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How to make a bass look old and well used?

R

rrohde

Oct 27, 2008
137
11
Norman, OK
#1
Hi guys,

not having had a bass for a few years I finally got back into playing with an inexpensive black squire J bass "all in one" set. First thing I did was to replace the strings with flatwounds, dropping the strings a bit and ajusting the bridge. So far, so good - sound-wise.

What I don't like is the pristine look of the bass and I would like to age it a bit.

I wouldn't mind for it to have a well used look including:

... faded body color
... tinted headstock
... areas of "high wear" should be worn down to the wood
... the white pick guard could have more yellowish taint or otherwise worn look to it
... etc, etc

My question is - how do I go about this in order to achieve this desired look fast, easy and cheap... :) Any references?

Tips and hints are appreciated.

Cheers,
Rainer
 
#2
Rent a small room with only one window, and no lights, and buy a months worth of methamphetamine, cigarettes and alcohol.

Make sure to bring the bass, and maybe an amp.

Lock yourself inside said room, stay up for a month on meth, and chain smoke and drink yourself into oblivion.


When you're all done, the headstock and whatever else should have yellowed a bit from the concentrated cig smoke; The mix the of drugs and alcohol, in a room that is dark at least half of the day, should have 'desirable' results on the bass guitar.

Wa-la, relic'd bass.

*edit* Warning - You might come out looking older than the bass.
 
#4
fightthepower said:
Rent a small room with only one window, and no lights, and buy a months worth of methamphetamine, cigarettes and alcohol.

Make sure to bring the bass, and maybe an amp.

Lock yourself inside said room, stay up for a month on meth, and chain smoke and drink yourself into oblivion.


When you're all done, the headstock and whatever else should have yellowed a bit from the concentrated cig smoke; The mix the of drugs and alcohol, in a room that is dark at least half of the day, should have 'desirable' results on the bass guitar.

Wa-la, relic'd bass.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately you may or may not have also relic'd a few body parts as well :D
 
#9
rrohde said:
... areas of "high wear" should be worn down to the wood
Click to expand...

This usually looks artificial to me. A tipoff that the bass was not naturally relic'd, but instead was attacked by a sander. I would think twice about going down to the wood. The best relic jobs are (in my opinion) usually subtle. A bass that is showing bare wood is probably either 50 years old, or it's not as old but it's been abused by somebody who is irresponsible, or it's a fake.

Can you be satisfied with a bass that looks like it's "only" 10 or 20 years old, or will you attempt to make it look 50?

If you're not in a hurry and want to add some dings, never use an instrument case or a stand.
 
#11
Hand it off to someone who is playing the roughest dives. The combo of cigarette smoke and getting knocked into will "age" it.......

What color is the original bass? Is it "real" wood? Does it have a photo finish? All of these are going to make a difference on the technique used.

And realistically....... the only way to get real looking wear is to ...... use it.

Looking at my bass teachers collection.... the only basses worn down to the wood have either been knocked around or have a case of belt rash on the back. So either you'd have to start gouging or you'll have to start sanding. The yellowed pickguard look might be easier to achieve by buying a different pickguard (or just wait a few years, it'll yellow). Take the pickguard offand leave it in the sun would speed it up but would degrade the plastic. Not sure what you mean by tinted headstock..... and the body part depends on the factors asked at the top ^^ :)
 
#12
fightthepower said:
Rent a small room with only one window, and no lights, and buy a months worth of methamphetamine, cigarettes and alcohol.

Make sure to bring the bass, and maybe an amp.

Lock yourself inside said room, stay up for a month on meth, and chain smoke and drink yourself into oblivion.


When you're all done, the headstock and whatever else should have yellowed a bit from the concentrated cig smoke; The mix the of drugs and alcohol, in a room that is dark at least half of the day, should have 'desirable' results on the bass guitar.

Wa-la, relic'd bass.

*edit* Warning - You might come out looking older than the bass.
Click to expand...

Shhh....you are giving out Ibanezcollector's secret to his buisness :hiding:
 
#14
Thanks so far guys. :)

Well guys, I agree it has to look natural and should not be overdone. That one youtube video (thank you mongo2) already gave me some ideas.

And yes, I play it every day to get back into the groove, but I am so damn careful with it.. lol. Silly Virgo trait, I know. .. have... to ... overcome... that and bang it around a bit more. ;)

I attached a pic of the bass in its current state...
 

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#20
Richo said:
PS. I never saw the point in relic'ing basses yourself. Kinda defeats the purpose doesnt it? I mean it looks like an experienced bass that has some history to it, but in actual fact there is no soul about it at all.
Click to expand...

Well, I am a hobbyist scale modeler, too. And when you do scale models, there are two ways to finish them. 1) You just paint them and are done with it. 2) You paint them and then add wear and tear to them to make them look more realistic.

A similar sentiment got to me now: I want to give my bass a certain finish. There is no deeper meaning behind it except for me wanting it to look a little more beat up. Guess it would be more esthetically pleasing to me. Mind you - back then it never occurred to me to do that to my Warwick Thumb bass that I had... But this el cheapo Squire kinda lends itself to do this.. at least imho. Don't you think?
 

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