Relicing

[gary mac]

I'm about to embark on a project for the winter months.

I'm planning on putting together a p bass with a late 50's look, but I'm on a tight budget so not sure how authentic it's going to be.

Anyway if I decide on the roadworn look the first thing I want to do is to relic/age the body, which is a 90's Jap sunburst.
I've been checking out a few websites that recommend varying grades of wet and dry sandpaper all over, followed by a good buff up with T cut. At risk of sounding very stupid, would that actually achieve anything?
What I mean is, if I sand down and then T cut, won't that just make it look all shiney and new again?

I can't afford to be buying vintage tuners (can't believe the prices on Ebay), so advice on ageing tuners and other metal parts would also be appreciated. I have read about various acids, but it all sounds a bit heavy duty.

Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks, Gary

[Ou7shined]

When the finish naturally wears down it is a gradual thing - the finish is effectively rubbed away a molecule at a time. When you speed the process up with sandpaper you scratch away the finish leaving (comparatively) deep scratches. To make the wear look authentic you must remove the obvious scratches, first with higher grade papers then buff it out to a polish.

[wesfinn]

poly laquer is a lot harder to authentically replicate aging and wear than on a nitro cellulose finish. Also poly hardly ever looks good when an attempt has been made to age the finish as any marks/scratches will show up as white.

If your bass is finished in nitro then i wouldn't use sand paper on it. use cellulose thinners on a bit of rag. try to keep in mind how the movemnts of say your forearm would be over the edges to make it look mroe authentic. Laquer checking can be recreated by gently warming and then rapidly cooling the finish. Fender do theirs by gently heating and then spraying with a can of compressed air. Gibson recreate the checking by painstakingly cutting the finish with a stanly blade!

also use a bunch of keys on a lanyard and flick them at the body to create random dinks etc.

thats just some tips. I do other things on my basses which I would rather keep to myself but theres some basic stuff to get you started.

Biggest tip I would give you is 'know when to stop!' as its easy to go a bit too mad on them.

[Mr. Foxen]

Cover yourself in engineers blue and play your bass some, that way you'll know where you rub against it and thus where to wear, as it were. Engineers blue may not be the best method, but I think you get the general idea. The best worn basses are worn where the owner has played them, if you can see a rubbed bit that isn't covered by their arm, you know they are faking.

[gary mac]

Thanks Chaps.

First things first then, I guess I need to ascertain what the finish is. I think it's probably poly laquer given that its a 90's japanese body.

I've not absolutely made up my mind on the relicing thing, until recently I wasn't a fan but then tried a mex road worn and found myself liking it.

I may still end up just trying to make it look like a 50's model that hasn't been played much!

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='gary mac' post='1006377' date='Oct 30 2010, 03:45 PM']I may still end up just trying to make it look like a 50's model that hasn't been played much![/quote]

Good excuse to play it much.

[icastle]

[quote name='gary mac' post='1006316' date='Oct 30 2010, 01:38 PM']I can't afford to be buying vintage tuners (can't believe the prices on Ebay), so advice on ageing tuners and other metal parts would also be appreciated. I have read about various acids, but it all sounds a bit heavy duty.

Thanks, Gary[/quote]

Coca Cola strips plating off in about 24hrs.
For goodness sake though, try it out on something that doesn't matter before commiting yourself in case you don't like the effect...

[thisnameistaken]

The reason most relic jobs look stupid is because they are so unrealistic. They think "Oh bassists touch their basses here, and here, and here" and so those bits get sanded down to the wood, then it's "Oh it looks too neat, let's put some dings all over it". Hmm.

A real bass might have a weathered paint job, it might have worn through to the wood in small areas like above the pup covers from resting the thumb. It might have chips/dings on the back edge from standing on rough surfaces, or bigger crunchy dings on the bottom edge from being dropped, it might have a few other marks on the top from occasional accidents (accidentally dropping jack plugs / screwdrivers / beer bottles on it), it will probably have buckle rash on the back, swirls on the pickguard, maybe paint chips at the neck pocket from removal/replacement, if the fingerboard is maple it will probably have sweaty swamp stains in the most common playing positions, etc.

Whereas when I see a bass where someone's just sanded all the chamfered edges and then whacked every square inch with a pin hammer it just looks abused, not used.

[Mr. Foxen]

I thought of a good plan. Offer true relicing for investment instruments, basically, your customer buys a nice new expensive Fender, and you gig it for the next 15 years, then give it back, like buying futures.

[4 Strings]

Pretty soon the fake worn look fad will have passed and you'll be left with a great bass which you have mutilated.

Get is as you want by all means, but, for me, I'd make it look perfect then set about wearing it out by using it and be amazed at how much my bass playing improves in the process.

[4 Strings]

Pretty soon the fake worn look fad will have passed and you'll be left with a great bass which you have mutilated.

Get is as you want by all means, but, for me, I'd make it look perfect then set about wearing it out by using it and be amazed at how much my bass playing improves in the process.