The relic refuge

[Geek99]

If you’re offended by relics, don’t read any further and don’t post any negative comments. if you wouldn’t have one, or don’t think they look good; you’re entitled to your opinion and I won’t try and change your mind. 

if you have one, or are planning one, post your ideas and pictures here. 
here’s mine 

 

I used the back of a kitchen knife to roll the fretboard edges, a bradle to do the rsndom dinks and the same knife back to do the edges. I was careful to think about end grain. Bare wood was sponged with tea. I used a green dish sponge to take the gloss off the paint. I thought about the strap rub points. 
 

 I did nothing with metal parts. No belt sanders were harmed 

Edited June 13, 2020 by Geek99

[Bill Wy,Aye,Man]

I love old, roadworn guitars but Squier Affinity's beat up to look like them, no

 

 

...Squier Affinity's beat up, no problem

[Bill Wy,Aye,Man]

Although the thin coat of black lacquer I sprayed over the original finish hasn't fared very well

[Bassfinger]

Here's mine.  I tried to make it appear that it had been played a helluva lot, not simply sanded a helluva lot.  Not sure I succeeded, but hey ho.

Rubbed down a bit on certain contours, a bunch of keys repeatedly dropped on the body, the chrome very laboriously rubbed with 2000 grit wet and dry until it had rubbed through in places, coffee rubbed into the white paint on the controls, the screws rubbed with 2000 grit and doused with salty water, scratchp,ate strategically scratched as it with a pick while playing and brown boot polish rubbed in.

Edited June 13, 2020 by Bassfinger

[NancyJohnson]

I have this.  Aria Primary Bass, 1978.

The bass was in pretty poor condition when I bought it, but it had Schallers fitted, although beyond that is was just a body and neck.  Everything that's screwed into the body is new.  I just decided that every time I took it out of the house I needed to put a ding in it.  It's way worse than this now.

 

[Frank Blank]

4 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I have this.  Aria Primary Bass, 1978.

The bass was in pretty poor condition when I bought it, but it had Schallers fitted, although beyond that is was just a body and neck.  Everything that's screwed into the body is new.  I just decided that every time I took it out of the house I needed to put a ding in it.  It's way worse than this now.

Love the look of this bass, if only it had a dark fretboard.

[JohnDaBass]

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

I have this.  Aria Primary Bass, 1978.

The bass was in pretty poor condition when I bought it, but it had Schallers fitted, although beyond that is was just a body and neck.  Everything that's screwed into the body is new.  I just decided that every time I took it out of the house I needed to put a ding in it.  It's way worse than this now.

 

Gee you've got big hands😆

[fleabag]

Could be just a smaller than normal bass

[BassApprentice]

Just bought a red Squier Bronco as a project and going to paint it Shell Pink. Would love to relic it similar to this. Not quite to this degree but I don't want to do a poor job and make it look odd. Decisions, decisions.... 

Edited June 13, 2020 by BassApprentice

[hooky_lowdown]

6 minutes ago, BassApprentice said:

Just bought a red Squier Bronco as a project and going to paint it Shell Pink. Would love to relic it similar to this. Not quite to this degree but I don't want to do a poor job and make it look odd. Decisions, decisions.... 

The best way to get a good relic look is to find a pic of a genuine relic bass, and basically copy it. Print out the best quality pics you can find as big as possible, use nitro, and use a scalpel knife or blade and carefully scratch away at the paint, scraping it away to emulate the dings and scratches.

Then use some wood stain or some very dark cold tea, and brush that over the exposed wood, leave it for a few hours and wipe the excess away. Leave it longer if you desire a darker coloured wood. 👍

[Geek99]

9 hours ago, Bill Wy,Aye,Man said:

I love old, roadworn guitars but Squier Affinity's beat up to look like them, no

 

 

...Squier Affinity's beat up, no problem

Okay but this thread is about relics, not road worn through decades. Mine was made of Japanese parts, I understood from the bass doc 

[Geek99]

19 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

The best way to get a good relic look is to find a pic of a genuine relic bass, and basically copy it. Print out the best quality pics you can find as big as possible, use nitro, and use a scalpel knife or blade and carefully scratch away at the paint, scraping it away to emulate the dings and scratches.

Then use some wood stain or some very dark cold tea, and brush that over the exposed wood, leave it for a few hours and wipe the excess away. Leave it longer if you desire a darker coloured wood. 👍

True, I used a lot of input from @Skol303 and his nice 70s p, I also looked at a lot of images of Adam clayton’s beat-up 70s P. 

[Cuzzie]

Geddy’s book is bass is good for relics, loads of images and  sandbergs as well.

I decided to look at how I wear the bass, where I play it and carry it and how and do I think I would wear and tear it.

So........Completely blank bass, I stained the whole bass (similar to what @hooky_lowdownsaid tea or if you soak wire wool in vinegar for 24 hours that solution produces a certain colour ) I used an amber and brown wood stain mix to get the colour of the wood, applying and sanding till correct after flaming the grain to bring it out.

white primer, gold over 

 

I wanted gold to wear down to white, to wear down to wood.

i used a mixture of heat/freeze, wire wool, sanding, stones and carrying it around to get this wear pattern.

works for me

[Cuzzie]

For the bubble effect on the belly cut/mid back body - I originally wanted to create mild crazing using a heat gun and then popping int the freezer, but I heated too long/got too close.

Popped it in the freezer for 20 mins straight after, popped the bubbles and hey presto - happy accident

There is a mild effect on the forearm contour to this end as well

Edited June 13, 2020 by Cuzzie

[Cuzzie]

I have o say some of my fave marks were proper accidents and I’ll get the other basses out tomorrow.

Changing a bridge or something and accidentally popping a drill mark - I suppose that’s a genuine patina, but other stuff with that gold one is after finishing I just took it around the house with me, if I went to rehearsal, took the bass without a gig bag so it picked up a dink, things like that

[Geek99]

I have a jazz bass that I finished in nitro car paint. I left it in my car for a year. It’s crazed up nicely with winter and summer. It’s in its virgin form in my build thread . Apparently you can rub shoe polish into the cracks - think that tip came from @ricksfine52

[hooky_lowdown]

The best way to relic hardware (bridge, tuners etc) I've found is to rub them lightly with the rough side of a washing up sponge which removes the thin layer of chrome to reveal the duller metal underneath. Then put all the hardware in a smallish cardboard box filled with screws, bolts and nails, if you can find rusty screws the better, then vigorously shake the box, the more or longer you do this the more marks and nicks get added to the metal, and it looks like genuine wear and tear.

[joeystrange]

I’ve always been a fan of relic’d guitars, as long as they’re done well, though I’ve never done one myself as I’d likely make it look terrible!

I am in the process of getting a bass made for me but haven’t yet decided on the finish. It will be nitro but I’m not sure whether to go for any wear or let it happen naturally.

[Cuzzie]

4 minutes ago, joeystrange said:

I’ve always been a fan of relic’d guitars, as long as they’re done well, though I’ve never done one myself as I’d likely make it look terrible!

I am in the process of getting a bass made for me but haven’t yet decided on the finish. It will be nitro but I’m not sure whether to go for any wear or let it happen naturally.

Relic

if you mess it up, strip it and finish again

[joeystrange]

I’m neither equipped or clever enough to do it myself!

[Cuzzie]

3 minutes ago, joeystrange said:

I’m neither equipped or clever enough to do it myself!

Not true - if you listen to most people apparently you just tie it to your car and drive down the motorway....🤔😉
 

It is good fun to try

Edited June 14, 2020 by Cuzzie

[NancyJohnson]

15 hours ago, JohnDaBass said:

Gee you've got big hands😆

Big hands, big, umm, cough, err... allegedly.

[Cuzzie]

Gloves I think you mean

[Bill Wy,Aye,Man]

43 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Gloves I think you mean

No, she means donger

[Cuzzie]

16 minutes ago, Bill Wy,Aye,Man said:

No, she means donger

One of those USB things you plug in?