Another butchered guitar...

[Vintage55]

Try throwing it into a pond

 

good idea!

 

[metalheadUK]

I reliced my Squier Tele and got some {censored} for it on here!

 

Unlike you I just worked on the Poly paint..I've got some rust going on on mine as well.

 

It was a {censored} guitar that had been reassembled badly, and I got it at a boot fair and never played it.

 

It's now a guitar I enjoy playing, and therefore me "ruining" it has made it better for me...

 

It's not worth anything, I'm not gonna sell it, and so what I do to it is entirely my concern, as is what you do to yours.

 

I dont give a {censored} if the relicing looks unnatural...I've seen natural relics that look fake as {censored}, and fakes that look fantastic.

 

Not all guitars do wear in the same places..fact!

 

I LOVE this Spear...looks like an old barn door, but hardly "real"

 

 

 

Heres some pics of my Squier:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, good on you, and keep smilin' (and relicing)!

 

[Vintage55]

Thanks for the encouragement...that tele looks REALLY good. I would bet it was a real worn guitar and not "created". Great job!

 

What did you do to the hardware to get that look...especially how it seems to vary a bit from part to part?

[Edward]

I've long had mixed feelings about relis. I'm pretty pro - they can look really cool, though they've never been quite what I'm after.... largely because most of them are just overdone. These are pretty subtle and therefore look that much more like a 'real' guitar that has just worn in over time. That's what looks fake about most relcis to me - the fact that they look like they've been taken on the road without a case for 40 years, and transported by being tied to the back of the tourbus / van!

 

 

 

For a relic it looks good. The bridge stands out as too big and shiny, and especially not vintage. I know Fender have been using them for 20+ years now, but that 2 post trem stands out on a relic style guitar.

 

 

That is the giveaway, yeah.... have Fender ever used that bridge with a (production) nitro-finished model?

 

ETA: Assuming the OP wanted the guitar to look older as opposed to simply having a cool finish, a set of old-style steel saddles would help. While I don't want to replace anything (trying to stay all stock) on my 1994 US Strat Std, I always did think those blocky saddles are ugly as sin.... the old-style ones they're fitting on the latest US Std models has transformed the look, IMO - the benefits of the two-post trem (more stable for excess whammy abuse, IMO) while maintaining much of the aesthetic appeal of the odler design.

[Vintage55]

Both the yellow and blue guitars are just stock Squier Standards. I might look into changing all the hardware out to vintage stuff and relic it as well, just to take the guitars to another level of (fake) authenticity.

 

[guitarcapo]

 

I would just paint over the bare wood area with a little of the pure white and buff it so the wear there is not so severe.

 

You might consider soaking your metal hardware in vinegar for a little while to get it to tarnish a bit. keep an eye on it so it doesn't occur so much.

Maybe leave the pickguard in the sun a while to age it.

I dunno I'm no expert. I usually just play my guitars to wear them out.

[BoneNut]

About a year ago, I went about the whole relicing thing in a different way. I made a Parts o Caster with a Classic 50s three piece body and a neck from a MIA Deluxe V neck. Electronics are all top notch, including Fender Custom Shop Custom 69s an all the hardware is Callaham. Yeah, it turned out great and is a real player, incredible Strat.

 

The original finish was Shoreline gold, under a mile of poly. I took it down to bare wood and applied acrylic enamel from spray cans. Over twenty six thin coats with plenty of sanding every three or four coats. Once cured, I sanded down the paint, polished it and left a gorgeous, baby blue, mirror finish, very similar to Daphne Blue.

 

The finish is paper thin and I did not apply any clear coats or sealer coats. When you look at the guitar, you can tell the finish is super thin although you can

[bsman]

This seems like a good place for this question: How do you remove a poly finish???

[BoneNut]

 

This seems like a good place for this question: How do you remove a poly finish???

 

 

I made a few deep cuts in mine and stuck a thin screwdriver into it, popping off pieces you could actually use as picks.

 

I discovered though that I was also making small gouges into the wood so I stopped doing that. I went to the hardware store and bought a small electric sander instead and I sanded the finish off. I know there are a lot of chemical strippers on the market and I've tried a few but they are incredibly messy. In the end, the electric sander was the best solution for me.

 

Besides, once the rough sanding was done, I went over it by hand with fine grit sandpaper. The result was a very smooth surface that was perfect for painting.

[bsman]

Thx!

[Vintage55]

I take the poly finish off mine by hand...too cheap to buy the belt sander . I start off with 60 grit sandpaper and once maybe half the poly is gone, move to 100, then finish sanding with 220. Alot of work, but it's good for me, too.

 

BoneNut...if you want to add/accelerate wear, you might try Micro Mesh pads, available at Woodcraft. Not really sandpaper, and some of them are so fine that you could rub it on your arm for hours and not know you'd done it. I attempt to think through where wear would be naturally and how the wear would occur...and then use a very fine MM pad to rub the body in that area and in the same direction. Like your arm rubbing on the upper body of the strat in this post. The area above the pickguard where your pick would hit the body and wear through is a combination of a MM pad and actually rubbing a pick there.

 

I'm working on a thinline tele right now, taking the original finish off. The original owner really abused this guitar, so it's going to take alot of filler to get rid of all the dings. This one will be a baby blue color and I may not relic it at all. I'll wait until the painting is done before deciding whether to go in that direction or not.

[BoneNut]

I take the poly finish off mine by hand...too cheap to buy the belt sander . I start off with 60 grit sandpaper and once maybe half the poly is gone, move to 100, then finish sanding with 220. Alot of work, but it's good for me, too. BoneNut...if you want to add/accelerate wear, you might try Micro Mesh pads, available at Woodcraft. Not really sandpaper, and some of them are so fine that you could rub it on your arm for hours and not know you'd done it. I attempt to think through where wear would be naturally and how the wear would occur...and then use a very fine MM pad to rub the body in that area and in the same direction. Like your arm rubbing on the upper body of the strat in this post. The area above the pickguard where your pick would hit the body and wear through is a combination of a MM pad and actually rubbing a pick there. I'm working on a thinline tele right now, taking the original finish off. The original owner really abused this guitar, so it's going to take alot of filler to get rid of all the dings. This one will be a baby blue color and I may not relic it at all. I'll wait until the painting is done before deciding whether to go in that direction or not.

 

Thanks V55!

 

I am familiar with Micro Mesh and use it a lot to polish paint into that mirror finish I mentioned.

 

You've given me a great idea. What I can do is look at the finish closely after a year of use and determine where wear is starting and help it along in those stops and in the same patterns it's appearing in.

 

Thanks!

[Vintage55]

Exactly....

 

I use a really fine pad to RUB the paint off. No sandpaper at all. Basically, how it would occur naturally, only accerelated. There are no fine lines that sandpaper might leave as a result of it's use.

 

And what is natural? Where would the wear be? How extensive might it be if it occured naturally? That depends on who's playing the guitar I would think.

 

The simple fact that everyone knows it's a fake causes most people to see it as fake. It's a psychological reality.

 

And beside the hardware not being authentic for an old strat, would it have to be rusted from neglect? Tarnished from age, yes, but not necessarily all rusted up, if the guitar was maintained somewhat over the years. And what if these Squier strats (the yellow and blue guitars) had just been played hours on end for the 7 years I've had them, and somehow the original poly had worn through? Then the hardware would be correct, because that's what came on the guitars from the factory.

 

I would bet that if you took 10 real worn guitars, that had no artificial aging added and told people that 2 of the ten were fake, they would find fakes in the bunch. Just because they thought a couple of them were not supposed to be real.

[metalheadUK]

Thanks for the encouragement...that tele looks REALLY good. I would bet it was a real worn guitar and not "created". Great job! What did you do to the hardware to get that look...especially how it seems to vary a bit from part to part?

 

I think I could do a better job on the hardware now, but it was mostly a salt and vinegar mixture, and rather than dipping everything, I actually used to brush some on the hardware without covering all of it, so that it reacted more heavily in some spots, and then clean it off.

 

I also used steel wool to dull some parts..again I think I could do a better job now, and I think the whole guitar now hangs together and looks like it all belongs!