How To Make Nitro Finish Checking / Crackling | DIY Relic

Many very old guitars with a nitrocellulose lacquer finish show signs of checking or crackling with time. Changes in temperature are usually the cause. I finished a DIY telecaster body in shell pink nitro a few years back. I've been happy with the natural wear the guitar has received, but I wanted to see if I could accelerate the checking myself. So I experiment with a few methods here in this video.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Project Introduction
2:20 - 'Before' state of the finish
4:30 - Good examples of vintage checking
5:01 - Outdoor cold method
5:39 - Deglossing the neck
6:47 - Results of the outdoor method
8:28 - Compressed Air can upside down method
10:15 - Results of the compressed air method
10:38 - Tone test
12:25 - Conclusion

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[thejakefromstatefarm]

Every time i hear swamp ash i think swamp ass. That’s how my brain is wired. Try living with that kinda shit going on in your head. Lol

[alexw]

You can control the crack by how you swipe across the body w the can of compressed air. 👍🏼 Nice work

[bertonedes]

I got a "nitro" finsih tele body. Beautifull green metalic color. BUT, first i realise that is really soft, you can put your finger nail print on it very easly(like on some Gibsons). Wich is not bad for a relic job, but that cracking proces does not work? Does it mean its not a REAL nitro? Its some sort of acrylic sont paint? Im not an expert. Can you give me some advice?

[afterstars]

If the neck isn’t roasted and there’s no seal on the neck it will warp as moisture enters the grain of the neck. Best finish I love on a neck is a thin layer of tru oil and a thin layer of honey feed n wax. Try it sometime.