Getting a Vintage look?
 

I there anyway I can make my jazz bass look VINTAGE? Not ROADWORN OR BEAT TO DEATH.... just older???

Play it.

Bridge and pickup covers? A.K.A Ashtrays. They'd be a good start. In terms of wear, you just gotta play it. That bass won't show much wear though. On the pickguard and the chrome, you'll see scuffs and marks in time. The body itself, however, you won't see much, even in a lifetime.

Oh yeah, and that :rolleyes:

I wouldn't worry about it. That bass looks FANTASTIC!

Check this out. This helped me. Pretty simple too.


http://youtu.be/AoA0O6kSBqk

220 grit jacket and Diamond plate belt buckle.

+1


:rollno:

tort guard and ashtrays

The best 'artificially aged' instruments I've seen online have been done by Bluesman Vintage. I don't know if he offers this service, but there would be no harm in asking...

I´m getting a vintage look, it´s taken me years to perfect.

Careful, you've opened a can of worms. You will get a lot of replies of "over time...play it...etc" and maybe some people rehashing how they hate the relic look, so be prepared.

There are quite a few threads on TB that discuss this and some decent videos on YouTube, of course you'll have to wade through a lot of pablum to get any real sustenance.

Pour everything you've got under the kitchen and bathroom sinks together in the toilet, dip the body in and flush and you may just end up with:



Be sure to remove the hardware first. ;)

that looks awesome

Agreed, relic'ing is kind of becoming an art form and there's a lot of different approaches out there on it now.

But all "hating" and fighting aside, yes, the very best way, in my opinion, really _is_ to just drag it around to gigs, sessions and play it a bunch. Yes it takes a long time, but to me there's nothing like a "real" relic job done by simply throwing it around in normal use.

My L2K is over a decade old now and is showing some of those relic signs. I've actually tried to take care of it, so it's going slow. But I've now stopped that silliness, :) , and it usually sits on the floor now, etc. The headstock and bridge are starting to show signs of distress, etc. Mostly just dirt, but little dings and such are showing up in the finish....

Maybe in another 10 years, as the relic job avances, it will make it worth, like $100 instead of the like $50 it's worth now...

LS

I put an ano gold guard on my beat up 83 P bass, and normal play is wearing on the pickguard quite nicely.


You might also consider going lightly over the body with a scotchbrite pad, it'll flatten out the shine.

wraub

This is worth a try. Cheap and reversible. You could even dull the ashtrays a bit. That white guard says "modern" to me.

everytime I see a relic thread I also see many people say " that looks great, I want that"...etc., however when you look at their family pictures there are nothing but super-uber-clean-pristine units in the rack.

so you think it looks cool?, nothing wrong with that but I never ever see anyone with 6 mint basses relicing them to match what they say with a before-after shot.

" here is my 6 brand new looking units -- UGLY, here are the same 6 now reliced - beauty" :rollno:

Be careful what scotchbrite you use, if you go that route.
There are several grades, and some of them are very aggressive.

The ashtrays/covers are a great vintage look; a different guard can add to that.

Larry Hartke typically coats his in lighter fluid and sets them on fire for a while.

You might find some advise in the re-ranch finishing forum.

Jenny does varying grades of this sort of work:
http://mjtagedfinishes.com/

if it's a highway one it's going to get super shiny spots where your body and clothing come into contact with it, these are the areas where natural wear would occur, so either wait it out or hit those places