headstock Decals - Headstock decal - 2 for &163 10.99. Harrison’s guitar, serial number 83840, still bore a decal from a music store where it was purchased at one point—“Grimwoods The music people Maidstone and Whitstable”. These decals are not cheap inkjet or laser printer decals.A few dizzying years later, when the sessions for Beatles Help! album got under way in early 1965, Harrison had better luck—he and John Lennon sent roadie Mal Evans out to get one for each of them, and Evans soon returned with a matching pair of Sonic Blue Strat® guitars.
Master Builder Paul Waller examined and measured the original in exacting detail—body, neck (with a rare asymmetrical “C” profile), pickups, wiring, and everything else right down to Harrison’s famous DIY paint job. The guitar remained a favorite of Harrison’s for the rest of the decade, and by December 1969 Harrison had painted “Bebopalula” on the upper body, “Go Cat Go” on the pickguard and “Rocky”—the guitar’s nickname—on the headstock.The Custom Shop is now both honored and thrilled to introduce a faithful recreation of Harrison’s “Rocky” Stratocaster. It also appeared prominently in the “I Am the Walrus” segment of 1967’s Magical Mystery Tour film. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sessions and the June 25 live worldwide telecast of “All You Need is Love”, Harrison took up paint and brush himself to give his Stratocaster a multicolored psychedelic dayglo paint job.

