Speedy West Low Buck Homage Guitar

Mike McBride · Post by **Mike McBride** » 19 Mar 2024 1:28 am

Can any of you eagle eyes tell me what font was used for Speedy's famous front panel?

This is close:

Brooks Montgomery · Post by **Brooks Montgomery** » 19 Mar 2024 3:44 am

Well, it’s not Papyrus font, so you can rest easy.
https://youtu.be/jVhlJNJopOQ?feature=shared

Per Berner · Post by **Per Berner** » 19 Mar 2024 4:09 am

The "close" one above is nowhere near, unfortunately. Almost 40 years in advertising tells me it is probably not a specific font at all; more likely a hand drawn design which I guess was made into an inlay. That was the the way they did things back then, all by hand.

If you can get a sharp image straight up, there are ways to search for a match.

Mike McBride · Post by **Mike McBride** » 19 Mar 2024 4:36 am

Per Berner wrote:The "close" one above is nowhere near, unfortunately. Almost 40 years in advertising tells me it is probably not a specific font at all; more likely a hand drawn design which I guess was made into an inlay. That was the the way they did things back then, all by hand.

If you can get a sharp image straight up, there are ways to search for a match.

Any fonts you can suggest? The one I presented is called Speeday by the way.

Per Berner · Post by **Per Berner** » 19 Mar 2024 5:01 am

Not without a sharp close-up image.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 19 Mar 2024 5:15 am

Except for the irregular tails on the letter "S", Vipnagorgialla pretty much nails it.

Go here, bottom of the page:

https://www.1001fonts.com/blocky-fonts.html?page=2

Therapods, second from bottom of this page, is the next closest:

https://www.1001fonts.com/blocky-fonts.html?page=83

(You can type in SPEEDY WEST in the block with the X to see exactly what it looks like.)

Mike McBride · Post by **Mike McBride** » 19 Mar 2024 5:19 am

This is a better view

Per Berner · Post by **Per Berner** » 19 Mar 2024 5:19 am

No, no, no. That's like saying Garamond and Times are the same, or Helvetica and Arial. These would require so much tweaking that it is less work starting from scratch.

A visual search using the image yields nothing usable, and from the image you can tell it's hand made, not a font.

Mike McBride · Post by **Mike McBride** » 19 Mar 2024 5:24 am

Donny Hinson wrote:Except for the irregular tails on the letter "S", Vipnagorgialla pretty much nails it.

Nice work Donny!

Per Berner · Post by **Per Berner** » 19 Mar 2024 5:30 am

Sorry, still nowhere near. Look at the P, the S, the D, the W, the difference in thickness of vertical and horizontal lines. Please believe a typography pro, THIS IS HAND DRAWN, NOT A FONT.

Maybe you can make yourself believe that your Chevy is a Cadillac, but that doesn't make it true – and everyone else will know.

Mike McBride · Post by **Mike McBride** » 19 Mar 2024 6:48 am

Man I love this group! We've got Idaho, Maryland and Sweden working on this problem!

Landon George · Post by **Landon George** » 19 Mar 2024 6:53 am

Looking forward to seeing how this comes out!

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 19 Mar 2024 7:03 am

Certainly, if you see something that pleases you, that gets you in the ballpark of where you want to be, that's all that matters. But I agree with Per 100%. There are some superficial similarities between Speedy's logo and some of the letters of the fonts referenced here (and some that I found in a search). But the differences are large.

Mike McBride · Post by **Mike McBride** » 19 Mar 2024 7:14 am

Jon Light wrote:Certainly, if you see something that pleases you, that gets you in the ballpark of where you want to be, that's all that matters. But I agree with Per 100%. There are some superficial similarities between Speedy's logo and some of the letters of the fonts referenced here (and some that I found in a search). But the differences are large.

Yeah this is for a fun hobby project not a profession and is certainly not a dogmatic pursuit of perfection. The original was hand-painted so I am only trying to approximate it.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 19 Mar 2024 9:49 am

Per Berner wrote:The "close" one above is nowhere near, unfortunately. Almost 40 years in advertising tells me it is probably not a specific font at all; more likely a hand drawn design...

I agree, Per. The kerning is different, and the differences in the two "S" characters in the original is the indicator of something irregular and hand-drawn.

Still, I'm just trying to help. Can you do better? $:\$

Mike McBride · Post by **Mike McBride** » 19 Mar 2024 11:33 am

Here is a better view. Donny - I agree - Vipnagorgialla pretty much nails it.

David Ellison · Post by **David Ellison** » 24 Mar 2024 11:16 am

Back in those days, the only "fonts" were professional typesetting used for printed material... ink on paper. This is hand lettering, and most likely done by Paul Bigsby himself.

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 24 Mar 2024 3:15 pm

At least it's not Comic Sans. Horrors!
I also agree with David Ellison's assessment: hand lettered most likely.

John Larson · Post by **John Larson** » 24 Mar 2024 3:19 pm

I know what it reminds me of. Not the same either.

Mike McBride · Post by **Mike McBride** » 17 Apr 2024 12:08 pm

Progress is slowly happening on my low buck Speedy West homage.

Letters are waiting for application.

Mike McBride · Post by **Mike McBride** » 21 Apr 2024 12:57 pm

My low buck tribute to a $1,000,000 guitar.

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