voodoochild wrote:That's lush! The relic'ing looks very authentic. How do you get the polly to chip? Would love to see a family shot of your guitars as it seams you have quite the exquisite collection
I think the trick to get it chipping is to use nitro, not poly! So this is where the '70's authenticity bit goes out the window. Fender used a base called Fullerplast which is bascially indestructable, and then used a soft solvent based lacquer over top (not sure of the make up of that). On this one we did a traditional grain fill, sealer, colour (see through blonde) and then amber clear nitro. It chips kinda well now but I suspect in a year or so it will be nice and hard and even easier to chip. All I did really was mimick my '73 Strat relic'ing - not over the top, but realistic dings and wear patterns. Pretty easy really.
Oh, just realised you might have meant cracking...I used a mix of sharp xacto knife and freeze spray and a heat gun. Cracks real good...score the line, heat the surface a little, spray on the lacquer and bam, instant aging. Reason I scored some of it was that just using freeze spray can give an artifical sort of spider web cracking, as opposed to the linear cracks that appear on old finishes. I still couldn't avoid that 100% but it looks very convincing up close.
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible god and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he's destroying is this god he's worshipping." - Hubert Reeves
So I got this thing about 2 yrs ago. Cheeseboy and I were furiously bidding against each other. He got the wobbles when they posted another shot showing the frets (can't find that pic).
Only reason I took the risk on this was that it had a local pickup (well, Putaruru). Seller had poor feedback, and I assumed if they didn't stump with the goods, no cash would exchange. I arrived there and the place had a few massive dogs tied up outside, and they had car tires as play things (ripped to shreds)! What looked a human rib cage with meat still on it sat beside one of them - both just stared at me (assume the rib cage was a pigs...). I was scared enough to ring my wife, give her the time frame in which to expect me to call back and the street address of where I was. Of course, my fears were unfounded as I am still alive to tell this story, but fresh undies were in order afterwards. As seems to be a regular occurrence with my dealings the last few years, these guys really needed to moolah. It was a good win/win.
It's been sitting at my place unfinished for some time mainly due to other projects, and the removal of the Fullerplast was incredibly time consuming.
In the end, I am very happy with the result. Glyn is rewinding/repairing the neck pickup that came with it (not original - probably older?).
It will be at the Tronfest.
Attachments
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible god and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he's destroying is this god he's worshipping." - Hubert Reeves
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible god and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he's destroying is this god he's worshipping." - Hubert Reeves
Agreed. Although others out there are keepin' it real....
Even on acoustics
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible god and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he's destroying is this god he's worshipping." - Hubert Reeves
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible god and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he's destroying is this god he's worshipping." - Hubert Reeves