Ask ten different experts how to age, or relic Stratocaster or a Les Paul and you'll get ten different answers. Each has their own techniques, their own tricks and special helpers in the form of fluids, waxes, and polishes, so that they get just the look they're after.
We've linked to some great resources at the bottom of this story, but don't leave just yet. We have one or two tips of or own, courtesy of a terrific story about a relic project undertaken by Huw Price of Guitar & Bass magazine. Price aged a Squier Strat he bought specifically for the purpose so that he could create his own version of Rory Gallagher's famous battered Strat.
First of all, after removing the pickups and all the hardware, Price set about removing the polyester finish. To do that he used a 'heat gun, a scraper, and lots of patience.' He then sanded the body to make it smooth and as evenly coloured as he could.
Ask The Expert: Vintage Guitars And Aging Plastic Parts
To get the original finish from Gallagher's 1961 Strat just right, Price mixed red, amber and blac nitrocellulose lacquer and used life-sized printouts of Gallagher's Strat as guides to mak sure all the wear marks and scratches were where they should be.
According to the book, 'The Guitar Bible' by Nick Freeth, 'After some intensive spraying sessions involving skilful use of masking tape, the lacquer on Huw's instrument was allowed to dry overnight and a few layers of clear satin were added the following day.'
It's the way that Price aged the Strat that shows just how intent he was on getting as close as possible to Gallagher's Strat. He used soot, because it has a high carbon content, and, by hand, applied it, working across the grain. After dusting off the excess, he melted a mixture of black shoe polish and Liberon Georgian Mahogany furniture polish and prushed it on. Several more layers of polish were applied using a superfine wire wool and after it was dry, Price buffed it with a clean cotton cloth.
Ways To Relic A Guitar
The result? A guitar that looked forty years older. A pickguard from Germany, tinged with green to make it look old, rusty screws, and vintage wound pickups with irregular pole pieces were the finishing touches for the body.
The headstock had already been cut down to 60s specification, so Price aged it and added Sperzel machine heads. All the new metal work was made to look rusty using an electrolytic process.
The whole guitar looks incredible, and cost Price only a few hundred dollars. That compares ver well with the $4000 you'd pay for the Fender Custom Shop version.Do you play guitar, or do you just love the instrument? If so, have you come across the trend for custom guitars? It’s often called ‘relicing guitars’, and it’s a hot topic that’s been fascinating guitar owners, players, collectors and lovers for a number of years.
Martin Custom Shop D 28 Authentic 1937 Stage 1 Aging Ambertone
Directly in line with the current fashion for shabby chic interior décor, ageing guitarsis all about making new or relatively recent instruments look like beautiful old, used and well-loved vintage guitars. The idea is to make the instrumentlook like it’s been heavily used for forty or fifty years, and the effect is often called ‘road worn’.
“Because of the expense of buying a beat-up vintage Tele, guitar manufacturers decided in the ’90s to ‘recreate’ the look and feel of 40 years of use on brand new guitars. Relics, as Fender branded them, were an instant success – and an instant controversy. For many they are completely wonderful, for others they are complete heresy. “Why beat up a brand new guitar and then charge more for it?” seems to be the main sentiment, but for many others, it just makes perfect sense. Naturally, if the factory can do it then the DIY market can do it better.”
The trend was given a boost at the infamousDallas guitar show back in 2006, where a demo wascarried out by the legendary Fender Custom Shop. You can read all about the demo in fine detail via the link above, where there’s a step-by-step guide showingthe demonstratorusing a tinted wood stainto helpage the instrument to perfection.
Martin Custom Shop 28 Style Dread Adirondack/weir 1935 Aging Toner W/c
Original vintage guitars from the 1950s and ’60s can sell for tens of thousands of pounds, because of their historical value as well as the lovely, aged finish.A genuine relic Stratocaster is ahighly desirable object, far beyond the pockets of most people.A realroad worn Telecaster is a seriouslycostly item. New road worn guitars usually cost more than standard guitars. But they’restill a lot less than the ancientoriginals, which are worn naturally over many decades.
Obviously a Fender relicingjob is an expensive business when carried out by the masters themselves. But you can do it yourself, making beautiful, old-lookingguitar bodies, necksand fittings with a little confidence, creativity and the right wood finishing materials.
You might not want to practice on a guitar you love, just in case it goes horribly wrong! You can pick up cheap second hand guitars at junk shops, antique emporia, charity shops or online andhone your skills before letting yourself loose on your favourite instrument.
Aging — Lsl Instruments
Because the body material and the pickups remain the same, the sound of your guitar shouldn’t change. If it’s a cheap model, sadly it won’t sound any better. Upgrading the pickups to more ‘rustic’ or ‘vintage’ sounding ones will give your guitar the look and sound of a killer axe but is entirely optional. On the positive side, you won’t ruin the sound of a good quality guitar that just needs a touch up or adding your own customisation to it.
The guitar body, neck and the headstock are easy to age. Manufacturers do it by enhancing the varnish’s ‘fraying’, usually with a very fine grit sandpaper. It’s simple, but you need patience.
Where do you carry out the distressing? Natural wear occurs wherever the act of playing, storingor transporting the instrument causes damage. There are plenty of images online, or you could make a note of the effectsyour own style of playing has on various areas, for example:
Aging / Relicing Hardware
Mostinstruments are coated with polyurethane lacquer, some are coated withnitrocellulose, which is thinner and helps the guitar resonate. You need to remove the varnish in the places you want to create wear.Both types of finish are sensitive to sunlight and temperature differences, so you canstand the bodyin sunlight after you’ve carefully sanded the surface. When it’s hot, cool it down as quickly as you can. A freezer is ideal if yours is big enough. Then repeat the process until the finish starts to crack.
Alternatively, simply heat the parts of the body you want to look old with a hair dryer then cool it fast with a compressed air spray. If you hear a crack, don’t worry. It mean the process is working as it should. Just bear in mind it’s a bad idea to do this with the neck attached because you might bend it, which could be potentially expensive to fix. Be wary of acoustic guitars where the neck is fixed, so you might want to skip this step when aging an acoustic guitar.
When you’re happy with the level of distressing, rub the instrument down with a damp cloth. While the un-lacquered parts will soon get grubby through natural wear as you play, you canuse a dirty cloth to give the finish instantpersonality.
Nash Guitars Alder S 63 Matching Headstock Vintage White Light Aging W
To distress the metal parts. But it goes a long way towards creating an authentic relic look. Firstly, remove them from the body.Then get busy creating damage. You can hit the parts with a brick or stone, or even concrete, to pit the surface and create a key for dirt to accumulate. Scratches are also good, exposing the metal underneath the shiny plated finish.
You can also rub the shine off with either a fine metal file, wet sandpaper or steel wool, check out our range of abrasives for more information on sanding and abrasive materials. If you want to take things further for a more dramatic look, you can dip them in bathroom cleaner, which is abrasive and often acid, and eats away the surface beautifully. Remember to check progress regularly so you don’t go too far. Twelve hours isn’t uncommon, so exercise patience. When it’s done, simply rinse the parts with soap and water.
This is the easiest bit.Take the plastic partsoff the guitar body first, including the pick guard andpickup covers if you like. Then make random scratches and marks with a pair of scissors or a screwdriver to create places where dirt can accumulate.
Pre War Guitars Co. Dreadnought Mahogany, Level 2 Aging
Most pick guards have two or three layers, usuallyin different colours. So filing or sanding down the top layer will reveal the layers below – an enormously satisfying process.
White plastic looks great when it goes yellow – a sure sign of age. After sanding the surface you can get the effect with a small amount of dark solvent-based wood stain, such as Morrells Light Fast Wood Stain. Dot onto a cotton rag or paper towel. Clean off the excess with a clean cloth to leave a subtle stain that sits in the scratches you’ve made. Then add a coat of Morrells
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