the_kev Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 i've just bought a strat body and neck, and i want to relic it pretty heavily, almost to the point of rory gallagher's strat, but a little less extreme what could i do to make the body look really battered like that? Sandpaper would give a too perfect finish, and i've tried using a screwdriver and it just didnt work, any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 do you have a picture of your goal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dash Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 typing relic in the search engine gave me this. not too hard to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodBlessTexas Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 do you have a picture of your goal? Rory Gallagher Fender Custom Shop tribute Front Back Headstock rear - Notice the different low-e tuner. It's a pretty distressed guitar, but he played the heck out of it. GBT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Heres a good way to relic a guitar. About 40 mph for 5 minutes works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 dont forget to light it on fire for a few minutes, jeese! that guitar looks like it got in a fight with a lawnmower/wood chipper with an attached meat grinder/flame thrower th...well you get the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_kev Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 lmao! kudos mate, you've got more guts than me i'll stick a few pics of it up when i get back from work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Here's a pretty good article on making a Rory replica. I'm pretty sure this one is in the PG archives too, but it would have taken a while to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkside Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 i've just bought a strat body and neck, and i want to relic it pretty heavily, almost to the point of rory gallagher's strat, but a little less extreme what could i do to make the body look really battered like that? Sandpaper would give a too perfect finish, and i've tried using a screwdriver and it just didnt work, any suggestions? Play the heck out of the guitar for a long, long time ...LoL Ok ...Here's my sugestion..If the strat you bought is painted now...and you want to relic that paint job...Then you might want to mask off the areas that you normally don't touch or rub with any of your body or hands, during handling or playing...then rub the areas that you do touch with a rag soaked with stripper (and use gloves to protect ya hands)....and little by little the paint will wear away down to the wood...for area's that require more abuse use a hammer corner for a few dings...but never the flat part of the hammer head , turn the hammer head sideways as to hit it ....as for the head stock I would put dabs of paint stripper on dings made from the hammer....For a really cool looking affect is to detune the strings so as to lay flat against the body and then rub stripper rag over the strings and body at the same time ..to leave an empression as to have been played ..."But" ....LOL ...I would not suggest dragging it down the road or any abuse that might harm the Strat... - Darkside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_kev Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 once again thanks so much everybody, all this advice is really helpful, especially that site, this forum is great! just about to upload the pics now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_kev Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 (edited) ok, (finally) the pics one two three after a bit of a chat with my dad i think i'm gonna use nitromorse (sp?) to get rid of the finish, as it can be brushed on - it'll make it a lot easier to leave areas untouched and will give a better effect than using masking tape any ideas what woodstain i should use to make the bare wood look aged? I live in the UK so a lot of the brands mentioned on here arent available to me Edited March 18, 2006 by the_kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 (edited) I don't know why you want to change that beautiful finish, but as the saying goes, each to their own. The newer the guitar, the harder it is to relic. I heard tea or shoe polish will stain all white parts (knobs, trem covers etc.) to make them look old. And every bit of that high gloss needs to be dulled so I wouldn't bother with any masking. Think about how normal wear occurs through the years and find a way to speed up the process. The stripper would be hard to control, IMO. I will wince every time you break the skin. A reminder, there ARE a few rules on this site regarding picture posting methods. Yours are too big and too many. 640X480 max. size and one /post. The rest can be accessed by cut and pasted url's. Edited March 18, 2006 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 any ideas what woodstain i should use to make the bare wood look aged? theres this stuff that looks just like what you want , its REALLY cheap....dirt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_kev Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 eeek, sorry! i'll go edit that now that completely slipped my mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 I think you will find it very difficult to strip the Fender clear coat, it is famously tough and hard. But not so hard that you can't drag it behind your car...what I'm getting at is that is may require some abrasive action to get it off. Past that point, relicing is an art unto itself, as you can see from the Rory relic link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_kev Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 yeah, a fender finish is like a westone guitar; built like a tank what i'm probably gonna do then is sand down the finish a little, then nitromorse it to strip it off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_kev Posted March 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 i'm gonna start stripping the paint tommorow, i'll have some pics up to show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwhiteandthemaple Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Such.. a... nice.. finish... Anyways, I was just wondering what series that Strat is, looks like American? and Good luck.!! I like relics too, but IMO SRVs beats Rory -IR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canada2113 Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 swing your belt buckle at it to give it a dent or two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I like relics too, but IMO SRVs beats Rory tongue.gif +1 No guitar, beats SRV's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_kev Posted March 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 nahhhhh, gallagher all the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_kev Posted March 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 update time first i tried to strip the finish using nitro mors, dabbed a bit around the area where the backplate goes so if it all went horribly wrong nobody would notice however, it had no effect on the finish whatsoever, not even one blister i really wanted to avoid sanding the guitar though, in my opinion for the look i'm going for it would make the lines too straight and perfect, i needed something that would look jagged and worn out so in steps the heat gun a 450C (no idea what that is in faranheit sorry) one, so nothing too powerful at that level though the epoxy goes really soft and easy to work with, using a paint stripper it came off really easily example it left the odd mark here and there from where i put a bit too much force into the stripper, but it's being relic'd, so i could probably pass that off as wear and tear the next step was to mark up the areas i want to keep with a dry wipe marker pen, the kind they use on whiteboards in school. This stuff wipes off really easily, so there's no worries about marking the finish, and it means i dont have to refer to pictures all the time you can just about see it on this i'll post again when there's further work done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwhiteandthemaple Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 I don't know whether to cry or smile.. cry for that perfectly nice sunburst.. or smile at your new "old" relic... Hopefully at the end of this I'll be smiling! Good luck! -IR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 (edited) Obviously the guitar is covered in a thick coat of polyurethane. The lacquer would have eaten into the finish if left on long enough but I don't think it would be the way to go. What you have done so far looks like a guitar that has been purposely stripped. I know, its not finished yet. Like I said any form of stripper in pure form would be hard to control. A good relic should be treated more by mechanical means with maybe a little chemical help. The reason why Rory's guitar looks like that is because he sweated buckets on stage. Also, his sweat was very acidic compared to your average joe. It even affected the electronics forcing him to replace switch and pots. He had to replace the neck and hang up the original one for a few months until it dried out! So there you see the chemical side coming into play. Do some searches on "How to distress wood". Its widely done in the furniture world, everything from hitting a table top with a canvas bag full of nails to spraying and spattering caustic materials. Of course all this is random. Your task is to get control of your methods and make the guitar look like Rory Gallagher's! Edited March 22, 2006 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_kev Posted March 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 it is miles and miles away from looking like a real relic, but i've gotten a little further in stripping the finish third time round i'll sand it down to get rid of that jagged 'chipped away' look, i've used a scotch block on the finish already to make it look aged and fade the gloss, that worked really well but you cant see it on the pic something that i'm quite happy about, though it wasnt deliberate at first, is the way i've 'stained' the dents i'd made with keys when i covered them up with marker pen. when i tried to wipe it off it had sunk into the dents, and it looks really natural, i'll get a closer picture sooner also, if you're gonna use kiwi shoe polish, use a heat gun on the stuff! the heat gun will melt the shoe polish but not the plastic, and it really sinks into all the recesses and makes it look old see? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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