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Do any of you out there know if it is possible to "AGE" the colour of a pickguard?
I have just replaced the pickups on my strat and the new pickup covers are quite creamy in colour compared to the pickguard.
I have tried swapping over the covers from the old pickups but they dont fit - so that's not an option.
Will leaving it in the sun do the trick?
Not sure about the sun thing, but some people use coffee to age them.
Try Kiwi brown shoe polish. Even though you think it might be too dark, it doesn't penetrate as much as one might think. The tan shoe polish gives most plastics a pinkish hue (like newer Gibson plastics and binding).
If you smoke, or don't mind a smoke odor, you could try burning a pack of cigarettes in an enclosed box (or charcoal grill) with the guard away from the heat but still in the smoke. This may not work as well as the shoe polish, or as fast, but it will simulate many hours of bar room playing rather quickly.
With either method, the result may still not match the cream color of the pickup covers, but should get you closer.
Try boiling it in some tea.
Thanks hippiebob,
I tried your suggestion of the coffee and it has worked just fine.
I kept the picguard submerged for 36 hours in a shallow tray with some good strong coffee and it has stained it a light cream colour just where I wnat it to be.
Didnt fancy the boiling teat thing just in case the heat warped it.
Thanks everyone for the input.
Glad I could be of service. :D
T.T.I.U.W.O.P!!!!
"Didnt fancy the boiling teat thing just in case the heat warped it."
Boiling teat ? That would've hurt.
Just sayin'
Hi There,
Does anyone have any tips on ageing a brown vinyl tortoiseshell Jaguar pickgurd ?
Cheers
Basically, no. That sh*t seems impervious to any kinda artificial aging process, aside from scuffin' the sheen off it wif some 1200-grit paper. An' if'n you do take the shine off it will make the pickguard appear lighter in color.Quote:
Originally Posted by pagey
Fender only makes "good" tortoise shell guards an' "bad" ones. No in-between. An' they don't seem to be makin' a lotta the "good ones", at least as separately-available accessories. The good ones seemingly are reserved for production guitars at the factory.
HTH
Actually I've tried the hot water deal with rit clothing dye I used 1tablespoon of dark green and one tablespoon of dark brown mixed it up and put it in a cookie sheet laid the presanded pickguard face down in the oven at 300 degrees for a half hour pulled it out to check the coloration, the guard was alittle light yet all in all it took 2 hours and it came out olive greenish nice tint not the neon green.
hey caleb, lets see some pics of the test subject :D
300 degrees! I'm surprised it didn't melt. I'm a little reluctant to mess with chemicals in the oven , you gotta eat out of that thing.
It's clothing dye and water not flammable and the pickguard is submerged and yes it did become flexible, but just laid it flat on the counter and cooled for a couple of minutes straight as can be. here' some picks. comparing a newer one to the one I dyed.
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...9e2ab4f5e6.jpg
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...635f0dcb34.jpg
http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...9aca4d2d09.jpg
I didn't think it turned out to bad, and caleb here is a link to a site for relicing pretty informational.
http://www.relicdeluxe.com/plastic_pickguard_knobs.asp
Looks nice not overstated. Like a original white nitro guard starting to green I guess. I meant about the chemicals getting onto food you later put in the oven bTW. (Don't mind me I'm in the medical field and have a natural distrust of chemicals ...including medical drugs of course :)) I don't mind sniffing a few solder fumes however occasionally :lol
LOL, I know my wife was a little peeved at me but now I have a parts pan and she has an excuse to go shopping!!!! LOL.
I gotta admit -- that technique looks pretty effective (an' authentic), MW. I'm curious as to whether the "thermal" aspects of the procedure could be dispensed with an' instead, jus' let the pickguard soak at ambient temperature.
Regardless, tha's a swell-lookin' pickguard!
:sign11:
I think IMO that the heat is opening the pores of the plastic to allow the dye to penetrate the plastic, I pulled it out about every 20 minutes or so to check the color. the mixture I used was 1 tablespoon of rit dark green and 1 tablespoon of rit dark brown in 1 gallon of water. the color according to rit is olive drab.