lacquering tweed- with what? (in UK)

[The Captain]

yellow/ green?! what the dickens..

this is my stuff. std fender tweed. its bare white/ brn back, tough yellowy lacquered (thats the best description of what it is imo) on the good/front side.

http://guitar-parts-and-spares-uk.co...rget=d422.html

(search 'tweed' at top lhs, first item down).

[Chuck H]

A little off topic, but not too much. Chuck, can you see any problems with using that ammonia trick to age nitro finished guitar pieces (w/ shellac based undercoat)? It wouldn't soften it up or make the paint gummy or anything?

No it shouldn't make the paint gummy or anything. But it can depend on the finish you've applied. If you used a water based polyurethane you would have a disaster. So no matter what, I reccommend a test run.

The vaporized ammonia trick is done commercially to age wood prior to finishing. It darkens the hard grain, unlike stain which darkens the soft grain. You don't really see any difference in the unfinished wood until you finish it.

I came across this trick acidentally when I was applying a white polyurethane in a laundry room that had recently been cleaned with ammonia. It turned very amber yellow where in other areas that didn't have ammonia fumes it did not. When used on already finished wood the oxidization occures in the finish, not the wood itself. It must be done before the finish is fully cured but not while it is soft. So it's a small window of opportunity. Your piece should have it's actual finish coat before you do this. But that isn't to say you can't experiment for different levels of effect. As in doing it after all but the very last coat...etc.

My only concearn doing it with "parts" would be that they are not fully finished on all sides. So some of the vapor would move into the pores of the wood. I can't say how this would effect color at the edges of the finish or how this would effect glue joints and such.

There are different tricks to "age" wood prior to finishing too that are used by antique restoration guys (and hucksters) to get a very authentic look.

Chuck

[MWJB]

Yours appears to have been pre-treated.

[The Captain]

No, the tweed is usually the same colours on both sides (yellow/green or yellow/brown).

Go to torresamps.com, "grill cloths & coverings", is this your tweed? Or advise as to where you bought yours.

crickey that is expensive.. the pic is so bad I cant make out if thats white/brown bare tweed, or indeed as I buy it, the std yellow/brown. But if it is yellow/brown.. then this MUST be a layer of some kind of lacquer, unless as you say its on both sides(?) then the yellow may be it orig woven colour.

god Im so confused now!! Ive literally got a headache due to this..

Ive emailed torres, & Appleton to ask; what is on the tweed, ie is it a lacquer? is it sold as 'lacquered', & if not what is it, and/or could it be "nitro" lacquered?

[The Captain]

hang on then.. so mine IS lacquered then do you think?!?

whats the local mentalist hospital- i need to call them.

[MWJB]

The Torres stuff was, I thought, the same as Fender use now (yellow w/green stripe) on amps like Blues Deville/Blues Deluxe (Bassman RI used to have this stuff, but the Ltds are now "aged" tweed). It comes bare, Torres will give a coat of nitro lacquer but that just seals it & doesn't noticably tint the tweed.

Mojo cabs come with the yellow w/brown stripe and can be bare or aged on request (& for an upcharge).

[The Captain]

Mojo cabs come with the yellow w/brown stripe and can be bare or aged on request (& for an upcharge).

..so if they are bought 'bare', what does the tweed have on it.. lacquer? is it sold as 'lacquered'? ie same Q's here as Ive just emailed torres/ Appleton etc.

..or when you mean 'bare' do you mean literally a white w/brown tweed covered amp?? ive never seen anything like this, so I tentatively assume not..

I will get to the bottom of this mystery!!

[MWJB]

"whats the local mentalist hospital- i need to call them." Where do you think I'm posting from? :-).

Yes, yours is lacquered...doesn't look like you need to anything to it, so long as you like the colour.

[PRNDL]

Minwax Polyshades polyurethane Honey Pine Satin

Honey pine gets you in the ballpark, but it is a bit light (although it improves with time).

Larry Rodgers adds small amounts of darker Minwax tints to match aged tweed (it's darker brown with a bit of orange), and brushes on special colors on small areas like corners to give it a vintage-worn look.

The last time I talked with Larry, he mentioned that the poly tended to bleed through new tweed and he had to change techniques, which I believe means that he now starts by sealing the tweed with a layer of clear, followed by colored coats.

[TD_Madden]

this place sells the real deal:

http://www.guitar-parts.com/products...r-Covering.htm

[The Captain]

yes thats the stuff i have.. so it says its coated.. does that mean its lacquered/ finished/ no need neccessarily to do anything at all to it? if so then I HOPE all i need do is just seal the seam edges with a tad of my std wood-varnish i tested (no change to colour, unnoticeably neutral too).

im going round in circles like a scraggy hoond chasing its tail here..

[MWJB]

Bare or raw (nude?) tweed has nothing in it...that's why people like to lacquer/shellac/treat it. It's usually yellow/green or yellow brown. You can buy pre-lacquered tweed.

[MWJB]

"Minwax Polyshades polyurethane Honey Pine Satin"...great! But where do you buy it in the UK?

[theunrulychef]

Chuck, thanks for the additional info. I did a search on using ammonia to age wood/finishes & it seems like something I'm gonna have to try out.

-Jay

[Bruce Saunders]

If you want to get button polish in the UK, get it from Screwfix... they've got it on clearance for £2.93 for 500ml right now
http://www.screwfix.com and search for button polish. If you have a local trade counter pick it up from there.
I'm going to get some tomorrow...
I used Ronseal quick drying satin varnish on my harp case, rubbed down with synthetic wire wool between coats. I used a watered down coat of clear first (it's water-based, so I used 50/50 mix varnish and water) followed by undliuted clear, then finished of with a coat of antique pine finish.