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Easy parts aging process?

braydensharrar

braydensharrar

Feb 21, 2009
874
56
36
California
#1
I have a 78 P bass coming in that I just acquired here on TB. It's a refin(i could care less, this will be a player not a collectible) and it's a light color. Desert sand or a yellowed olympic white. It has the original black pickguard on it, making it look like a punk(Sid Vicious) bass. So I order a tort pg and a set of ashtray/pickups covers as well as a thumb rest. My question: is there anything quick and simple I can do to these new parts to "wear off the new"(other than play the bass for countless, which I plan to do anyway) so that the new parts don't stick out like a sore thumb amount a background of a worn, vintage bass? The parts don't have to be collectible "correct", I just don't want them to look out of place. Any suggestions?

This is just for fun and I realize nothing puts on the wear like playing.

Thanks!

~B
 
#3
Here is a project that my son did when he was 15 years old. He took his first bass, 2004 Fender Squire Jazz, refinished the body, bought some new hardware and aged it along with the original hardware. I made the neck into a lined fretless and sanded the logo off and replaced it with a waterslide that we ordered from an online dealer. He distress the body and neck refinished it and put it all back together. Looks pretty good for his first attempt.


The method that he used for the hardware was to put some muriatic acid in a 5 gal plastic bucket, about a 1/2" deep, then rig up some dowels that layed across the top of the bucket. He suspended some parts from the dowels and layed others on top of the dowel grid (not actually letting them touch the acid). He put some type of domed cover over the bucket and let the fumes do their thing. When the parts looked the way that he intended for them to look, he removed them and washed them really good in baking soda to neutralize the acid and stop the deterioration process.
He also used a few fine grits of steel wool to scuff the metal in places.
Keep a check on the parts while they are exposed to the fumes. Some parts deteriorated faster than others. He left them exposed from 8 to 16 hrs.
Hope this helps................;)
Joe
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#4
Wow, that's perfect! Thanks for the instructions. I have a couple more questions though.

-what is a dowel? I am in no way a builder and have never heard this term.
-Is there anything I can do to take the shine off of the pickguard?

Thanks again!

~B
 
#8
FYI, muriatic acid is pretty nasty stuff, use heavy, acid-proof gloves when messing with this stuff, and then add baking soda after you finish to neutralize the acid. Also, remember to add acid to water, NOT water to acid, doing this the wrong way (adding water to concentrated acid) will cause it to boil up and get you, acid burns are very nasty stuff and potentially deadly! It would do well to add the acid after use to a large container of cold water, say 10-20 times more water than acid, and then add the baking soda. While buffing with steel wool or other abrasives to the metal is one way to "age" the hardware, the acid trick is better because it is the acid in your perspiration which really causes hardware to tarnish, in effect you are doing the same with the muriatic acid...
 
#9
To be honest, I don't know if I want to mess with that stuff. It sounds like a pretty intensive process that takes some time and expertise.

I will try some steel wool and green scotch pads first and see how I like the results...

Thanks everyone!

~B
 
#11
Ive used really fine grit synthetic abrasives like the green scotch brite or 3m products to knock the shine off of a new pickguard. You can pick them up at Home Depot or most any other home improvement store...........
He actually did not reduce the muriatic acid with water. He used it full strength but only a small amount in the bottom of the bucket. The metal parts should not come into contact with the acid. The vapor does all of the work. Gloves are smart when fooling with the stuff...........
As for the dowels, you can pick them up at the local home improvement store as well. Just small 1/4 wooden dowels will work. You can use most anything to span across the top of the bucket to support the parts.

+1 Agree w/ Randy Warren "While buffing with steel wool or other abrasives to the metal is one way to "age" the hardware, the acid trick is better because it is the acid in your perspiration which really causes hardware to tarnish, in effect you are doing the same with the muriatic acid..."
God luck with everything!
 
#16
I can attest to the muaruatic acid process. A year or so ago i grabbed some from a pool supply place (i worked at public swimming pool and we used that to change the pH in the water) i grabbed a small amount and basically just poured the acided in a large tupperwear, and put my parts in a smaller tupperwear container and nested them together so the acid wasnt touching the parts but the fumes could.

After about 10-15 minutes the fumes reacted with the coatings on my hardware and voila! reliced.

Very simple, afterwards I just neutralized it, and flushed it down the drain with lots of water.

Very fast, simple and cheap, and if you plan on doing this more then once you can save the acid since your only technically using the fumes. Just be sure to keep it in glass, and well labeled in a safe place.
 

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