Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

CTN

CTN

The Drama Dude
So for my upcoming hardtail strat build, I pretty much have all the guts, electronics, and hardware figured out.

I'm going to be getting all black hardware.

That said, I've been thinking about paint/finish lately, and was pondering the thought of lightly relic'ing the guitar.

Couple questions though:

1) Has anyone here done any relicing, and if so, do you have any tips to offer?

2) Is it even worth it relicing black hardware, or is it even possible? All the examples of relic'd hardware I've seen has been of the stainless steel 50's/60's variety, probably before black hardware was even an option on guitars, so I'm not sure how to go about doing this or what methods do and don't work on coated hardware.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

Cover it with nitrocellulose, play it for a year or two, and it will be lightly worn. Play it for five and it will be something Fender would charge an extra $2,000 for! And it will all be natural wear, right where it fits your body.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

I should've expected that :nana:

I'll be going with either a brilliant white finish or an antique white. (haven't yet decided about nitro vs poly vs auto paint vs. white pickling stain)

If I go brilliant white, I will leave the hardware in new condition.

If I go antique white (which I'm leaning towards, because I've always wanted an antique white strat), then I will most likely be aging the knobs and possibly pickup bobbins to match. That's what got me thinking about relicing the hardware as well. Aged-looking finish, knobs and pickups are going to look a bit weird along side brand spanking new hardware.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

i've got a really novel idea to relic my guitars. I play them as much as possible. Strangely enough, doing this has also improved my tone. Weird eh ?
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

or do like me and get too stoned to remember whether or not you latched your hardcase closed, resulting in some nice paint chippage in the forearm area of strat! luckily I was in a practice room and nobody got to see me look like an idiot!
IMG_0475.jpg


Sadly, all I have after 7 years is that one big spot, and a few areas that were chipped by sax players who walked into my guitar.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

Ok, just so you guys know, I've been playing guitar for like 16 years now. All my other guitars have been naturally relic'd by playing them modding them, playing gigs, touring, jamming, travelling etc. I am no stranger to this.

This is a build. I want to do something special, not just assemble some parts and call it a day. I want this to be challenging, and I want to learn something new that I didn't know about before.

Please try to understand...I'm not a n00b. the relicing on my other guitars came about as I learned to play guitar, as I developed my own sound, my own phrasing, and my own sense of rhythm and tonality. I have found myself with my other guitars.

I don't want a "new" guitar, I just want to build the "old friend" I've had in my head for the past who knows how many years. Make sense?

Now please stop telling me to naturally relic it!
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

My guitars were never liced in the first place. Why would I want to lice them again?
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

My friend used acid or the liquid from used car battery to fry the paint. Then after the paint has been scraped off, he applied cigarette ash over it, creating faux worn-down look. If you smoke you can also stick a burning cigarette on the headstock right under the sixth string and leave it there to burn up and burn a bit of your headstock, as Yngwie did.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

ConvoysToNothingness said:
Ok, just so you guys know, I've been playing guitar for like 16 years now. All my other guitars have been naturally relic'd by playing them modding them, playing gigs, touring, jamming, travelling etc. I am no stranger to this.

This is a build. I want to do something special, not just assemble some parts and call it a day. I want this to be challenging, and I want to learn something new that I didn't know about before.

Please try to understand...I'm not a n00b. the relicing on my other guitars came about as I learned to play guitar, as I developed my own sound, my own phrasing, and my own sense of rhythm and tonality. I have found myself with my other guitars.

I don't want a "new" guitar, I just want to build the "old friend" I've had in my head for the past who knows how many years. Make sense?

Now please stop telling me to naturally relic it!
Click to expand...

If you want an 'old friend' why don't you build one with no finish at all. The body will get dirty and ****ty looking in no time. My other tip, if you plan to paint your guitar, you can sand down certain parts of it until you reach the wood. The result would be something like the distressed finish ESP Kirk Hammett. If you aim at a heavily worn style like ESP George Lynch's version, implement my tip in the previous post.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

Black hardware in general doesn't relic nicely. It doesn't get a noticeable patina like nickel does. It just...well...peels off and rusts. Look up 80's Floyds for a good example.

Funny you made this thread. I just came home after being away for 4 months and guess what. I forgot to put my Strat in it's case because I figured it'd be looked after. Well, the room flooded a little bit and a lot of my gear got slightly wet, and the water/humidity seeped in through all the finish cracks in the Strat and expanded, cracking the finish even further. Unfortunately, it's poly so it doesn't look cool. It looks like crap. Oh well. Good thing I don't mind beat up guitars.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

Why would anybody wanna "relic" a guitar, that's beyond my imagination. So no, I can't really help with any tips.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

Yes I know you hate the concept, practice and anything to do with relicing. :)

I want to relic this guitar because newness is boring.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

ConvoysToNothingness said:
I should've expected that :nana:

I'll be going with either a brilliant white finish or an antique white. (haven't yet decided about nitro vs poly vs auto paint vs. white pickling stain)

If I go brilliant white, I will leave the hardware in new condition.

If I go antique white (which I'm leaning towards, because I've always wanted an antique white strat), then I will most likely be aging the knobs and possibly pickup bobbins to match. That's what got me thinking about relicing the hardware as well. Aged-looking finish, knobs and pickups are going to look a bit weird along side brand spanking new hardware.
Click to expand...

Go with Nitro. Its not anywhere near as strong as Poly & it will relic on it's own. Especially if you are very hard on the guitar. A simple way to relic a nitro finish is once the finish is done, take it out & leave it in the cold for a few hours. While the body is out in the cold turn the oven on to about 150 degrees. Bring the body in and place it in the oven for about 10 minutes. You have to watch it carefully because timing is critical. You can pretty much watch the body lacquer check as soon as it gets in a nice toasty warm environment. The guitar will check naturally due to the expansion & contraction of the wood under the finish.

Now relicing the neck is a little more difficult. If it's a maple f/b you can finish the neck then buff it off with steel wool. I like the look of a naturally deteriorating neck due to playing wear. On a maple board that just looks so cool. If you want cigarette burns under the strings(like Clapton's) you can use a soldering iron, or better yet is burn a cigarette down & just let it burn the wood.

You have to hold the guitar the way it would be played to see where the wear would naturally occur. On a Strat, around the switch, on the pickguard, where your arm rests on the body while playing. This can be a difficult thing to make look natural. You need to sand through the finish, then buff it smooth. If its done to perfection it will look like its been played for 50 years. If its done poorly then it will look like it was done last week.
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

Nitro's where its at for an 'easily' reliced finish. Dull the finish with very light sandpaper. You can alternate between hot and cold air blowing on it for finish checking, a small hammer lightly tapping for dings, and slightly heavier for paint chips (in areas they are likely to happen - edges, strap buttons, jack area).

Plastic parts can get the shine taken off with very fine grit paper (make sure to move in all directions with the paper). Coffee is apparently quite good at yellowing the guard.

Only relic nickel/gold parts. These are best done by exposing the to the fumes of Hydrochloric acid for 20 mins. (a container of parts in a larger sealed container of acid.)
 
Re: Relicing - Anyone here do their own?

I let kids and airline baggage handlers do it for me.
 
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