How I Relic a Poly Finish Guitar

Everyone that relics guitars have there way of doing it and this is the way I go about relicing a poly finished guitar.
hope it helps!🤟😊🤟

[dana.]

My MIM strats 18 years old and it still looks brand new other than a little fretboard wear… the things bulletproof. Great video!

[siitan]

there should be nitro finish options for every model - just like left handers

[miasanmia]

My best tips are nail polish remover, magic eraser and flitz polish. It’s works really well. You have to mess around to find a your method and how long to leave the nail polish remover sitting. It’s the closest I’ve got to a nitro looking relic.

[tannermay]

This is extremely helpful. I just tried it with the stain and it makes a world of a difference in the final result. 👌🏼👌🏼

[joeblankenship]

I've thought about doing mine, but it's already got regular wear and tear, knicks and chips from 20 years of play on it, and it still looks good overall. My years as a smoker gave a "vintage" yellow tint to the pickguard, knobs and pickups. I think it'd be more fun to get a raw body and start from scratch. Put it on and take it off, repeat as desired.

[doctoribanez]

I tried to put arm wear into an epiphone les paul and it was ridiculously strong. Eended up taking big gashes out and the wood was was super light lol

[colton]

Use steel wool soaked in vinegar for a few days, filter out the steel wool and put a VERY small amount of the mixture on the wood to age it if you do a relic like this

[robertclarkguitar]

Pretty cool man!!! Im not big into relic guitars but i think they look pretty cool. I just wouldnt pay custom shop for it. So this video makes it sensible. Hahahah 😆

[EvergreenAcupuncture]

Finally a sensible approach/advice about relicing!! "Less is better." I am always amazed at 95% of how relicing the paint has nothing to do with how a guitar will normally age with play and general stage abuse. All you have to do is look at real vintage guitars and copy them. I own at least a dozen (and have had many more) that are 40-60 years old and most of the real wear is just dings, minor scratches and some edge wear. You know, like someone who actually took care of the guitar but had some unfortunate mishaps. True hardcore abused relics were either owned by someone who used a guitar as both a stage instrument and a canoe paddle or it once belonged to Keith Richards. The nitro of the older guitars does its own thing and you can't accurately copy that unless it's just dulling the finish or you scratch out every single crack with an X-acto knife. Guitars basically just need some buckle rash and not even through the paint, pick scratches on the pickguard, and finger wear on the most basic chord positions. This one looks as if it had actually been played hard but with normal areas of wear. Thanks!

[Telecaxter]

It’s crazy how thick the lacquer is on our guitars

[jeffharrison]

Great guidance here! The heat gun is important -- I worked on a project here and the poly finish is very tough if you try to work on it cold -- hard to get nice chipping. But heating is the magic!

I also neeeded to stain my pickguard, which was a cheap plastic pearloid one. For that I used the approach of steel wool to take the shine off, then steep in boiling water with Rit DyeMore polyester dyes (yellow 2:1 brown, boiling water 4:1 dye mix -- I did NOT have it over heat the whole time, just poured boiling water from a kettle). I just gambled on the ratios and everything, and let it steep for about an hour and it came out great -- and with those dyes, you can put it back in and the colors should darken the loger you leave it. It did warp, so if you can keep it flat, all the better, but the screws hold it down anyway.

[Grantofglyn]

Wish I hadn't taken your advice on bashing against rocks. Bash too light and just white marks, no wood visible, bash too heavy and take chunks out of it.

[cgavin]

What's the best way to knock the shine off a new poly finish? So it has that satin/played in look? Just rub it down with a green kitchen pad?

[Michael-nwhd]

what tool will you use for simulating the cracking effects on poly thx

[RayOrtega]

The part where you just sanded it, where your arm would wear it out with play, how is that done? Would love to see that process too. Which sandpaper, which machine and how? Thanks!

[erneibollmtt]

What kind of a stain are you using at the end of finising.

[KevinsGuitar]

hey im trying to do a relic on my squeir strat, problem is i used to thick sandpaper and i got alot of those scratches and white lines you got any ideas how to fix them just use higher grit sandpaper?

[frantisca]

Hi Alex: nice vid :) Where are you from ?

[Silverjubilee]

I want my mim strat to be worn someday but I don’t wanna sand it lol u think it would just loose the clear coat over years? Mine has a super thin finish I took the pickguard off and chipped a piece it’s not to thick

[Torts]

How much weight comes off when doing these? Any noticeable amount?