OT: How do you "age" a guitar?

[samzeppelin]

hi i wondered how to age a guitar (electric) like making dings, "yellowing" the plastic parts and so on
so please post, theories, experiences, methods inputs thoughts


Cheers
/Sam
maybe u got pitures like: before---> after
POST EM´

[Ge_Whiz]

I aged my Kimbara Les Paul copy by buying it in 1975 and keeping it for 30 years. Actually, all that happened is that the clear finish has darkened slightly except under the scratchplate.

Fender age Strat bodies by hitting them with things like chains and running sanding discs over the edges to make them look like they've been played for 30 years by someone with sandpaper elbows. You can yellow a white scratchplate pretty well using a hot, wet tea bag - mind your fingers though. Oh, and stick a lighted cigarette between the sixth string and the headstock, and let it burn right down. [Do this outside - the fumes are highly toxic].

[davebungo]

Well I'm not a big fan of the artificially distressed look and you can usually tell these instruments apart because they have dings in places you don't get dings.  For example I saw a strat recently with a chip of wood taken out of the underside of the top arch - I mean how would that happen without someone taking a hammer to it?

So , if you do this, study a genuine old guitar and ding it in the same places but don't over do it.  A friend of mine even rubbed old engine oil into the back of the neck (after being rubbed down) - I pointed out that he was using a potentially carcinogenic substance but he wasn't interested in that.

[benfox]

look at the neck !!! and the frets an old guitar have bad frets used and not straight.
Plastics should be yellow but look at the parts impossiblme to see if you don't open the guitar.
LISTEN TO IT an old guitar from the 70's doesn't sound like a recent one !!!!

The most important spot are the pots look at the they should be a bit rusted.
regards
what kind of guitar are u looking for ?
benfox

[aaronkessman]

put on about 50 more pounds and wear a big redneck beltbuckle to wear a nice mark in the back of your guitar.

[hank reynolds 3rd]

I'll second the belt buckle idea...the back of my strat is in rags

Sam

[strungout]

Stop washing your hands before you play, might even wanna rub them all over yourself after a hard day at the construnction site, wearing a chain mail coat will get that backside nice and scratchy, start smoking if you don't already, that'll get things yellow, and basically just treat your guitar as if it was just a piece of wood.

Seriously tho, why would you want to age a guitar?  :?

Anyway, it's YOUR guitar  :twisted:

[aaronkessman]

you really dont want to age it TOO artificially, thats kind of bogus. You just want to abuse it over the course of 10 years to give it a roughened look.

playing it roughly with dirty hands, rough clothing, cigarettes, beer, and smacking it around is just about the formula

[Karmasound]

play that sucker!!!


learn how to fret dress.


might help aging to play with a wool shirt on :wink:

[ryanscissorhands]

I used to work with a guy who now works at a music store. He was all about aging guitars, and has been doing it for years.

I know for the chrome he knew of some srt of corrosive stuff, and the fumes were enough to age the metal. He would leave the guitar in his garage next to an open can of it, and a few days later--aged metal. I can't recall what it's called. I'll see if I can find out from him.

He used steel wool, I believe, to wear through the paint in normal "wear spots."

[Ge_Whiz]

It's all a bit reminiscent of the 'distressed' furniture fad of ten years ago. £400 for a grubby dining table that I wouldn't even have put in my garage. Put the money and effort into playing better. Retro - cool. Distressed - dumb.  :evil:

[Clipped]

Here's a few pics on an ebay auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41406&item=7314925035&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Do a search on vintage guitar and try to find good pics of REAL aging to apply your chips, etc. Saw an "aged" knockoff on ebay once that looked horrible - They just plunked down the sanding disc to  take off paint in a SRV style, but it didn't look worn at all - It looked like someone took a sander to a new guitar.

Strap that baby on and run into a cymbal stand or two, and then lean it against your amp and knock it over...

Ron

[space_ryerson]

I would just leave the guitar on a stand in a sunny spot (indoors) every day, and play it every day. It will look aged sooner or later.

[StephenGiles]

Why anyone would want to "age" a guitar beats me. It rings of the time back in 64 when our support band had an echo chamber for the lead guitar and were regarded as the better band. The fact the the guitarist could barely play was neither here nor there!!!............
Stephen

[petemoore]

There's a process I know of, but it takes time.
 Always wanting something else...I refinished a Red Melody Maker, it had very well distributed crack lines all over the body, from the cold...really looked cool too, was only slightly beat otherwise.
 Should have left it alone.
 Mine looks bright and only a little bit to slightly beat...kind of like me, has more than a few scars, a few worn spots, slinky frets/nice pickups.

[scottosan]

steel wool on the back of the neck and area where you arm usually rests.  The you can take a bucket of old keys and keek dumping them on the body.  As for the yellowing, you can take the white parts and leave then soaking in coffee or tea outside for as long as possible.  You can also take a fine steel wool to unsmooth those peaces and make them more pourouse(sp?) metal peaces, like bridges and stuff, you can expirement dipping in acid for different amount of time time to take the finish off. I would practice on a really cheap guitar.

[Connoisseur of Distortion]

put it in a barrel and forget about it for awhile?

[puretube]

mojo...

[Paul Marossy]

Throw it outside for the winter and then let it sit in your attic all summer. If you have small children, let them bang their toys on it and suff. Then go and play it! That stuff ought to distress your axe considerably!  :wink:

[will]

Hi,

You could try freezing the guitar then set it close to a good hot fire. This should give the paint lots of those micro paint cracks found on many old guitars. My Gibson acoustic has tons of micro cracks in the lacquer finish from many years of playing it near a campfire on cool/cold nights.

If you have a maple neck you could sand down some of the finish between the frets. So you get to feel the raw wood under your fingers. This actually feels great but can cause some neck problems down the road. Find a picture of Roy Buchanan’s worn telecaster for reference.

Good luck!

Regards,
Will
lacer.