Relic help?

suspiciousminds

Some time back i bought a rather rough unloved early 90's squier strat.
The neck's usable (just has a few knocks) however the body was covered in all types of gloop - aerosol paint, brush paint and nail varnish by the looks.
Anyways i've pretty much got it all off and the PO actually did a good job at removing the original finish as virtually nothing remains on the ply body.
Theres several knocks though which i'm not gonna fill.
So, i fancy doing a bit of a relic job in sonic blue, using aerosol paint.
Now, when i remove any paint after, back to the wood what should i use to artificially "colour" or stain the wood similar to natural useage?

JookyChap

I've used stains before and it looks better if you stain before you paint. 

Alternatively once it is painted and then relicked something like the Britax coloured waxes work well and won't react with the paint. 

This or the oak work well on lighter woods and look natural

JookyChap

Or go totally kosher and use an old tea bag for the art forger authenticity

axisus

JookyChap said:

Or go totally kosher and use an old tea bag for the art forger authenticity

Yes, I think it's called Tea-bagging. Try a google search, that should help you in understanding the process.

suspiciousminds

JookyChap;498738" said:

Or go totally kosher and use an old tea bag for the art forger authenticity

What, literally dab the body with a wet teabag?

Andyjr1515

I had to match a large flake of fretboard lacquer that had fallen off a genuinely worn maple neck once to tone down the bright white patch and used teabag and also rubbed in a bit of dirt from the garden, rubbed it off then another dash of tea bag...

lamf68

suspiciousminds said:

 what should i use to artificially "colour" or stain the wood similar to natural useage?

I've had this on good authority from a fella who claimed he worked for Fenders custom shop off one of the American based strat forums, I've been using it for a bit now and it works better than anything on giving that dead wood appearance, get yourself a glass jar pop in a ball of 0000 wire wool, about the size of a golf ball, maybe a tad smaller, cover it in white distilled vinegar stir it around, shake it up and down and generally agitate it for a few minutes. Leave it overnight....next get a strong cup of black tea brewed up and leave that go cold and overnight, leave the teabag in to get as much tannin out of it as possible, wood contains natural tannin apparently and this tea will give it a stronger look.....when the tea is cold enough get a paint brush or rag and wipe the tea over the bare wood areas and leave to dry...give it the overnight that your wire wool mix is having, then get another rag/brush and wipe the vinegar/wire wool mixture over the tea-stained area...leave that to dry and you'll have that blackened dead wood look like on the back of the custom shop necks....you can repeat the whole thing to get it darker, or rub back with more wire wool if you've gone too dark...Ask @DrBob what his strat neck looks like, haven't long finished one for him using this method.

suspiciousminds

Ianf68,
Sounds good - i shall get on it now!
Thanks guys!

DrBob

It not only looks but also feels effing amazing.

WezV

The iron and vinegar trick is an old one for ebonizing wood... but be aware because it  will make some woods properly black, things like oak and wlanut have a lot of tannins so go very dark - almost a blueish black which looks a bit unnatural.

 

using a tea bag to add extra tannins makes sense for other woods, I have seen it done with bark tea (boiled bark) before too.  it also helps to make it more of a natural black

 

any old iron in vinegar will do it.  just leave it for a few days before using it.  Wire wool works well but  you may need to clean it with thinners first as any oils can stop the process

 

jd0272

DrBob;498827" said:

It not only looks but also feels effing amazing.

Where's the effin pics?

Or have a missed a thread?

DrBob

jd0272;498995" said:

[quote="DrBob;498827"]It not only looks but also feels effing amazing.

Where's the effin pics?

Or have a missed a thread?[/quote]

The weather has been less than stellar up here of late so photo ops have been limited, I do have this moody IPhone pic

http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc343/lorddonricci/7D2CAB96-B85D-455F-B4D1-71EAECF26E0B_zpssgqmb2h0.jpg

But regrettably it doesn't show the back of the neck.

I'm sufficiently chuffed with how it's turned out that I'm now actively trying to flog my Tyler. Take a large chunk of the money that sale generates to pay off debts but maybe get a Torty HSS plate along with a couple of Oil City singles pair them with the ASL Eruption I've got sitting about and turn 'Whitey ' into my main gig guit.
The neck is soooo nice

jd0272

What brand is your neck? Must be stellar then if said Tyler is getting its marching orders!

Looks suitably moody  

DrBob

Product of our very own @GSPBasses.
Slightly fatter than the last one I had from him. It's nice 43mm at the nut too. Impeccable construction with a beautiful finish and fingerboard edges rolled courtesy of @lamf68

jd0272

Nice

Nomad

What's wrong with using sweaty fingers?

lamf68

Nomad;499965" said:

What's wrong with using sweaty fingers?

I tell the wife that all the time but she won't have any of it.

JookyChap

That looks wicked chaps - and nice to see an authentic squirrel skin in your man cave Rob

axisus

Nomad said:

What's wrong with using sweaty fingers?

I bought some off the internet but to be honest the blood gave too much of a red tint.

DrBob

JookyChap;501315" said:

That looks wicked chaps - and nice to see an authentic squirrel skin in your man cave Rob

I would have thought that a true 'pelt recognition' swordsman such as yourself would've clocked that as Norwegian reindeer straight off. Found it hanging off of the TV Aerial on the roof on Christmas Morning.

Christ knows what had gone on..