Guest PoonTangRat Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hi I'm building a kind of Tele/PRS fusion replica thing and am hoping to age it or what I have learned from the forums is called Relicing. I just want to know would it be worth me doing a full and clear coated finish to get the effect of it being a normal guitar then being battered or would it save time by only doing parts of the finish and battering/burning it from there?? Any Info would be very useful Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 Personally, I wouldn't bother ....not if the intention is to make the guitar look like it's been used extensively for a number of years because people will see it & know that it's not an old guitar straight away & think that either: a) you've bought a cheap piece of junk & you don't care that it's getting knocked about you've made it yourself & can't apply a decent finish to it so you're trying to hide it up with knocks & dings c) you've finished it yourself & it's such a poor finish that the slightest knock damages it. I'm not very keen on relicing anyway but doing it to something that's obviously not old seems like a very bad idea IMO. Now I'm going to contradict myself & tell you what I'm doing with one of mine .... I'm going for a worn finish, not so that it looks like a vintage guitar but rather an old piece of machinery. Steel plate on the front, sides & belly cut, covered with specialist primer, several layers of paint in different but complimentary colours & then sanded through on high wear areas. I want it to look like a car that's been sanded down for a respray or a JCB that's been chipped & worn by concrete & gravel. If you're set on the relicing I'd say finish to a normal standard & then attack it. When I worked on reproduction furniture, everything would be made & finished like normal then the ones to be beaten up would be wheeled into a back room & set upon by some burly men. They'd use chains, bags of pepples & various chemicals to bleach the finish (maybe bleach?)....& basically just wack the hell out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 Personally, I hate anything related to the word relic, I think the whole thing is a joke and a fad that will pass with time and leave a lot of people with egg on their faces in 10 years. Having gotten that little hissy fit out of the way... I would recommend against it myself for these reasons: Just take a look on eBay to see all the horror story guitars that were relic'ed by jackass amateurs who didn't know what they were doing, it's completely atrocious what these retards have done to all those guitars, made them complete fugly worthless POS's. I would tell you the same thing I would tell anybody else trying to build a guitar, the same basic rules apply: You will almost never do a perfect, or even really good, job your first time out the gate, this is part of the learning experience. If you had past experience at relic'ing and knew the ins and outs, then fine. But if it's your first attempt, I would seriously do some practicing on a lot of scrap before I ever attempted to do something like that to a guitar, ESPECIALLY one you spent a lot of time building yourself. PS, I think the relic'ing phase will pass with time and 10 years down the road, you will kick yourself in the ass and ask yourself 'what the ***k was I thinking'? Just like the refinishing craze of the '70's and '80's when people took valuable guitars and spray painted them and ruined their value, fads come and go... So, even tho I personally hate relic'ing and don't even like to look at guitars that are, much less pick them up and play them (ugh) I have nothing against people who want to do it, but as I said, the same rules apply, don't try it on a valuable guitar unless you KNOW what you're doing FIRST. Practice on something else for a few months before you hit the real thing with a chain or something... :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 I was actually thinking about you Alex when I posted that, as I remember you did one or two. Even tho I personally don't like it, I do admire the people who can do it realistically, there IS an art to it when it's done right. Hmmm, that gets me thinking, a good relic'er is like a good artist in a way, you don't learn to paint like Da Vinci overnight, and a lot of the relic'ing I see done would look like someone who had never picked up a paintbrush before trying to sell their very first painting, who never took a single art class at all, just picked up a few scrabble paintbrushes and had at a piece of blank canvas, then calling it art. To the people who have studied it and practiced it, my hat's off to them, because it IS an art of sorts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PoonTangRat Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 Woo thanks for the big replies guys they've been really useful. I'm beginning to think maybe relicing could be a bad idea and I'll look back on it and regret it so maybe just ageing it a bit maybe more what I am looking for and I suppose through extensive use it will get battered anyway. I can practice as much as I want on an old strat body I have so that shouldnt be a problem. Any tips for aging the finish and a completely unfinished neck?? Cheers for you time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 anyone notice it says alex is banned? is that recent and his posts chage? or is it a glitch again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 anyone notice it says alex is banned? is that recent and his posts chage? or is it a glitch again... I think he got banned a day or two ago for something in that 8 string for someone from putrefy thread. Probably shouldnt say more than that- best if that can of works stays firmly closed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 he was banned for using profanities, whilst others in the same thread, used twice as many, and didnt get touched (maybe they DID get a warning, but why should new members who have zero to add, and only join to post profanities be allowed to stay?). But, you know, what do i know, and err... this is only my humble opinion! As for the relic'ing, i believe it only really looks cool on certain guitars, and if its not done correctly, can look atrocious. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? One of the last relic jobs i did (other than spot finish repairs on old guitars), is for sale for $5000. Its a 70's Strat that had been stripped and painted with boat varnish years ago. You can find it on the web with a bit of searching. You'll also notice its hard to find REAL relic'ing info. The techniques posted about all seem the same, but they are not the methods i use (too difficult, time consuming, and have sporadic results, if any at all...). Ive never been able to get a convincing relic job by using those methods, and if you look closely, neither can the people who 'share' this information. Relic'ing is an art in itself, as pointed out by Drak, and worth a lot of money to the right people. That very reason, is why you wont generally see the information shared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Funny, it seems to me that Alex is responsible for a lot of the plans in the download section, don't think we'll want to lose him. Personally, I love a beat up looking guitar...but I mean a guitar that's been beat up because the owner has been playing it that long. I have a picture of the Red Hot Chili Pepper guy playing a nice ol' chipped up tele...awesome. But the idea of spending all that time building a guitar just to relic it? Well no...on the other hand, if you go easy on the clear coat, the guitar will pretty much relic itself within months. Or alternatively, just sent it to me. I can relic any guitar just by looking at, it seems (got a fresh new dent in my tele neck to prove it...damn drummers and their cymbals! ) Bilious-- I'm really interested in what you're working on....do you have a thread (and pics) about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 I'll get a thread up when I get a chance to do some real work on it. I joined here all eager to share my first major project & I've been real busy ever since I basically started a carve top semi & had a custom neck on order...The neck was constantly delayed & eventually got returned because it was a joke. I didn't want to do any major work on the body until the neck arrived but I got so restless that I attacked it & made a bit of a cock-up. I'm now using it for my "dumpstercaster" & got my dad roped in to help with the metal-work. I wanted to get a lot of work done over xmas but I need to get some work done in the shed first, then I can set up my new 14" bandsaw & then I can start a thread I got the idea from a few places...my step-dads workshop which has got a car graveyard out the back, a dumpster pic I found on google, Tyler guitars sandthrough finish (vomit?) & ESP's Hetfield model (truckster). an alternative way to relic is to join a metal band....plenty of studs & buckles to wear the finish..you'll look a tool but it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 bilious, I want that EXACT paint job for my RG. Like 6 or 7 different paint jobs all layered and chipped. It would look so cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 bilious, I want that EXACT paint job for my RG. Like 6 or 7 different paint jobs all layered and chipped. It would look so cool. The first refinish i ever did was that exact finish, without the chips though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 bilious, I want that EXACT paint job for my RG. Like 6 or 7 different paint jobs all layered and chipped. It would look so cool. The first refinish i ever did was that exact finish, without the chips though. got any pics of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PoonTangRat Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Tips or Links for aging the guitar guys?? Like yellowing the finish hopefully with brands of stuff available in the UK because I cant get stuff from StewMac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 bilious, I want that EXACT paint job for my RG. Like 6 or 7 different paint jobs all layered and chipped. It would look so cool. The first refinish i ever did was that exact finish, without the chips though. got any pics of it? did have a didigtal camera back then, damn, the internet wasnt even readily available! It was bright orange, purple metalic, and lime green over that, sanded through randomly. Looked great i reckon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 It was bright orange, purple metalic, and lime green over that, sanded through randomly. Looked great i reckon. ...ok, I'll take your word for it sorry PoonTangRat...kinda hijacked your thread ... have a looky here: http://reranch.com/ You could probably use a yellow/brown stain in laquer over a colour finish for that nicotine coated look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexvanderLinde Posted August 16, 2007 Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 (edited) Edited August 17, 2007 by AlexvanderLinde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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