# Musical Tattoos



## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

Ok, I have posted this thread on other forums and been very surprised by the responses. At any rate, I am now musically tattooed. I have a guitar, some REM lyrics and a few music notes on my left upper arm. The tattoo is only 4 days old and is now peeling, so I can't post any pics yet.

Was wondering who else had musical tats and if so, what the inspiration was?

By the way, I had this one guy tell me that women should never get tattooed, etc. It was quite funny.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Do a search. I seem to remember a thread on Tats sometime last year.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

lyric girl said:


> I have a guitar, some REM lyrics and a few music notes on my left upper arm.


Ther are some guys here that would have to gain weight to get tattoos of all their guitars :smile:


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

I have a les paul on one shoulder, a classical guitar on the other, and lines of music wrapped around my left leg from the knee down so that from a distance it looks like a tribal but up close you can read the music. Unfortunately it's a bit of a blurry mess with crooked lines and splotchy notes.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I have a tattoo of a 1952 telecaster and a Dr Z amp on my left upper left arm

http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5905as1.jpg


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I have five tattoos, but so far only one that is of a musical nature.

This is when I first got it.


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

Milkman said:


> I have five tattoos, but so far only one that is of a musical nature.
> 
> This is when I first got it.


Very kewl.


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

kat_ said:


> I have a les paul on one shoulder, a classical guitar on the other, and lines of music wrapped around my left leg from the knee down so that from a distance it looks like a tribal but up close you can read the music. Unfortunately it's a bit of a blurry mess with crooked lines and splotchy notes.


Can you post pics please?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

lyric girl said:


> Very kewl.


Thanks. I got it done at Alien Fine Arts in Niagara Falls. I may get another one there next month.


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

Milkman said:


> Thanks. I got it done at Alien Fine Arts in Niagara Falls. I may get another one there next month.


How long did that take to apply? Just curious:rockon:


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I plan on getting one or two music tattoos at some point in the future.

I wont get a guitar though, because as much as i like les pauls im not entirely biased to them lol - and i dont want to get an acoustic, SG, LP, strat, tele, superstrat all tattooed haha


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Thats a very nice and well done tatooo milkman... I've been looking at guitar tatoos but few are done really well.

Was that something you drew up or found in a magazine or is it something from the shop?


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## jfk911 (May 23, 2008)

i plan on getting some sheet music on the back of my left arm it will be some classical song. the music will be on a scroll the looks ripped and so on. Then possibly i might have a guitar cable that is wrapped around the scroll type deal. Then i will have a bunch of musical notes that are floating above the scroll that will go up to about my shoulder. just need to convince the wife. I do plan on having the treble and bass clef in the tat.


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

jfk911 said:


> i plan on getting some sheet music on the back of my left arm it will be some classical song. the music will be on a scroll the looks ripped and so on. Then possibly i might have a guitar cable that is wrapped around the scroll type deal. Then i will have a bunch of musical notes that are floating above the scroll that will go up to about my shoulder. just need to convince the wife. I do plan on having the treble and bass clef in the tat.


If you are planning on it wrapping around your arm, you may be stopped in your tracks. Wrapping doesn't always look the best. My original idea was to have it wrap.

Why do you need to convince your wife? It's going on your body...

My husband was 100% behind my tat.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

lyric girl said:


> How long did that take to apply? Just curious:rockon:


About two hours but I seem to be able to numb my senses while under the needle so it really doesn't bother me much.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

KHINGPYNN said:


> Thats a very nice and well done tatooo milkman... I've been looking at guitar tatoos but few are done really well.
> 
> Was that something you drew up or found in a magazine or is it something from the shop?


I asked the guys at the parlour what they had in tems of musical concepts and one of them volunteered a sketch of this one. He had drawn it up free hand so it's pretty much original (one of a kind). 

I'm not a Gretsch fanatic but it seemed to fit my personality so I said "let's do it".


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

It's definetly one of the better guitar tatoos I've seen... and it's one of a kind which is always cool.


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## jfk911 (May 23, 2008)

lyric girl said:


> If you are planning on it wrapping around your arm, you may be stopped in your tracks. Wrapping doesn't always look the best. My original idea was to have it wrap.
> 
> Why do you need to convince your wife? It's going on your body...
> 
> My husband was 100% behind my tat.



Im going to wrap the patch cable around the sheet music not the entire arm. Because my wife dosnt like tattoos and i don't feel like getting in a big fight about it


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

Milkman said:


> About two hours but I seem to be able to numb my senses while under the needle so it really doesn't bother me much.


Mine was 6 hours. I was pretty much able to numb myself too. Same techniques I use when I'm in the dentist chair. However, at 5 1/2 hours into the tattoo and he started filling in the headstock, which is on the top of my shoulder, I was almost on the ceiling.


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

jfk911 said:


> Im going to wrap the patch cable around the sheet music not the entire arm. Because my wife dosnt like tattoos and i don't feel like getting in a big fight about it


Got yah. You could be pleasantly surprised though?:smile:


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

Hey guys,

Just wanted to post a pic of my recent ink. Hope you like it.

L.

http://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/2875880924/


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

looks nice!

how do you guys find artists for doing music sketches? anything that makes you go "wow!"?


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

Budda said:


> looks nice!
> 
> how do you guys find artists for doing music sketches? anything that makes you go "wow!"?


Sorry, but I don't follow. "Music sketches?"

Let me know.


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

lyric girl said:


> Sorry, but I don't follow. "Music sketches?"
> 
> Let me know.


Sketch = draw


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

Starbuck said:


> Sketch = draw


As in drawing the sheet music? Still not sure I'm on board here. Sorry, brain is fuzzy today.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

"music sketches" was probably the wrong thing to say.

I mean a sketch of a musical tattoo.

one of my friends suggested getting a tattoo for my 20th birthday - and i do want one. I think i may head downtown tomorrow and see what people can draw for me, as well as prices.


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

Buddha,

Just sent you a PM.

L.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

read and replied


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

*A New Musical Tattoo*

I hate to see a cool thread die, so I decided to get this done.

inside left forearm.


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

Very kewl. I like it. Any symbolism beyond the axe and the Canadian flag?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

lyric girl said:


> Very kewl. I like it. Any symbolism beyond the axe and the Canadian flag?


Thanks!

I'm afraid there's no symbolism beyond the obvious. The original flash art had a skull where the maple leaf is. I'm really not a skull sort of guy so I had the artist substitute the leaf and that made it for me.

It's a Canadian rock guitar, and it will be plainly visible when I'm playing unless I choose to conceal it with a shirt. I think the guy did a great job.


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## OldSoulBluesMan (Jul 9, 2009)

*dead thread revival*

Thought I would post a link to one of my tats. I have three and they are all musically based. The link is my strat on my right calf. I have a treble clef on my right shoulder and a bass clef on the left shoulder. Defnitely more to come, just have to figure out what the next additions will be.

http://s604.photobucket.com/albums/tt125/OldSoulBluesMan/?mediafilter=images

Keep Rockin'
OSBM


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## Blue Apple (Feb 8, 2006)

I don't have a picture of my _somewhat_ musical tattoo but it pretty much looks like this:










I've had it done at the Electric Ladyland tattoo parlor in New Orleans during Mardi Gras... yes, this was right in the middle of my "hazy years". 

I thought tattoo parlors were not supposed to serve an intoxicated potential customer. Ah well. :smile:


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

Blue Apple said:


> I don't have a picture of my _somewhat_ musical tattoo but it pretty much looks like this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Are you a Deadhead?


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## Blue Apple (Feb 8, 2006)

Starbuck said:


> Are you a Deadhead?


Huge... but sometimes, I really wish I would of got something a little more manly. Especially when most people refer to it as being "cute".


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

not me, i'm going to get this one:


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## OldSoulBluesMan (Jul 9, 2009)

you to!!??!?! I just got that one yesterday. I hope it's not a new armband-esque trends.


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

Blue Apple said:


> Huge... but sometimes, I really wish I would of got something a little more manly. Especially when most people refer to it as being "cute".



Don't be silly *I* knew what it was and so will most music fans.. Other people will think it's "cute" I think it's cool!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

well, I guess I should show my 3 musical tattoos haha.

bass clef was #2, done at the same time as #3.










The treble clef was actually my first, and is now buried in my sleeve, to an extent. It's more visible to everyone else, I think.










This was done during the same sitting as my bass clef, same leg - an hour and a half for both.










Next up is adding a daytime/sunset theme to my leg sleeve, then a family-oriented shoulder piece.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Budda said:


> looks nice!
> 
> how do you guys find artists for doing music sketches? anything that makes you go "wow!"?


Old thread and I think you may have the answer to this already and I saw Milkman there mention it in a sentence but for the sake of saying it all:


Tattoo artwork is called "Flash", in relation to other forms of art it is most close to Vector http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics , Vexel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vexel , or Cartoon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartoon art.

There are "flash" books that can be bought, usually not cheep either. There are not a HUGE number of artists worldwide that do it either.

Though the Wiki confines "flash" to being just the mass produced artwork, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo I have found in the half dozen or more shops I have been to that the artists themselves refer to all "art images for" tattoos as flash. Hence why I simply say "all" tattoo art imagery is called flash.



HEY when do you plan to have pics!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

My pics are in my post above yours!

My artist referred to tattoo art as Flash art as well.

I want to finish up my leg sleeve (for real this time!) and start on my shoulder piece, so badly


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

*I thought*

Well seeing how I have had several more.








Can you tell which guitars I really like.








This one was a while back.








And later I'll have the wife snap the last one and I am still not done.Ship


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## lbrown1 (Mar 22, 2007)

sadly no reputable tattoo artist will agree to put any on me.......they won't touch anyone who is on blood thinners.


which is too bad cause I really wanted one.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I'm considering a musical tattoo, but can't quite make up my mind what exactly. I have a largish kingfisher and trillium and family crest on one arm (it still needs to be finished with a couple of brook trout) so it would likely go on my other arm or one of my legs. I might combine it with something related to faith.

Peace, Mooh.


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