Beat-up look help needed

[doughBOy674]

Hey, this is my first post on the site, so I don't know if this has been talked about previously. If it has, please just link me.

Anyway, I have an American Strat in black, with a maple fretboard. I want to basically make it look 20 years older. I want to ding it up, and then probably stain the wood underneath, and then sand down some of that coating (polyurethane?). I just want suggestions on how to do this, and I also don't know what to do for the neck/fretboard.

Also, how do I change my avatar/signature? I've been trying for like 20 mins.

Thanks,
Andrew

[JD0x0]

i wouldnt beat up a strat like that except by playing it everyday. there really isnt any point to "relic"ing a guitar except making it look old. Dont ruin the look and value of your strat by doing that. If your going to relic your strat do it naturaly by playing the cr@p out of it

[doughBOy674]

Well, the thing is, though, I don't want to wait 20 years for it to look sweet. But I can see where you're coming from. I mean, by doing this, will it drop the value a lot?

How did you get an avatar and signature?

[JD0x0]

yes it will probably destroy the value. i mean most stratocasters already look sweet. if you want it to look better try a black pickgaurd with the black paint.

to create an avatar and signature go into User CP and then edit avatar (same with signature)

[doughBOy674]

Well, geez. I really want that look, but I still want it to be worth a good $600. And I don't really want a black pickguard.

What do you do once you click on edit avatar?

[JD0x0]

you select one i guess you can upload one from your computer i think

[guitarist4doodd]

to be honest i wouldnt do anything along those lines
if the guitars worth good money leave it be
go to warmoth.com buy stuff to build your own and destroy that so you have your nice mia strat

imo

[doughBOy674]

If only I had that kind of money. If I could go and buy another guitar to beat up, I would.

[guitarist4doodd]

well wait then
because god knows the value on that strat could sky rocket and youd be left with a worthless "good looking" strat

[Mr. Boston]

Don't be jerks y'all, if he wants to relic his Strat let him, it's his guitar and he can do with it what he likes. If you like a nice cherry guitar, keep your own nice and clean.

Doughboy- what kinda Strat are we talkin' about here? Is it a Custom Shop model that's worth THOUSANDS? If not, don't sweat it. If it's an American Standard, it's not like you're gonna put your grandkids through college with it somewhere down the line anyway. I personally think it's a much bigger guitar sin to have a guitar and be scared to really use it cause you're too afraid it will lose its value. They're meant to be played, and they're meant to make their owners happy. If a more beat-up lookin' one would make YOU more happy, then beat yours up a bit.

I'm not really sure about how this is done correctly. While I agree there's nothing cooler lookin' than a well-worn Strat; I'd also say there's nothin' WORSE lookin' than a poorly worn Strat.

There's one thing you might consider to make it look older without totally destroying the value. Beat up on the parts that can be easily replaced; all the plastic stuff. What color are the pickguard and knobs now? If they're white, you can sand'em lightly, and die them with like tea or coffee or any number of other things. This will make it look something like they've built up years of gunk. It's a place to start, and if you ever need to sell it, just buy some brand new replacement plastic parts for a total of about $30 and there you go. Any other artificial relicing will probably depreciate the value severely. But if you think this is a guitar you could see yourself having for a long time, don't worry about it too much.

Just as a general tip, Jam Session has a pretty handy search function located on that blue bar near the top of the screen. Search on "relic" and you'll probably find some helpful info.

But yeah you can't have it both ways, there's no such thing as a relicing job that will keep the guitar's value too.

[deathmedic]

http://www.relicdeluxe.com/

that site should help you :)

[doughBOy674]

I found that relic deluxe site last night, that guy is sooooooo good at what he does. I have an American California Series, which is basically any American strat that was made in either '97 or '98, can't remember which. If I had a Custom Shop model, I wouldn't play it. :) I don't think there's any major difference between it and an American standard, actually mines goes for about $100 less new. It has different stock pickups, the headstock says California Series at the end, and it has a special serial number. That's it from my understanding. All of the plastic is still white, and the guitar itself is in very nice condition, by most of you guys' standards.:D

I put a white pearl pickguard on it, but I think I might stain the white one and replace that. Otherwise, all I want to do is make it look used and worn down. I'm still young, so I don't know for sure what will happen, but I'm pretty sure I won't be selling it anytime soon. It has become such an essential part of my setup. I'm gonna replace the pickups, but that's about it for now.

Thanks

[derekxec]

instead of actually beating it up to make it look beat up why not test your painting skills and give it a beat up looking paint job?

[Sixstring]

Two words: pawn shop.

Get a no-name copy for $150 and relic it. You can experiment all you like and end up with a killer looking (and sounding) guitar (the no-names are still capable of great tone) and a valuable Strat. Best of both worlds. Plus, you have two guitars that way!

[JD0x0]

i say you should just save your money and play it, it doesnt take that long i've had my guitar about a year and i made the fretboard look like glass from playing it so much. its so smooth and comfortable.

[EmoBasher]

just treat your guitar like crap and it will look 20 years old in a few months...

[chongo]

You might just want to leave the actual guitar the way it is and put something like this on it: http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b149/dspellman/GDecal05.jpg

That's actually a decal made of transit vinyl. Tough stuff. You can play it like that for a year or two and then just peel it off if you change your mind about having a relic look on your guitar, or you can hose it down with clear coat (both gloss and satin) and leave it on there permanently. I think the website for this guy is guitarprinting.com

[Rawb]

Two words: pawn shop.

Get a no-name copy for $150 and relic it. You can experiment all you like and end up with a killer looking (and sounding) guitar (the no-names are still capable of great tone) and a valuable Strat. Best of both worlds. Plus, you have two guitars that way!


As Mr. Boston said it is your guitar! But I agree with 6string, pawn shop! keep an eye on the garbage, music shop trade ins, news paper ads etc .. point is you want to hone your skills at relicing and such. you just want something cheap or even better free to practice on! Look at alot of pics of old guitars, take note on where and how they have worn! Then on your practice body, practice achieving that same worn look in the same place etc. then you will know how and where to apply the worn affect you want. Look at furniture finishing to learn how to apply a sun faded and or crackle finish etc.

The other advantage to having a practice axe is you can learn and hone your set up and repair skills too! Who knows you might end up with a very playable axe learned alot and it would have cost you practically nothing. Not to mention 2 guitars that you customized yourself and enjoy the look of them!

[thessandman]

I did the pawn shop trick. I set my limit at $100. I found a MIM strat that was missing some of the hardware. Walked out with it for $80.
Getting the poly off is a real pain. I bought every stripper known to man. The poly comes off the neck pretty easily. I used a pint scraper to (gently) scrape the poly off after the stripper softened it.

The body was a different story. I finally bought a heat gun from Sears. If you do this, wear glasses, because the paint explodes off in sharp little chips.

Sand everything glassy smooth.

I got real nitrocellulose lacquer from " The Reranch". You can google the address. They have detailed instructions on how to paint your guitar and make it look great.

I didn't do it on this guitar, but you can put some muriatic acid(from a pool supply store) in a bucket, suspend the metal parts ABOVE it, not in it.
This will age the metal.

I put the white plastic knobs in coffee, and left them there.

The guitar came out pretty good, I'll try to post some pics. The Reranch has some great examples. Except for all the strippers that didn't work, I had about $250 in the guitar. Better than beating the crap out of a nice one. And the nice thing about this is, the lacquer will age and wear very nicely.

Hope that helps, if you have any questions, hit me up. I'm not an expert by any means, but I have done 3 of them like this.

[playinforHim]

I've purchased nitrocellulose lacquer from Stew-mac's before. Don't know if they still sell it though. If you put that stuff on, you can leave it out in the cold for a spell and it will crack in a cool looking spiderweb fashion. Is that wierd?