Aging finish with UV flashlight

[Tubes]

Yeah, my only concern is you might end up with a flaky too yellowed guitar if it takes too much UV to catch it up..

I guess it's a minor risk.

That's why I'd leave it alone. "One does not simply 'catch up' on 40 years of natural aging" (insert lord of the rings meme picture)

There's no guarantee that directing extra light in an accelerated way will result in the same color/hue/tint that 40 years of normal conditions caused. It might yellow more, or less, or darker... who knows?

Also... this thread would be much better with pictures.

[alex1fly]

Seems like a good candidate for a re-finish. I mean if you're going to take months/years to artificially age one spot with UV, refinishing will be a cakewalk in comparison lol

[d1dsj]

I’d leave well alone, just leave the guard off and show the world that it once had a guard but now it’s naked. It will dull down and fade a bit over time. It’ll just add to the vintage vibe.

[eclecticsynergy]

I thought on this more...

I think the best approach would be to build a stencil with a hole cut out of the area to age -made of semi opaque paper that allows some UV through to the already aged area. next, raise the stencil off the surface of the pickguard an inch or two and face the guitar into the sun daily. In the this way the movement of the sun's arc across the sky daily will naturally blend the two areas based on the rays getting some direct sun and not in the "blend area" daily and let the new area "catch up" without a dramatic line between the 2 areas.

Make sense?

Stencil is my best option at this point I think. If I decide to follow through with the experiment.
I was counting on the sun's transit to give a soft edge to the shaded portions.

[eclecticsynergy]

Savvy woodworkers and luthiers learned how to test the color fastness of stains by taping samples of stained woods to southern windows for certain lengths of time. I did one years ago, with red stain on maple. I tested a couple red stains, which were then cleared with different topcoats - this was all on the same board divided into squares with marker, and then small areas covered with tape to determine the amount of fade from the original. Worked great - it was easy to see what the results were.

Good to know that enough UVA penetrates window glass to produce some effect.
That had been a concern of mine and outdoor exposure isn't really an option in the city.

[eclecticsynergy]

Yeah, my only concern is you might end up with a flaky too yellowed guitar if it takes too much UV to catch it up..

I guess it's a minor risk.

Yep. I figure on doing it an hour or two at a time until I know how fast the color change happens.

[eclecticsynergy]

That's why I'd leave it alone. "One does not simply 'catch up' on 40 years of natural aging" (insert lord of the rings meme picture)

There's no guarantee that directing extra light in an accelerated way will result in the same color/hue/tint that 40 years of normal conditions caused. It might yellow more, or less, or darker... who knows?

Also... this thread would be much better with pictures.

I figure on going pretty gradually. And although a perfect match would be great, I'd be happy if I could just get in the same ballpark.

I'll take some pics with the guard off at some point once I've dug the guitar out - it's under two other cases, behind a stack of seven...
For now, here's an older pic from my files.

Nicotine Blonde

[eclecticsynergy]

Seems like a good candidate for a re-finish. I mean if you're going to take months/years to artificially age one spot with UV, refinishing will be a cakewalk in comparison lol

I've never really considered having it refinished. Then again, the guitar is worth more these days than it was years ago.
Might be worth a pro refin now. Still, I like the aged look, and even the wear.

She's had a refret in the past, and ugraded pots. So it isn't a matter of keeping her all original.
I may even swap the pickups, not sure. But I've got a Virtual PAF set looking for a home.

For years I've felt nostalgic for a white Custom with DiMarzio PAFs that I had back in the 70s and sold in the 80s.
That's one reason why this appealed so much when I saw it for sale, I think.

[eclecticsynergy]

I’d leave well alone, just leave the guard off and show the world that it once had a guard but now it’s naked. It will dull down and fade a bit over time. It’ll just add to the vintage vibe.

That's the other possibility, and worth evaluating, thanks.
It's been a couple of years since I saw it without a pickguard.
The disparity might not bother me as much as I once thought.

[NegativeEase]

Stencil is my best option at this point I think. If I decide to follow through with the experiment.
I was counting on the sun's transit to give a soft edge to the shaded portions.

Yeah, I think raising the stencil an inch off the body will give you a better blend

[GuitarDoc]

It's a white LP?! How hideous. While I think some guitars look really super in white, I've never had any liking at all to white on a LP.
I'd say it's time for a repaint.