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Re: Relic-ing a Guitar

5/21/2000 5:34 PM
Roger	Re: Relic-ing a Guitar I restored a poorly refinished '63 Jag and wanted to replicate the look of an original, not of a brand new one, so I did a lot to relic-fy the guitar. Personally, I like guitars that look a little worn, so I'm with the folks who actually like the look of relics (though I'd never buy a Fender relic. I'd much rather buy an old guitar...) Anyway, the things I did were: Finished it light. This way it was more prone to light dings in the two years since I refinished it. I buffed it out only so shiny. Didn't want it to look like a mirror, but like a nice piece of furniture. I oversprayed any white parts (reissue pickup covers) with a little bit of yellow to age them. I also soaked them in coffee, but that didn't seem to work as well. Then I did a wash of a darker yellow/brown to seek into any crevaces in the plastic pickup covers and did a light dusting with powdered amber dye (which I had used to tint the lacquer on the neck) The one thing I've seen done, but haven't figured out yet is how to age metal parts. I hear that there is an acid that will make nickel tuners and bridge parts lose their shine a bit, but I've yet to hear what it is. Roger

5/21/2000 5:34 PM

Roger

Re: Relic-ing a Guitar

I restored a poorly refinished '63 Jag and wanted to replicate the look of an original, not of a brand new one, so I did a lot to relic-fy the guitar.

Personally, I like guitars that look a little worn, so I'm with the folks who actually like the look of relics (though I'd never buy a Fender relic. I'd much rather buy an old guitar...)

Anyway, the things I did were:
Finished it light. This way it was more prone to light dings in the two years since I refinished it.

I buffed it out only so shiny. Didn't want it to look like a mirror, but like a nice piece of furniture.

I oversprayed any white parts (reissue pickup covers) with a little bit of yellow to age them. I also soaked them in coffee, but that didn't seem to work as well. Then I did a wash of a darker yellow/brown to seek into any crevaces in the plastic pickup covers and did a light dusting with powdered amber dye (which I had used to tint the lacquer on the neck)

The one thing I've seen done, but haven't figured out yet is how to age metal parts. I hear that there is an acid that will make nickel tuners and bridge parts lose their shine a bit, but I've yet to hear what it is.

Roger

Replies:

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