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:
Comments
I like it, but couldn't live with that sticker.
I don't like the logo meself, but niggles seriously, you've one upped quite a lot of custom shop offerings there.
That is a truly stunning relic, glad to hear you love playing it as much I'm enjoying looking at it
Vintage v400mh mahogany topped dreadnought acoustic FS - £100
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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!
Well done fella.