Aging a 57 Classic Cover

[greg]

I'm interested in getting that crappy, shiny "new" look off of my pickup. Can anyone point me toward some information on how to relic these things?

Thanks in advance

Greg

[Earl Norton]

Don't use steel wool. Try jewler's rouge or maybe rottenstone to take the shine down a little.

[Spence]

There are a couple of stages in the natural aging of a pickup cover. But first you need to specify what the covers are plated with.

Nickel has been replaced, believe me, with a yellow tinted chrome. No one will tell you about this but it's true. I have several new covers from different manufacturers with this plating on and it's a nightmare to age.

Nickel responds well to exposure to heat, air and moisture. How you achieve that is up to you. I personally have spent countless hours developing fast aging techniques which are too good to give away on a whim but I've given you the basic facts.

As for the scratches caused by years of picking, a scotch brite pad that's been well used ideal for the job.

[WolfeMacleod]

I could tell ya how I do this, but then I hafta kill ya

[NightWinder]

YEP!! And Gj is not using the same material they used to use. A quick hit with sand belt reveals some interesting things. It is still N/s, but the raw color under the plating has changed. MAkes one wonder?

[NightWinder]

Try this formula

I'm interested in getting that crappy, shiny "new" look off of my pickup. Can anyone point me toward some information on how to relic these things?

Thanks in advance

Greg

You can use very fine steel wool.
(1) Pick a direction, ever so gently rub the steel wool over your chrome n/s cover just enough to take off the sheen. Be careful not to rub to hard, and make sure you are going in the same direction, not swirling. If you rub too hard, you will remove the chrome completely and reveal a type of primer used to help the chrome stick. It looks redish, and can show darker flaws when finished.
(2) Household chemicals for aging, and simulating CRUD!
2 oz. white vinagar
2 oz. Lemon Juice
2 oz. Clorine Bleach
1 Tps. Salt
IN A WELL VENILATED AREA(best outside) Combined the chemicals as follows, withold the salt. Drop your cover in. Add the salt, Its gonna foam!!! Leave it alone......You can check on it periodically, but at this stage you are just ttreating the metal. Let it sit for a few hrs. Remove the cover and place outside on a bench. A days rest outside, and it should start to rust. If your climate is dry right now(arizona), spray water on it every so often. Letting it dry too. Shit man, let it stay outside for a few days. After everything is said and done, use a super grit paper to clean it up to desire. Try this! Its fun, and very unique, and aged!
There are other methods too, but I will not elaborate on this because simply there are other designers including myself that have spend MONEY, and hours of fustration trying to perfect aging. Each of us have our own way of doing things. Try this first....

[Satamax]

Hydrochloric acid fumes on nikel works wonders Just hang the cover above a plate of HC acid, and cover the whole lot witha plastic bucket, check every half hour!

[Spence]

I could tell ya how I do this, but then I hafta kill ya

Let me guess. You've gone over the cover with a sandblaster. Then you've smeared it all in a peroxide or chlorine bleach. That's exposed some of the copper below. Then you've left them out in the rain for a couple of days and finished off by scouring some stripes.

Get your gun out Wolfe.

[Matt T.]

I'm lucky...or unlucky depending on how you look at it. Let me play a guitar for 2-4 weeks and my covers look aged...aged beyond polishing it out or anything....lines under each string...most of the sheen is gone and it's matte. It's not pitted like Wolfe's cover though.

Unfortunately, I want all my guitars to look perfectly shiny new for their entire lives.

Has anyone tried an electro-etcher? Would that work? There is one at my job and I've got some dented covers I could try. I don't like aged covers so I've never had the motivation to try it.

[NightWinder]

Ahh thats funny shit

[mick]

Hmmm , I could do the sandblasting bit , and the peroxide/bleach/scouring thing , the hanging in the rain part could be a real problem......

Mick

[Spence]

Didn't have any in stock so here's one I knocked up earlier:



Crayon on some lines, swirl around in kiddies sandpit, 6Hrs under ozone and steam and 3 Hrs on the gas boiler flue. Piece of piss really.

[Possum]

aging covers

Basically I don't know crap about how to age nickel plated covers but there are plenty of good close up shots of real PAFs on Ebay, just search PAF and highest price to see what those covers look like. I'm attaching one in this message hope it works. One thing you might try too that I know from my jewelry making days is torch heating and pickling. Basically you heat the pickup cover with a torch til you get a low color glow then quench in a pickle pot. You can make pickle easily by using the powdered acid stuff they use to adjust PH in swimming pools, or order pickle from a jewelry supply place like Rio Grande on the net. This will give you an immediate frosted type look and get rid of the polish. You can pickle several times, it might be worth a try. For a pickle pot any regular crockpot turned up all the way will work.

[WolfeMacleod]

Let me guess. You've gone over the cover with a sandblaster. Then you've smeared it all in a peroxide or chlorine bleach. That's exposed some of the copper below. Then you've left them out in the rain for a couple of days and finished off by scouring some stripes.

Get your gun out Wolfe.

Very cold.

Nope, no sandblaster involved. No peroxide, bleach, or scouring pads, and they haven't been left outside in the rain.
And there's no copper below the plating.


Keep going...as you get closer, I'll say "warmer" or "colder"

Wish my camera was working..I've got about a dozen of 'em I just finish that I'd post pics of.

[Spence]

Very cold.

Nope, no sandblaster involved. No peroxide, bleach, or scouring pads, and they haven't been left outside in the rain.
And there's no copper below the plating.


Keep going...as you get closer, I'll say "warmer" or "colder"

Wish my camera was working..I've got about a dozen of 'em I just finish that I'd post pics of.

It's not me that needs to know and I understand why you wish to be protective about your techniques.
The bottom line is that the constituent ingredients of sweat, together with oxygen are what makes old PAF covers look the way they are. There are not many ways to achieve that look at an accelerated rate.
Your covers look abused rather than old. Of course some covers do get abused but the photo that Possum has posted is what they look like when they're just old. Note, there is a distinct absence of lines below each pole screw. What Possum's photo shows is a cover that is largely oxidized with some minor abrasions caused by a pick.
One of the most heavily played Les Pauls of all time is the one that was Peter Green and then Gary Moore's. No stripes at all but a heavy oxide layer. nothing about them looks dirty or brownish. They look powdery. To get that look artificially is difficult to do. Anyone can make a cover look dirty, rusted and fake.
There is a company in the US called Micro-Mark. They supply a product called Rustall. Using Rustall would give the look you've achieved but at the end of the day you're only painting it on.