Nitro Checking

D28boy

I love to see this and I have an 87 Black Les Paul and a 90 V neither of which have any checking other than on the Headstock of the Lester . I've heard that it can be artificially created ut I'm not sure how. Any thoughts?

Twinfan

Hot and cold - putting the guitar in a freezer for a while followed immediately by a sauna should do it.

Failing that resort to what Tom Murphy and Gibson do, which is creating all the cracks by hand using a razor blade.

SteveRobinson

Gil Yaron used to freeze his guitars but found it weakened the hide glue joints and switched to a blade. I think that a scalpel blade is probably more controllable too.

Philly_Q

I guess with the first method you also run the risk of it cracking in ways which aren't aesthetically pleasing... I'm not chucking any of my guitars in the freezer.

I've got a couple of Gibsons aged by a bloke called Chad Underwood, he definitely used the blade method.

IvisonGuitars

To me, while controllable, the blade method does not look authentic AT ALL. The whole idea with the crazing and cracking on vintage guitars is the random nature of it and that it's subtle thin lines. 

Danielsguitars

Well i looked at a murphy aged les paul at the show and sorry to say it looked utterly shit and over 6k, it's a joke imo

I've never heard of any freezer checking affect any guitar and those old guitars were just left in boots of cars all night then brought in and they never fell apart

If you want nitro checking you have to use the right laquer, these are recent builds I've done and they look right to me, not all nitro will check either
  

WezV

I agree many TM examples of razor blade checking look absolutely terrible, but it's still my chosen method for specific styles of wear... Mixed with a bit of freezer checking for added randomness.  Sometimes its not about the method, but the way its applied   

This one was freezer checking on the left on 90's gibson nitro..  I redid it with new paint...mostly aged with a razor, but a bit of freezing to add some additional randomness

WezV

and for balance, a totally fake looking TM - a bad example of razor work in a very recognisable tuning fork pattern he is known for

Danielsguitars

The worst bit for me on the murphy is the side of the guitar just staight lines that look terrible, mind you i didn't like the top much either, god knows what the back looked like

I still stand by my original statement that freezer checking is the best, i won't ever do razor checking, alot of this checking is best done over a long period too when the laquer is really hard and thin, this is just my personal choice 

Philly_Q

Anyone know what method Fender use? 

I'm pretty sure it's not done with a blade, but if it's freezing they, of course, have the luxury of being able to treat necks and bodies separately.

Danielsguitars

Philly_Q said:

Anyone know what method Fender use? 

I'm pretty sure it's not done with a blade, but if it's freezing they, of course, have the luxury of being able to treat necks and bodies separately.

I've heard it could be the frozen air method but i can't say for sure as i don't really look at modern fenders 

IvisonGuitars

WezV said:

and for balance, a totally fake looking TM - a bad example of razor work in a very recognisable tuning fork pattern he is known for

And for contrast, here's a genuine 1956 Gibson with lacquer checking. Notice the subtlety of the lines, how they almost fade in and out, depending on the angle you view them from and how thin and delicate they are:



IMO, regardless of how thin the blade is, this cannot be accomplished with a razor.

It's also interesting in this, and most other vintage examples, that the crazing emirates from the various dings and dints that the guitar already has. The Murphy checked guitar has none of this. 

WezV

customkits said:

I still stand by my original statement that freezer checking is the best, i won't ever do razor checking, alot of this checking is best done over a long period too when the laquer is really hard and thin, this is just my personal choice 

I think about which method is going to give the results i want, rather than which one is better or worse.   

I even use an upside down air duster on some stuff.  At the moment I am finding that mixing 2 techniques gives me better results than either on their own.  i.e. razor checking followed by freezer cycles or freezer cycles followed by an air duster.

They can all produce terrible checking when done badly.  

I need a bigger freezer for les pauls though

Danielsguitars

miserneil said:

And for contrast, here's a genuine 1956 Gibson with lacquer checking. Notice the subtlety of the lines, how they almost fade in and out, depending on the angle you view them from and how thin and delicate they are:



IMO, regardless of how thin the blade is, this cannot be accomplished with a razor.

It's also interesting in this, and most other vintage examples, that the crazing emirates from the various dings and dints that the guitar already has. The Murphy checked guitar has none of this. 

Agreed and that takes alot of time to get even close to that look

richardhomer

Why is ‘fake’ checking always perpendicular to the grain? My 64 335’s checking pretty much followed the grain - likewise on vintage Fenders I’ve owned. 

IvisonGuitars

WezV said:

customkits said:

I still stand by my original statement that freezer checking is the best, i won't ever do razor checking, alot of this checking is best done over a long period too when the laquer is really hard and thin, this is just my personal choice 

I think about which method is going to give the results i want, rather than which one is better or worse.   

I even use an upside down air duster on some stuff.  At the moment I am finding that mixing 2 techniques gives me better results than either on their own.  i.e. razor checking followed by freezer cycles or freezer cycles followed by an air duster.

They can all produce terrible checking when done badly.  

I need a bigger freezer for les pauls though

I would certainly agree with this. 

On many of the vintage Gibson examples I've seen, the bodies tend to have the long, thin parallel checking while on the sides and neck heel, it is far more crazed/shattered mirror like:



So I would certainly try the air duster technique to accomplish this.

As you can see though, the examples posted are a world away from the Murphy aged guitars.

WezV

miserneil said:

And for contrast, here's a genuine 1956 Gibson with lacquer checking. Notice the subtlety of the lines, how they almost fade in and out, depending on the angle you view them from and how thin and delicate they are:

.....

IMO, regardless of how thin the blade is, this cannot be accomplished with a razor.

It's also interesting in this, and most other vintage examples, that the crazing emirates from the various dings and dints that the guitar already has. The Murphy checked guitar has none of this. 

nah, you don;t get the same effect as that with a razor.  you also don't get it when you freeze and stain the cracks like many do


the point of showing the TM was that it is a bad example,that's how people judge the whole technique. 

 If you look at my example above it, it has different wear visible from different angles and the cracks do respond to dents and dings..... but its 90% razor work.   

WezV

richardhomer said:

Why is ‘fake’ checking always perpendicular to the grain? My 64 335’s checking pretty much followed the grain - likewise on vintage Fenders I’ve owned. 

the thinner laminated woods of the 335 respond differently to temperature changes than  solid wood - most semi's check along the grain.

fenders - depends on the finish.  Custom colours don't age the same as sunbursts for example

terada

I noticed some real checking on my 2014 R8 recently. Appears to be in the wrong direction though, no tuning fork pattern either 

WezV

terada said:

I noticed some real checking on my 2014 R8 recently. Appears to be in the wrong direction though, no tuning fork pattern either 

you often see the checking follow the grain around the control cavity, where the wood is thinner.... so it's not in the wrong direction at all

SteveRobinson

I need a bigger freezer for les pauls though

I use the one in the off-licence across the road from me