artandsoul wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:36 pm
anyone have any good pointers on relic builds before i go crazy with an exacto , sandpapper and stains?
What I have found to be useful:
* Take your time. Remember a little bit goes a long way.
* Study images of real vintage guitars in played-in condition and notice how the defects actually appear. For instance, nitro finished flaked-off and the left-over sharp edges got 'softened' over years of playing. Versus the graduated sanding techniques that faked relics use. IMHO, many relics look ridiculously faked because they don't look at all like battle damage.
* Related, nitro flakes typically followed the guitars natural grain. in other words, the flakes look like puzzle pieces tend top pe shaped like the white spaces inside the dark lines of the grain.
* Put a little muriatic acid in a glass jar and put that in an old tupperware with metal parts you want to corrode. Don't reuse the tupeprware for food. have baking soda and water on hand as a neutralizer and spray it on the parts before using them. Us e safety glasses and gloves. Oil non sealed tuners and screw threads afterwards. Mask the threads and bridge contact points for tremolo bridge screws, trem claw scres and neck attachment screws.
* Heat gun on low, followed immediately by canned compressed air (like you clean computers with), will check and crack most finishes. May take a few attempts with poly or nylon finishes.
* A Watkins Wood Restorer (Lowes, Home Depot), or a little gun oil or penetrating oil mixed with a minute amount of dust and dirt will give a played-in look to exposed wood.
* Pick damage areas include the last few frets near the body. Small pieces of course Scotchbrite pads are great for this.
* "Roll' the finger board edges for a comfortable, played-in feel, with the round shaft of a Phillips head screwdriver, by rubbing it on the sharp corners.
* Rosewood fretboards get slightly scalloped on the frets that get played, especially in the 1st through 4th strings. They also get divots right under the strings, typically a 1/2mm wide. You can replicate this, by gently using a straight pick along a straight edge.