And now the moment we’ve all been waiting for… here is our first batch of hardware after spending about six hours in a rock tumbler filled with pea gravel.
As you can see, it came out quite nicely. It’s hard to say whether I will attempt the “acid bath” on these as well. I guess I’ll have to wait and see how the rest of the pieces come out. So far I’m mucho happy with the results.
In fact, if you look really closely (here’s a close-up) you may even notice that the strap buttons have developed a small amount of rust––nice touch, eh?! I quickly washed them off when they came out of the tumbler yesterday, and apparently that was all the water it took to start the process rolling.
Amazingly, during the six-hours of my second batch I actually managed to seriously bend the post on my high-E tuner… I could hardly believe it when I saw it. Now that’s a freakin’ Relic.
Checking that my tuners still worked I noticed quite a bit of popping and grinding in the gears when I first started to turn them, but after a few minutes of twisting each of the machine heads the grit seems to have worked its way out.
Hehe, and I love the fact that the bent tuner is the high-E––the exact one you would most expect to get hammered out of shape when you accidentally swing your guitar’s headstock into your drummer’s thick-ass skull ;)
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May 8th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Looks like the project is coming along pretty nicely.
What a fantastic experiment idea!
Funny story about high-E tuning pegs, I broke mine right off doing a guitar swing.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Hey Cary,
How about the bridge? I would think you would want to be a little more cautious about that hardware.
-Rick
May 8th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Cary,
Just saw this from a local dealer’s website in Toronto; timing falls in nicely with your experiment,
Cheer,
Chris
http://www.12fret.com/new/Fender_51_Nocaster_Relic_Custom_Shop_pg.html
May 8th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Very cool! Nice touch with the water to slightly rust the hardware. Look forward to seeing the rest!
May 9th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Nice, but:
- shouldn’t have you peeled the stickers off the neckplate *before* aging it?
- are the screws still screw-able, and will they attach as securely now the threading looks smoother?
May 9th, 2008 at 3:01 am
Errrrmmm… How do you know it’s the high E tuner? Aren’t they all interchangeable?
May 9th, 2008 at 3:12 am
GLW: they do are interchangeable, except the two ones at the ends. It’s because of the way they’re mounted to the head:
http://www.myoldguitars.com/images/full/fender_stratocaster_56_11130_0013.jpg
May 9th, 2008 at 5:43 am
Gordon, regarding your questions. Yes, you are correct on both accounts, that’s why it’s called an “experiment” ;)
We assumed the rock tumbler would make short work of destroying the stickers, which it obviously didn’t. Luckily, that’s an easy fix (back in the tumbler with you!)
As far as the screws go, we are certainly not the first to relic a guitar, and so far I’ve never heard a report of the screws not fitting snuggly after a turn in the tumbler.
But like I said, it’s an experiment, so ya’ never know…
May 9th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Cary: You’re bringin’ em out with this project. Lately I’m resorting to T & A…
May 9th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Hehe… I saw that JP. What kind of tone do you think she gets out of those things?
May 10th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I’d call it “Curve Tone”. A very thematic photo– the curves go with the Strat, and the implants go with the Cyber-Twin. Modeling… It’s a concept thing.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Hey, Cary, your formatting is going a bit weird. I can’t read the text alongside photos – it disappears into the right-hand margin.
May 15th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Cary, the suspense is getting to be too much for me…I need an update!!
May 15th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I promise you’ll have one either tonight or in the early morning.
This stuff takes time! ;)
July 16th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Hey I just bought a “SAINT GUITAR COMPANY “Benchmark from the mesa/boogie store in hollywood. It was $4600.00 Snaps !! Has anyone ever played one of these? Friken SMOKIN !! I found them on myspace . . Search “Saint Guitar Company” some killer pics there.They’re website isn’t quite finished . . but its http://www.stguitars.com I also found some reviews for their stuff on harmony central . A good friend of mine Zakk Meyers of “SHINEDOWN ” told me about them . Anywho . . Check em out.