ZiKi Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 I've seen many necks that were worn away on the back. Is there any specific technique to this, or is it just sanding? Also, what is used to stain it, shoe polish or actual stains? LMK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted August 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 remove the neck from the guitar and then go out into the back yard and play baseball with a few rocks using the neck as the bat.. seriously..when you look at a neck that has the finish rubbed off because of playing it's usually heaviest along the edge of the neck where the palm rubs on the high string side. there will be some wear but usually less where the thumb rubs on the low string side..so sanding down to wood in some places and just removing some of the finish in others is the look you're going for. you want to be sure to "feather" the edges of the area that you sand. in other words, make a smooth transition from sanded to finished. as far as the antiqueing goes remember that the dark area of a naturally worn neck is a result of body oil and dirt..so stain would work but might make it look a little too clean..i've never actually done this but i would imagine that if you put a splotch of stain here and there and then maybe a little shoe polish here and there and then some lemon oil or furniture polish over the whole thing you might get close. good luck with it and you might try googlin' relicing guitar necks or something along those lines and you might find a good tutorial somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted August 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 thanks for the insight, i dont think i would've noticed that and would have sanded the whole neck, so thanks! I have some brown and tan shoe polish, but no stains :-/ What would be the best way to seal the neck? i dont want the polish to come off on my hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 i'd get a can of tung oil or whatever oil finish, minwax, etc. is available to you and wipe a couple of coats on after the polish..my only concern is that the shoe polish may not allow the oil to penetrate. if you rub the polish into the wood and then burnish it with a soft rag it may not rub off.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fronkpies Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 hey im brand new here so hello. im relecing a neck ive just bought as well. having trouble getting much info on how to though. my advice is get lots of pics, lots and lots. my neck is a squire strat neck with strat decal so looks liek the real thing. rosewood fretboard so a bit of sanding gives that worn look. how is urs going? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 (edited) Its not so much "how" to relic (I prefer the olde fashioned waye myself, just play the damn guitar) but "where" it should be reliced. Here is a pic of my mid-60's Fender Newporter with a maple neck (strat-style, bolt-on). This is what they look like when played for many years. Notice the short V-shape of dirt and grime towards the headstock and the lonnnng V-shape going in the other direction. You can tell that most of the wear occurs where you would be playing open chords etc. Thats the classic look you are after. So I would try to copy that shape by vigorously sanding the finish down where you see the dirt and feathering it out where you see the "V's". Once sanded go play in the garden for a little while and then come back in and play your guitar. Never wash your hands before playing and you should get that look inside of 3 months. You need to use REAL dirt to properly relic your guitar, ya know. Edited October 12, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fronkpies Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 how come you'v had your tuners moved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Looks like he probably just replaced the old original (F style?) tuners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Tuners aren't original. I bought the guitar in pieces from a friend for 50 bucks. Its been totally rebuilt/refinished. The original tuners were long gone and the neck had old style Grovers that didn't fit properly. Those are now on the tele I just built and I installed a set of generic "Profile" tuners on the Newporter. As usual, change tuners and you wind up with a few errant screwholes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nalo1022 Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 lol i actually found a pretty efective way to relic a neck by accident. i love the feel of a bare neck rubbed down with a few coats of a tung/poly/naptha concotion, and to get the right feel i end up finnishing it off wet sanding with my concoction an extra fine synthetic steel wool pad. over time these pads get quite gummed up with all the oils etc well one time i had a freind who asked me to relic a guitar for him and i found that these pads worked perfectly. It takes a while to get threough heavierw finnishes but if you start ti off with a heview grit pad/paper adn finnish it up with a oily dirty pad it looks great. i guess the extra fine grit makes it look alot more faded as opposed to the hardlines you get with sandpaper. plus the oils etc get rubbed in so your end result is a smoth old lookin neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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