So, I aged my bass .......

axisus · October 2014

Some people love relics, some people hate them. I happen to like them a lot if done well enough (based on my assessment, not somebody else's!)

Anyway, I fancied trying to do a relic type bass after the reasonable success of my 'Angel' Tele that I built over a year ago. I wasn't planning to kill my Fender CS bass, so I bought a new condition Squier (CV I think?) for £220. It was the usual plastic finish and shiny chrome - all the stuff I hate! Looks aside, it was fantastically playable though. Anyway, I stripped all the finish off and sprayed with Nitro, aged the metal, made a couple of worn stickers and (controversial!) stuck a non squire logo on. Having stripped the finish off the neck, I only had a regular Fender one in my stash of bits. Anyway, the bottom line is that I am very happy with how it has turned out. The bass is so good that am selling the CS and possibly my Status as well, as neither of them get a look in any more!

Here's a few pix:

DrBob · October 2014

I like it !

darcym · October 2014

I like it, but couldn't live with that sticker.

ThePrettyDamned · October 2014

Looks phenomenal.

I don't like the logo meself, but niggles

seriously, you've one upped quite a lot of custom shop offerings there.

Hertz32 · October 2014

Wow duly awarded Sir!
That is a truly stunning relic, glad to hear you love playing it as much I'm enjoying looking at it

ESchap · October 2014

Good job! Nice looking bass.

Gassage · October 2014

I normally base my age By not relicing!

Bucket · October 2014

I love the 70s-style Jazz Bass lettering.

Well, and the rest of it

ICBM · October 2014

Very nice. Looks better than most commercial relics

.

It looks like you've actually thought about how damage occurs on a real instrument, as opposed to just evenly covering the whole thing with similar-sized marks like most of them do. If anything you've not got quite *enough* wear on the lower corner below the jack, and it's very rare to make that criticism!

stonevibe · October 2014

Great job.

Looks very cool and works well.

capo4th · October 2014

That looks fuckin great my friend well done

Zodiac51 · October 2014

Epic job!

breadfan · October 2014

That looks brilliant! Well done!

I'd love to hear more about the finishing process - did you apply a clear coat?

I had a custom guitar built earlier this year & finished in olympic white - that's what I requested anyway - it came out looking more like a mint green / creamy grey. I suspect that's down to the clear coat (the finish is aged). It's kind of grown on me at this stage, as the guitar plays & sounds exactly as I'd hoped, but the finish I wanted is very much like what you have here. You've done a great job on it. Could you see yourself doing this again at some stage?

Majorscale · October 2014

Cmon tell us how you did it... Looks great and I'd love to have a go at this myself hmmmm

equalsql · October 2014

Wow.. that looks really good. You've really nailed the aged look. Most 'relics' I've seen are unconvincing but yours looks like the real-deal.

t1000 · October 2014

Looks great how did you age the chrome? Brick acid?

axisus · October 2014

Majorscale said:

Cmon tell us how you did it... Looks great and I'd love to have a go at this myself hmmmm

Quick write up:

Having dismantled it, I stripped all the finish off with flame, scraper and sanding. Grain filler went on (apparently a good idea) then a good sand down. I used liquid mask and painted areas on the body that I wanted to be ‘worn through’, then sprayed with white nitro from Manchester guitar tech. No undercoat, as I wanted to try and get that ‘sunken in’ look. Lacquer over the top then a light dusting with some tinted lacquer to give a bit of an aged feel. Rubbed off the mask, and then rubbed some paint into the wood bits, and cleaned it off again with a rag to darken up those patches a bit. Did a few dings with various objects.

All the chrome was put in a sealed bucket with an open jar of hydrochloric acid. I carefuly smeared grease over some of the moving parts first so as not to bugger up function. After an hour or so of constant checks, it was finally at the degree of tarnish that I was looking for. Washed them off, blasted moving bits with WD40 and left to dry.

I made a couple of worn stickers as I like the look of them on old basses, not everyone’s thing but I particularly like Vince Ray artwork. I printed high quality laserprints, added stickyback, and rubbed them down a bit with wire wool.

The neck was laboriously sanded to get rid of the thick poly finish, then a once over with lacquer. Sanded the neck again and took it right off the back behind the first 5 frets. The neck still looked a bit ‘clean’ so I mixed up some brown paint, wiped it on, let it start drying then wiped back again. Doesn’t represent ageing at all, but it definitely looked better for the overall vibe. Broke one of the knobs taking it off, a chunk came away. Fine, it adds to the vibe!

Deadman · October 2014

Bloody hell ax, one of the best relicing jobs I've ever seen, an account it looks real!
Well done fella.

1nten5e · October 2014

Wow.....awesome job

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So, I aged my bass .......

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