How to make a guitar look vintage?

[patricks42]

I've been googling for help on how to make a 95 strat have a more vintage look. The obvious things like an electric sander, steel wool, and ballpeen hammer come to mind. But how do you get through 17 coats of paint that they put on there? Some sort of acid maybe? Does anyone know any good resources for help with making a guitar look old? Thanks!

Rock!

Patrick

[evilLordJuju]

have you considered replacing some parts with older parts? At least then you can re-new it in the future should you want to.

[patricks42]

turns out that steel wool works wonders to "relic" a guitar. I'll have to post some pictures, but in about two hours, I used coarse steel wool to scrape off the shine left on my white stratocaster. next, I used a hammer to chip away pieces of paint from the sides. (use a glancing blow) after that, rub mud into the cracks to give the wood and cracks character. scrap hammer on paint to give it some dull dark lines. run the side of a drill bit (with drill running) along the edges to scrapce and darken it up. Turned out quite good actually.

[cheepaxes]

Back when this thread first started I did a quick Google search of usenet groups for the word "relicing" (as in "to go through the process that Fender uses when making their 'Relic' series of guitars"). I thought I'd find a lot but about all I saw was a suggestion that removing everything from the body (e.g., pickguard, electronics) and heating it would soften the finish and make it easier to scrape and ding it. I think there was also a suggestion that freezing it could cause finish checking.

Me, I'm happy to let my guitars and my blue jeans age naturally. :)

-Scott