Sensless Relicing - pic heavy

[Haze]

Jumping right in to it all, I saw this:



and thought it was just brilliant. Must have guitar. Looks, nicks, dings, stratches, the headstock, wear down to the wood, slight wear to the hardware. Its all there and it makes for one hell of a looker.

I becan to senslessly "relic" my jag a bit.

I started out with some muriatic acid to checmically age the chrome plates. I started out with the lower switch plate and the strap buttons just to start out and see how it will react to the thick chrome plating. I'll put up a picture of how i set up the acid and plate when i do the other plates tomorrow morning.

Heres my first result, compared to the rhythm plate and another strap button:
Its late and the lighting isn't enough for my phone to pick up but heres the basic idea



I also opted for using compressed air turning the can upside down and spraying subzero degree air onto the guitar. To test it i tried it out on the bottom of the guitar around the strap button. No luck, this poly finish is either too thick or its just not working.

More to come tomorrow

[Stuart]

More to come tomorrow

Is this like when kidnappers send severed fingers until the ransom is paid?

[Dave]

Can't say I've ever tried it but I think I read that poly finishes can be cracked up by putting antifreeze stuff on the body and sticking it in a freezer for a while.

[Haze]

I may try sticking it in the freezer and then rushing it into the hot sun. drastic temperature changes is what checks a nitro finish naturally.

[SKC Willie]

hmmm. I saw a youtube video of relicing a poly finish. It is a pretty long and really detailed video. You just have to be careful because it is easy to mess up poly finish relics and make your guitar look fake.

[SKC Willie]

[youtube][/youtube]


Look at that, it is a Jag too!

[hotrodperlmutter]

i did the frozen canned air bit to all my sunburst stuff (all poly) and it cracked them up nicely. my jagmaster looks great.

i usually take old sand paper that's worn down and lightly brush it in certain spots on the finish to make them satin, and then polish them as best i can with an old bit of scrap seatbelt. the amount of friction heat you can get really wears the poly nicely.

i feel like a total douchebag doing it, but it seems to fit me better after i've added my own little wear spots to a guitar that normally won't wear.

i've done the old sandpaper trick to the neck of every guitar i own, and it does wonders.

[stewart]

has doing that made you like your strat a bit more?

[Haze]

May need some tips on how you checked your poly geetars with duster, Carl. Mine didn't do sheeeeet.

Giving the other two plates a go today. Heres some good daylight shots of the setup:

Larger tupperware bowl on the bottom, place a smaller one inside of that so your parts have something to sit in/on


Close it up for 20 minutes or so.


THIS SHIT STINKS! Do it outside people

[hotrodperlmutter]

has doing that made you like your strat a bit more?

nah, neck's already satin, so not much finish to take off. however, i've sort of been playing around with it a bit recently, and i think after a setup, i might like to give it the old college try. stay together for the kids, an' all'at.

i was basically referring to my guitars with painted necks (epi LP and dot), and my jagmaster and jaguars from japan/sx shortscale jazz with mucho glossy necks. sometimes my hand just doesn't slide up and down as freely once i've sweated some. maybe my sweat is some sort of anti-lube?

matt: i just kept going back over the same spots with the can of compressed air (upside down), but i did it on sunburst so it was easier to tell where the finish cracks were.

[Haze]

I think I might borrow a hair dryer from my sister [Lady Haze doesn't own one supposedly???] and hit it with the duster, then the blow dryer, then the duster, etc

The other two plates are done, much to my delight. Quite happy with how they turned out.

After 30 minutes of them being in the fumes, polished with steel wool to stop the process and get some tarnish off:





Wasn't too happy with the outcome, so I decided to give it a 20 second dunk in the acid.
PERFECT!

The backs sure took a beating but who cares


Finished




STILL need to get rid of that TOM bridge. I still have an aged mustang bridge i bought from markocaster [?] months back.

[hotrodperlmutter]

when you had the screws out, you should've run over them with a rough brush, or sand paper, and stuck them in that dry part with your acid and gotten either some oxidation or similar kind of effect. the pickguard screws, and bridge saddles on my strat and jagmaster got insta-mojo just from living in the basement at my old house that was humidity central.

i think you should take some old sandpaper to the body and dull it up, and then take some chrome wax, or body polish and go over it with a t-shirt or something. i used a patch of this stuff that you put over dirt, in potted plants, that hold moisture in order to make seeds grow. it's like a super-tough frosted mini-wheat slice.

then take a pointed punch and drop it in random places on the body (toward the butt) for some dents/bangs. normally i wouldn't suggest it, but a pristine body with gnarred up hardware is a bit clashy.

[Haze]

I'll probably take some 0000 steel wool and some 1000 grit wet sandpaper and then polish to get a nice matt finish (no pun intended)
Then wear my belt and belt buckle and "authenticity" give it some belt rash.
My dad is taking the tom and mustang bridges to work (airline mechanic) and fix that up for me.
I have some nickel pickguard screws that will blend with the aged Chrome a little better.

Maybe a small update tonight...

[Pacafeliz]

you might also use some "normal" vinegar to "relic" the metal parts. same procedure, but less dangerous/hazardous. even causes some rust n stuff...
good luck!

Pat.

[Dave]

I'm intrigued by the swap back to a mustang ridge, not because i think a TOM is better, but with the hardtail does the Mustang bridge bring any improvements other than more vintage looks? Presumably there will be a tiny loss in TEH SUSTAYNES. Will this be flush in the holes to prevent rocking back and forth?

[Haze]

The TOM has a fixed radius of 12", like a les paul's fretboard, where as my Jag's fretboard is the vintage correct 7.25" radius. The contrast between those two is fine for open positions but fretting higher notes is harder than it should be. The guitar as a whole plays fine, but it could play better.

Probably best to illustrate it.

something like that...

[Haze]

[taylornutt]

I was wondering how you could swap those out. Very cool

[hotrodperlmutter]

^ well, that's not a direct swap. ^ the bridge has been moved toward the stop tail ~1.5". i'm wondering what happened to the holes that were in the pickguard.

the only trouble i see is that the mustang bridge is perpendicular to the string termination point (jazz trem, or mustang vibrato), but the adjust-o-matic is angled up and to the right. do you mount the mustang bridge at an angle? or do you level the appropriate ferrule for the aom?

EDIT: oh, it's a baritone jag. and eupat just drilled the rivets in the mustang bridge and placed it on the thumbscrews. i think i would've left the aom on the baritone. could be cool on a 24" jag, but kind of defeats the purpose of the solid stop-tail.

[Haze]

She'll get a trem of some sorts, don't worry, the mustang bridge will do more than just add mojo