Paint checks, aging relic crackle effect?
- Thread starter madaxeman
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callous_frigid_chill
New member
Re: Paint checks, aging relic crackle effect?
I suppose moving it from a high temperature environment to a low temp one quickly would work. I don't know if that is a good way to do it though.
I suppose moving it from a high temperature environment to a low temp one quickly would work. I don't know if that is a good way to do it though.
S
Skarekrough
Guest
Re: Paint checks, aging relic crackle effect?
Close....but try going the other way.
The Tom Murphy (I think it's Tom) actually takes guitars and puts them in big freezers and leaves them there for a day or so. He pulls them out when the weather's hot and they just check naturally going from one to the other.
In New England I wouldn't try that sort of thing until maybe late July or so. Although, with the humidity, it may have an adverse effect.
callous_frigid_chill said:
Close....but try going the other way.
The Tom Murphy (I think it's Tom) actually takes guitars and puts them in big freezers and leaves them there for a day or so. He pulls them out when the weather's hot and they just check naturally going from one to the other.
In New England I wouldn't try that sort of thing until maybe late July or so. Although, with the humidity, it may have an adverse effect.
kmcguitars
GuitarArtologist
Re: Paint checks, aging relic crackle effect?
Behlen makes a product called Crackle Lacquer that is supposed to create that effect.( Never used it, Don't know how well it works?) Butnut once mentioned in a post about spraying freon on the finish. (Again, Not sure exactly what he did?)
Behlen makes a product called Crackle Lacquer that is supposed to create that effect.( Never used it, Don't know how well it works?) Butnut once mentioned in a post about spraying freon on the finish. (Again, Not sure exactly what he did?)
MikeRocker
What's Your Forum Nameologist?
Re: Paint checks, aging relic crackle effect?
I read that the freezer trick works. Someboy has probably discussed it at the www.reranch.com forum.
I read that the freezer trick works. Someboy has probably discussed it at the www.reranch.com forum.
Zerberus
Baron Von Shred
Re: Paint checks, aging relic crackle effect?
toss the body in the freezer for a few days, pull it out in the midst of summer (or stick it in a <150°F preheated oven for 5 minutes or so).... Voila, Insta-Checking, because the wood expands faster than the lacquer.
For playing wear (forearm contour, for ex): wrap your arm in sandpaper and play.. Use higher grit for less wear, but if you wanna go straight thru the paint and half the body there´s nothing against 40 grit and then successively going up again to "finish level" grits.
For dings: there are a few methods here, I (honestly) prefer to just toss it down a carpeted stairway ("Toss" does not mean throw like a baseball, but lightly yet so that the body tumbles a few times before reaching the bottom), possibly a few times, and maybe place a few chips with blunt instruments around the edges and so.
That said, I really never got this relilcing stuff.. isn´t half the fun of playing out being able to tell about where the battle scars came from? "I just tossed it down a staircase" sounds kinda childish and lame :laugh2:
toss the body in the freezer for a few days, pull it out in the midst of summer (or stick it in a <150°F preheated oven for 5 minutes or so).... Voila, Insta-Checking, because the wood expands faster than the lacquer.
For playing wear (forearm contour, for ex): wrap your arm in sandpaper and play.. Use higher grit for less wear, but if you wanna go straight thru the paint and half the body there´s nothing against 40 grit and then successively going up again to "finish level" grits.
For dings: there are a few methods here, I (honestly) prefer to just toss it down a carpeted stairway ("Toss" does not mean throw like a baseball, but lightly yet so that the body tumbles a few times before reaching the bottom), possibly a few times, and maybe place a few chips with blunt instruments around the edges and so.
That said, I really never got this relilcing stuff.. isn´t half the fun of playing out being able to tell about where the battle scars came from? "I just tossed it down a staircase" sounds kinda childish and lame :laugh2:
Last edited:
Jeroen
New member
Re: Paint checks, aging relic crackle effect?
I once witnessed a clinic by Fender Custom Shop master builder John English, who reliced a Custom Shop Esquire on the spot. He used a can of 'Dust-Off' spray for the crackling effect (you can also use chewing gum remover spray for textile to spray on the body). This contains either freon or liquid nitrogen, he wasn't certain about that. Anyhow, it's awfully cold. The temperature in the room will do the rest. John applied the spray three times in one hour. He then made some dents in the finish by gently beating on the guitar's body with a chain of belt buckles ('These are Genuine Fender Strap buckles, people!'), and made some larger dents using a small wood plane. To further enhance the deeper dents and scratches where the actual wood was showing, and to enhance the crackling in the laquer, I'm not sure what he used. He rubbed the body with some dark coloured stuff, I think it was some block. The dark colour accentuaded the crackles in the finish, and actually made it look really old.
John English is a cool guy, he has a nice sense of humour. He also spoke of some guy who had a poly-finished Tokai Strat he wanted to relic. He put the guitar in the freezer for some time, and then laid it in his oven for a little while. Indeed, after a little while he heard a cracking noise, and eagerly went to look at the guitar to see how things got along. To indeed find the body cracked... in half!!! :laugh2:
I once witnessed a clinic by Fender Custom Shop master builder John English, who reliced a Custom Shop Esquire on the spot. He used a can of 'Dust-Off' spray for the crackling effect (you can also use chewing gum remover spray for textile to spray on the body). This contains either freon or liquid nitrogen, he wasn't certain about that. Anyhow, it's awfully cold. The temperature in the room will do the rest. John applied the spray three times in one hour. He then made some dents in the finish by gently beating on the guitar's body with a chain of belt buckles ('These are Genuine Fender Strap buckles, people!'), and made some larger dents using a small wood plane. To further enhance the deeper dents and scratches where the actual wood was showing, and to enhance the crackling in the laquer, I'm not sure what he used. He rubbed the body with some dark coloured stuff, I think it was some block. The dark colour accentuaded the crackles in the finish, and actually made it look really old.
John English is a cool guy, he has a nice sense of humour. He also spoke of some guy who had a poly-finished Tokai Strat he wanted to relic. He put the guitar in the freezer for some time, and then laid it in his oven for a little while. Indeed, after a little while he heard a cracking noise, and eagerly went to look at the guitar to see how things got along. To indeed find the body cracked... in half!!! :laugh2:
