Who makes 'real' looking aged Strat covers?

[ken]

Hello...

I've been looking all over for an 'aged white' Strat pickup cover that actually looks good, but with no success. The ones I saw either are a weird shade of brown or even greenish (!).

Anyone find an actually good looking cover?

Thank you,
Ken

[Spence]

No one makes them but Guitar Jones come close. All these things have to be modified in some way to get them right anyway.

[kevinT]

I've read that some folks have success and some have not, soaking them in tea or coffee. Some folks have aged them with black, or was it brown shoe polish. ....deluting it a bit.

[ken]

I tried the 'coffee method' myself and for some reason didn't have too much luck with it. Maybe it was the DiM cover I used or the brand of coffee, but it came out looking kind of strange. I know about the 'shoe polish' trick but never tried it because I was afraid of the chemicals in the shoe polish dissolving the cover.

I like Fender's covers myself, but I can't afford to mess up too many of those. I wish I could but I can't buy them in bulk.

Maybe I should have used Maxwell House coffee instead of Folger's?

Ken

[greenfingers]

You can try Fatboy Guitars, He has some good looking covers on his web site. I have not used them but they look better than allparts and most aged covers ive seen. Hope that helps

[John_H]

I've used textile dye to tint pickguards, and cavity covers with good results. I cant see why it wouldn't work on pickup covers, and bobbins.

I let the dye cool down then soak the plastics anywhere from a few hours to a couple days. Just stop when get to the shade that you're looking for. There's a great selection of colors too. Mint green is easy to do. I've never tried red assuming it would be pink, but I have used brown, green, and blue.

[Dave Kerr]

I read somewhere (mimf, maybe?) of one guy claiming success by using brown and yellow Sharpies, smearing the blended ink on using a cloth.