Freezer-time: I wonder what would happen...

[thebutcher85]

if I bought this $50 tele body from guitar fetish and stuck it in the freezer for a few days, then immediately either the back of a hot car in direct sunlight, or a 100 degree oven? Completely stupid idea? Probably, I'm still curious to try it for giggles at least...

(also, it's Paulownia with a urethane finish)

 

[stubhead]

I looked at some of the other GFS bodies, and I noticed that the slot for controls is sometimes routed with rounded ends, sometimes they're more squared off... and on the one you pictured and another one, it appears as though the neck pickup cavity is assymetric. If I were trying to sell something on the internet, I would try to post pictures of the best efforts. And, they probably did.

 

[thebutcher85]

Haha, true, they look like crappy bodies, I'm just considering it to practice relic'ing on it.

 

[bagman67]

One of the selling points of urethane is its durability, so I'm not sure rapid temperature fluctuations would have that much effect, but at the price of those bodies, it's cheap to find out.


Separately, if you want a real relic'd look...


Play the hell out of your guitar.

 

[rapfohl09]

The only thing you would probably get is cracks. And if that is what you wanted, I would do it the other way around. Generally things shrink when they are cooled, and expand when they are heated. The effect is more severe when things are cooled very quickly from high temperatures, and is what causes crazing in ceramic glazes. That is pretty much the only thing I would suspect to happen, if anything.

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=687&q=crazing+in+glaze&gbv=2&oq=crazing&aq=1&aqi=g8g-m2&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=430l1989l0l3779l11l10l2l1l2l0l221l1154l1.5.1l7l0

 

[scartozi]

if you are looking for the checkering that old nitro finishes have you won't achieve that same effect with poly no matter what you do to it. In my research I've found that if someone has a poly finish and wants the checked relic finish they strip the body, repaint and finish with a nitro. With a nitro gloss finish your can check the body, or neck, with a can of compressed air and a hair dryer, this also allows you to check selected areas.

On guitars I've relic'd with poly about the only thing you can do is take the sheen off the poly and then add the normal wear marks, dents, dings, aging plastics and metals. It you decide to take the sheen off to give it that old look then Stewart McDonald's micro mesh in 1500 or higher is necessary to make it look right. Even 0000 steel wool or 800 grit wet sandpaper will give it that "forced relic" look.

 

[tfarny]

Why not buy a $50 guitar from a pawn shop that's already beat up? You could spend time "relicing" time practicing...

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

+1 to the idea that you need a nitro lacquer finish if you want the check marks.

I think your method might work on a lacquer body, but not so much on a poly body.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

The GFS Tele body my wife got me for Christmas last year was a blem, marked down.  Only had a hairline scratch where the neck plate would go.  All other routes & stuff were great.  Works out great for me 'cause it's getting covered with buckskin anyway.  I sounds nice, bolted up & intonated great.

 

[dmraco]

My only concern if the temps were extreme enought, the wood or glue could fail and split.  Think of putting cold water in a glass that just came out of the heat dry in dishwasher.....CRACK.

Wood glue will soften with heat.

There are been on great relics done on these.  The I saw was someone dragged the body down a gravel road.  Clean it up and add some tung oil.  I think this was show in Mayfly's relic thread.

 

[scartozi]

although quite time consuming I've seen checkering done with a razor blade. As you can imagine it takes A LOT of patients and skill to make it look right. I've always looked at pictures of old strats from the 50's that are for sale on Fleabay or online for "inspiration" and most of them have no body checkering, just a duller finish with aged hardware and plastic along with some dings and some wear marks. If checkering is present most of the time its on the headstock on a neck with a gloss nitro finish.

I've seen some horrible relic jobs where it looks like they just took a sander to the guitar without giving it any thought.....then want to sell it at a premium. I was on Craigslist one time looking for strats when I came across one of these "relic gone bad" guitars.....the part that I thought was the funniest...other than the strat itself....is the fact the guy actually gave out his information for anyone wanting one of his professional relic jobs. I should have saved the pictures, it was horrible.

 

[dmraco]

I like what Jack did...
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=13719.45