The Guitar Refinishing and Restoration Forum

[~frank]

Nice reference pictures.

Are you sure they're clay dots? Looks more like MOP or MOTS to me.
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~frank

[marksound]

[EdmundGTP]

me three

[Sasscaster]

I stand corrected

[Jarick]

I'm picking up a cheap Tele soon and would like to do a few things just to make it not shiny and new.

What's the best way to age chrome hardware? I'm not trying to make them rusty at all, just take off the shine and dull them a good bit. Have them sandblasted?

What's a good way to take the shine off a (poly) body and neck? I don't want to scrape/scratch the finish up, just get rid of the shine. I've read about wetsanding with 1000-2000 grit and using rubbing compound or scotchbrite pads...

How long do I soak a white pickguard in coffee/tea? It's a Tele so I think the only bit of plastic is the pickguard, and I just want it to be a nice aged color and not necessarily in spots.

Thanks!

[Structo]

Chrome is a very, very hard metal.
That's why it is used to enhance car parts that are exposed to the elements.
To age it with what you may have at hand may not be easy.
Sanding looks too fake unless done very well, and fine.
Really, aged chrome is rusty because the outer layer of chrome has worn away exposing the steel underneath.
So you might want to try some coarse rubbing compound to dull the shine.

Same with taking the shine off of poly.
But be aware that areas that are normally rubbed when playing generally stay shiny. Like the forearm contour and areas of the backside that rub on the belly.
I have used the white scotch brite pads before to dull the shine. They work pretty well.
The white ones are a bit softer than the green or tan ones.

There seems to be a wide range of plastics that are used to make pickguards.
Some are ABS some PVC, etc.
Some will accept stain while others will just wipe right off.
I would lightly sand it first with 800 or even 1000 before trying to stain it so that the surface is opened up for the stain to penetrate.
I really haven't had much luck with this method and prefer to buy a mint guard that looks color correct, then age it with various agents.

I like shooting tinted clear coat on the guard. Leaving the middle under the strings untouched and have the yellow rubbed off anywhere you normally rub your hand or fingers.

When I tried relicing a few times, I researched the hell out of it and studied as many pictures of real vintage guitars as Google had on file in an effort to see which trends the real deal guitars followed.
For instance, you have to be very careful on a maple/maple neck and the finger wear on the fretboard.

I see guys using the steel wool/ tea method there and I just don't care for the grey wood exposed.
I really haven't seen any wood that turns grey naturally on a guitar.
A barn yes, a guitar no.
Just use your own hand grease from working on guitars although I have been known to use ashes from time to time.

Jut my two centavos.
_________________
Tom



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