Creating a NON Durable Nitro finish

[partialdoctor]

Alright guys, thinking of a new project here. Basically, what I want is a guitar like SRV's number 1 or John Mayer's black strat with the finish very very worn (heavy relic), but I want to do it as naturally as possible... so I was thinking about how I could finish a strat body with nitro sunburst that would wear somewhat fast. I've never sprayed a finish and would not be opposed to outsourcing the finish on this one (ideally someone from this board. i.e. Tonar).

Thanks!

 

[Cagey]

Nitrocellulose lacquer breaks up, chips, and scratches easily, and it'll eventually spiderweb. Once it's well-cured, it's one of the more brittle finishes you can apply. It's also labor-intensive to get to a good finish, which is why you rarely see it on production guitars. The labor cost is simply too high. On the plus side, they're inexpensive material-wise, few finishes look as good when well-done, they're easily applied in less-than-pristine environments, and they're easy to repair. If I wanted to wear a guitar out naturally, that's what I'd use.

 

[bagman67]

and then leave the guitar out of its case, knock it over, spill beer on it, wear it over your shoulder while you cook dinner, work on the car, play football... that sort of thing.

 

[Tonar8352]

If the finish is put on real thin it will relic really fast depending on the player. They can also be finished so the surface will fail quickly. For instance if you put to much sanding sealer on before the gloss it will tend to crack and chip faster because of the dissimilar surface hardness of the two materials. In the paint world we call that a paint failure in the guitar world we call it a relic.  :laughing7:

 

[swarfrat]

Would you leave off the clear coat (since it would add a layer of protection)

 

[Tipperman]

King Bee Guitars can paint you a body in really thin Nitro, as can Tonar I would imagine.

Edit: Definitely leave it out of it's case. Take a strap that has four or five holes and put straplocks in each hole. They'll bang it up. I did that on one of my guitars just so I could adjust the height to preference, and it really did a number on it. Looks great on the plus side. Sadly, I have since gotten rid of that Gibson. :\

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Put it in the freezer, or fly with it in the luggage area on a jet.  That is supposed to, "shatter," things.  I haven't used the freezer trick yet, but my buddies guitar went on a plane and it was relic'ed inside of its case.
Patrick

I should add, I really am not too keen on these processes because I don't really think that there is much control of it.  But, you did ask...

 

[kboman]

Put it in the freezer, or fly with it in the luggage area on a jet.  That is supposed to, "shatter," things.  I haven't used the freezer trick yet, but my buddies guitar went on a plane and it was relic'ed inside of its case.

I believe this is what happened with whitebison's Less Paul, he flew with it in the luggage compartment and the finish cracked. Can't find pics of it now of course...

 

[Tonar8352]

Put it in the freezer

Wives do not like this at all ask me I know.  :laughing7: :laughing7: :laughing7: :laughing7:

 

[swarfrat]

They don't care for parkerizing in the oven either, but I figured that one out without attempting.

 

[Tweed]

They don't care for parkerizing in the oven either, but I figured that one out without attempting.

Put it in the freezer, or fly with it in the luggage area on a jet. 

I was just about to ask about these!
A satin finish would check, correct?

 

[Soloshchenko]

I think you'd be surprised how quickly nitro finishes break up and start to look vintage. A mate of mine just did a Warmoth tele and I don't whether he put too much colour on or what but about a month later it all started cracking up and looking like a 40 year old. I LOVE nitro finishes for this. I'm actually thinking of stripping and refinishing my main white Fender Jazz bass in exactly the same colour, just nitroed!