Aging A Finish

[admin]

Paul: RIC's recent decision to produce instruments in an amber finish that is certainly reminiscent of the vintage years is most interesting. After thinking about this recent decision I wondered whether this sort of thing could be done in some cases by using a tinted clear coat over the original finish.

Is there anyway that this might be achieved with satisfactory results? I realize that the decision to go ahead with this approach may be foolhardy and unsatisfactory if not disastrous, but out of curiosity I wanted to ask.

[tony_carey]

It's a good point Peter, as I have often felt like leaving a fireglo to stand in the sun for a while, to try & age it. I realise that this would be even more foolhardy & disasterous than your idea, but I have wondered if there is a sensible way to 'age' the colour of FG.

[jingle_jangle]

Peter, I'll answer this question in terms of Rickenbacker instruments only, as this is a Rickenbacker Forum and Rickenbacker finishes are all "of a kind"; that is, the basic materials and techniques have remained fairly consistent over the decades.

Let's say you have a fairly new Rickenbacker in either FG or MG, but you'd like it to look a bit more ambered. We'll assume that the clearcoat is in excellent condition with regard to chips, and there is no finish peeling or checking. Here's what can be done:

The guitar needs to be de-strung and disassembled completely. This can be accomplished by a Rick-experienced tech in 30 minutes or less. The toughest part is de-soldering the pickup wires from the selector switch and pot casings.

If there is a lot of grunge collected anywhere (under where the tailpiece sat, around pickups, tuners, frets, etc.) then I use a toothbrush and Windex to remove every last tiny bit.

The whole guitar needs to be wiped down with a special wax and grease remover. I do this not less than 3 times in succession, using a new, clean diaper each time. This removes silicone, finger grease, chicken fat, oils, etc.

Here a choice is made as to whether or not to include the fretboard in the ambering process. Excluding the fretboard saves a good amount of time and some money, and the missing amber varnish on the fretboard is not noticeable to most people.

If the choice is to include the fretboard, it is included in all steps from this point on. If it is excluded, it is masked off at this time.

Next, the entire guitar is scuffed thoroughly with brown Scotchbrite. This includes the edges of the soundhole, and inside the headstock "grooves" on a 12 string. This step is most critical, as the adhesion between the ambered clearcoat and the old clearcoat is a mechanical one and depends upon this scuffing step to prevent future peeling as the finish shrinks.

One more wipedown with wax and grease remover and yet another clean diaper, and then the guitar is hung in the booth for a fresh coat of ambered varnish. First it is carefully wiped down with a tack cloth to remove any dust or contaminants which might have settled on it.

Ambered varnish is made by taking an appropriate amount of conversion varnish (it takes about 6 ounces to properly coat a guitar) and mixing in just a touch of a transparent yellow oxide dye, and an even tinier amount of transparent red oxide dye. The red keeps the yellow from looking too greenish once the varnish is applied. In the gun cup, the ambered varnish looks just like good hefeweisen bier in color.

Two double coats of varnish are sprayed onto the guitar. I also tend to apply a bit more tint to the center of a burst on a guitar with a burst finish--it looks more natural.

After an overnight or longer cure cycle (remember--the varnish is a catalyzing finish coat!), the finish is carefully sanded to #2500 grit, and then machine and hand-buffed to a new shine.

If the fretboard was also treated to the ambering process, the frets must be re-levelled in order to remove the layer of varnish which was sprayed on them.

Finally, reassemble, re-solder, restring, set up and it's done.

Procedures for other guitars vary, according to brand and finish. Conversion varnish will stick well to most old finishes provided they are scuffed, but if I was doing a guitar which had been finished in polyester, I'd use a polyester varnish.

One caveat: Don't apply nitro or acrylic lacquer clear, over a conversion varnish-finished Rickenbacker instrument, even a scuffed one. It will peel in short order.

It is possible that a lightly-nicked or buckle-rashed Rick can be brought to as-new condition using this method, either with ambered or non-tinted varnish. This is because the conversion varnish tends to flow into small nicks and scratches and puddle there. When it cures, there is a good deal of "levelling" going on, and the sanding step further levels the new varnish coat.

That should be good news to Rickenbacker owners who are hankering to get their guitars or basses looking like new again.

Note that this is about 60% of the work of a complete refinish, so it's not something that is going to be cheap.

[tony_carey]

Thanks for your expert answer Paul, as always.

So what you're saying is...don't leave it in the sun for a few days?

[admin]

Thanks Paul, I'll get right to this, tonight. I'll pick up some more diapers on the way home. Not.

I appreciate your detailed and professional comments. A most interesting process. I am certain that there must be people with buckle-rash that will want to follow-up with you. This is another case where back to the future applies. Making new, old again, what a concept.

As always, anything worth doing when it comes to this type of exacting work is not without a chunk of change, but well spent in my view for bringing back the full beauty of a Rickenbacker.

[jingle_jangle]

Peter, this applies not only to an application of an ambered varnish, but non-ambered as well. Many guitars which might be looking a bit scratched or perhaps having minor chips or buckle rash, can be brought back into the fold using this reconditioning method.

Jetglo is a special case, as because it is black, it is even possible to touch up chips going through into the wood and then fill individual chips. The guitar can then be either revarnished or sanded and buffed back to its former glory.

This still requires disassembly of the instrument to do the job properly.

[johnhall]

One important factor that's not received much attention is what the sun does to the wood itself. Maple naturally yellows after exposure to sunlight, obviously a photochemical reaction of some sort. Every piece ages differently in this regard and it also isn't uniform across the piece of wood either. Whenever you see a vintage Fireglo instrument, you're looking a combination of both wood and clear coat yellowing.

[jingle_jangle]

I'm glad the John brought this up. I've mentioned this before in other threads, but the UV component in sunlight does age all woods. Lighter woods like maple, pine, alder and poplar will show ambering (unfinished woods show a lot more than finished woods in this regard), and darker woods like padauk will actually turn almost black, whether finished or not, with solar exposure.

The conclusion could be that a Rickenbacker is only new once in terms of finish.

A refin on one, however, entails sanding the wood, which in most cases will strip off the ambered (damaged) surface cells, leaving bright, untouched wood on the guitar's surface. This yellowing only goes a few thousandths into the wood.

Refinishing over this brightened wood will yield a surface finish akin to that of a new instrument.

Most satisfying to the restorer and the owner both.

[admin]

Point taken John. It seems that there are many factors to consider when discussing how an instrument ages.

As I look at the amber fireglo versus firelgo photos on the Official site, I am tempted to see the amber as slightly more orange or the fireglo as somewhat more pink.

I also think that putting gold guards on the amber fireglo may look quite different compared to the same guard on the fireglo instruments. It will be interesting to see whether a new guard colour might emerge with the amber fireglo.

While I may be mistaken, I recall that Curmudgeon used a somewhat different gold when putting guards on his 381, for example.

[johnhall]

The website photos are only relative; there's just too many factors to make them display accurately, including the type of monitor, the monitor settings, and the graphics adapter itself.

We have one complete scanner-adapter-monitor-screen setup calibrated, which we use for graphics work, but like most everyone else in the world, our usual desktop machines aren't calibrated.

[wayang]

So, is Ric planning a 'vintage' look that duplicates three decades of exposure to sweat and PBR?

[jingle_jangle]

Naw, that's Fender's bailiwick.

[wayang]

I played a Bailiwick once...horrible action...

[jingle_jangle]

But didn't it smell great?

[wayang]

Yeah...sweaty and Pabsty...