BROWN-shoe-polish, relic-aging>IT WORKED!

Worked good added a nice golden glow,
Also worked on covers and knobs and the whole body of a TOO White Strat!

Dont leave it on more then 2 min.s it drys and shows application streaks.
if you do use the polish to reloosen the old dryied stuff

I relic'd my Tele and want to age my new faux ivory knobs. What brand shoe polish did you use? Also, will it work on a poly finish? I'm worried it may rub off later...thanks.

Well, I went for it last night with a real old jar of shoe cream. WOW, I am truely amazed at the results. It really looked aged, a darkened patina like it sat in a smokey bar. Maybe because I had steel wooled the poly prior to relic'ing, I left it on only a few seconds and could control the darkness. I left some kool dark areas by the curves. Amazing. I never thought poly could be 'stained' so easily. My all too white Jimmie V body is gonna get that 'smoker's tan' next. Thanks for the tip Don.

Pictures!!!

Must see pictures!

yea,
its in the 3"x1/2" flat can " Brown Shoe Polish" by KIWI

She aint never commin off!
this is as close to the real Mc coy as it gets!
Golden Tan Smoker Tan.... Its the real Glowing yellow that we all worship and love!

I did all my guitars ,
The ugly bright white Strat is now a aged 60's Mustang White,
The headstocks are all toned down on my Fenders,
My two heavy Relic teles now look real,
I took the white one down to a 50's wore out Butterscotch look.

the edges of the 3ply pickgaurds, the white knobs switch & tremolo tips all have a golden glow,

The binding on my brand spankin 335 Epi is now an off white,
The cream colored Gibson mounting rings have yellowed highlights.

The whole neck was done then some stell wool was used to tame the sticky-ness
I hear the stickyness goes away in a few days anyways!


MAN as soon as I can get a Ditg cam I'll blow your guyzis minds!

COOL stuff,
the once boring white parts tele now looks like a 51 Fender in well used shape,
I did all the relic tricks ...pulling out all the stops!

DM

I doubt the camera will pick up the subtle shading, but I tell ya, I've been around old stuff and this looks really good. Even gave a nice shine...it is polish. I tried to use lacquer thinner to remove a few areas that got blotchy...nothing. I had to use a water thin varnish/lacquer REMOVER to take it off...it's like paint! Amazing...I thought poly was bullet proof. The overall creme color of the Tele is nicely tanned now. Look at the 'waist' and where the neck meets the top body...I shaded it more...just nuts. Did the Strat today..hehe, smokers tan.
http://pics.montypics.com/butnut/200...img-023339.jpg

Very cool!

I first read about this on the FDP and did it on my MIM Standard strat. From ugly to beautiful in 2 minutes flat. Huge difference. Be careful to apply it evenly though.

I never thought to do it on knobs and pickup covers. Good idea. Hell, I have 99% of a can left. It don't take much to do a neck!

for the love of god some pics!!!!!!!!!!!

please,
more pics! dont let this thread die.
i'm getting a 68 strat reissue in white soon. please send pics of the neck.
ron

Here's the before and after shot...smokers tan :nelson
http://pics.montypics.com/butnut/200...3_0389_IMG.jpg

http://pics.montypics.com/butnut/2003-04-22/.jpg

Tremendously cool. :cool:

Butnut, the before and after shots are exactly what I was waiting for. Thanks. I definitely prefer the "after" shot - never liked the snow white color at all on geets. I guess now I can finally buy a white Strat since for a couple extra bucks it can be turned into the color I actually like. Anybody have any before/after shots of necks they've done?

Thanks guys. I did my white Jimmie V body a while back. My gold guard better be in tomorrow as promised or I'm gonna scream. :bonk
I'll post a pic when that one is finished. I have'nt tried it on my necks yet as I like the look of the Jimmie V necks. The one in the pic is one I relic'd with 2 shades of toner and lacquer. I'd imagine the shoe polish would work fine to darken any neck...especially those baby-butt white bare finish ones.
LB, the guy who did Roy's Tele (the relic site) said he used shoe polish on the Gregg Rogers neck. This was on his first relic Tele if I remember correctly. I'll have to visit his site again. He is a mad man for detail...my idol.

hi, I'm new here and I'm sorry if this is a stupid
question ... but are you saying to use brown shoe
polish on the finish??? I was all set to do my
LoneStar maple neck and I saw this post. I have
white knobs and white pup covers also.

Thanks,

RicK

Yes. It WILL darken any finish, lacquer or poly. Use it like a rub on stain, wipe off immediately if you don't want it too dark. Have a pile of rags handy. Wipe on evenly and rub. If you don't like the look, use alcohol and wipe off quickly...with seconds. Wait, and it will be difficult to remove. I had to use a mild paint stripper to remove some streaks I left on a few minutes. Darker? Use a few more rub on coats, and let it set a few minutes before rubbing. Good luck.

can anyone find me a full article on this. if and when i do something like this it NEEDS to be spelled out. i dont wanna ruin a perfectly good guitar. anyone know of anything like that? links?

I don't know of any links, but there is'nt much to it really. I had a refinishing biz and I work with paints on a daily basis which may give me a little advantage in the application process. I made a few booboos on my first attempt, but I found alcohol removes it if you wipe it immediately. Gotta have a bunch of clean rags ready, it can smear if you try to rub it off with a dirty rag. To get a perfectly even 'tan' would kinda defeat the relic look so a little shading is good. I tried to make it look natural, darker in certain areas. I'd imagine anyone considering doing this is going for that aged look, so perfection is not really a good thing IMO. I cannot guarantee anyones results, just that shoe polish is a cheap and easy way to give your guitar a different look besides repainting. My dang pickguard is not in yet. When I finish my Strat, I'll put up a pic.

save your $4.50 and use kiwi brown polish on your cream-colored switch.
just did it. looks far less perfect...and that is a good thing.
just doing some preliminary tests on my cc strat with the genyoowine '69 neck...did the trem tip,knobs and pu selector switch...
i'm a believer.
getting ready to do the pickguard and pu covers. i'll post when i'm done.
ron

Wow, I have a Strat I recently put together with a CS 56 relic neck and hardware on a really bright white classic 50's MIM alder body. I wanted to do something to match the body more with the relic look of the neck without getting into a big relic process. This is the ticket as it really toned it down , giving it a realistic aged appearance.
I applied using small circular motion the quickly buffed it with a clean cloth.
I can't believe how well this worked! The photos look like the surface is abit splotchy but that's the camera. It's very even overall.
Craig
http://cwr.freeyellow.com/56shoepolish.jpg
http://cwr.freeyellow.com/56backshoepolish.jpg

Looks awesome Craig. I'm still waiting for my damn gold pickguard. Almost 2 months! I'm giving the local shop another week. I did that to my Strat except I did a mild relic to it...after seeing your pics, I'm really getting impatient...I just wanna :bonk those bastids.

Finally got the guard...what was it...3 months? Man, those Lace Holy Grails are sooo sweet, I really don't know what a real vintage Strat pup sounds like, but these are heaven to me...played clean through my Champ...unreal. All 5 positions have very distinct tones...2 & 4 are my faves right now, but I've only begun to tweak them. Anywho, kinda bad lighting on the pic, but this was a snow white (olympic) body before the mild relic and shoe polish. I did the white pup covers, it seems the bridge pup is made of a different plastic...Sensor Techie is helping me on that issue. This Strat has tone and mojo to boot...I guess the guard was worth the wait.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...73643978tgdBhZ

THAT SHOE POLISH REALLY ADDED TIME TO THE GUITAR FINISH IT LOOKS OLD
THATS A GOOD IDEA I NEVER HEARD OF THAT WAY OF AGING PLASTIC AND PAINT WITH KIWI SHOEPOLISH KOOL IDEA

Yeah. On certain brands of plastic parts the polish does'nt absorb. I noticed on my Lace pup covers, the bridge cover did'nt age. I got a new one from Sensor Techie and it's good now. I have'nt tried, but I think a quick wipe with some lacquer thinner on plastic before the shoe polish goes on, will make for better adhesion, there may be some kind of mold release on there. I got a baby butt white Tele neck for my next project...it's shoe-shine time.

the aging idea looks quite convincing but how did you get all those paint cracks in the finish it really looks like a well worn instrument i own a real 1959 jazz bass its a real proto type leo made by hand and my finish is well worn like that but i played my old bass over 20 yrs in many clubs lmao yea i hosest to god own a very old jazz bass i love it
my bridge pickup is hand mortiosed into the body and the neck is uniquely super thin and its my baby
i cant beleive you aged a tele to look almost as vintage as my guitar lmao you definitely amazed me
keep up the good work guys

if its you who aged the tele
great job man
i am amazed truly amazed blown away at how nice it looks
i love when i wear out a guitar body etc i really wear my finishes off because my strats are old but you or who ever did it whth the shoe polish fooled me
it looks grerat i might try it on a guiotar if i ever get another cream colored strat who knows what i might build i build most of my gtrs or seriously modify my strats big time
i had humbuckers in mine over 24 yrs ago i had rerwired this guys 56 335 and in trade he gave me his old pickups as a pay off thats how i got started in installing humbuckers
i did it to add fullness that my bridge pickup lacked thanks for the old router my dad had lying around the basement
but i kept my same old strats for alll these yrs i still play the 2 same old ones
i only thing is my cream one still shines like the day i bought hert new and so does my sunburst one which has a few scratches on the front from serious guitar abuse
i still user those original 335 gibson pickups in my expperimental guitar

:hmm

The hardware, dot inlays and the strings are brown also :D

Hey guys. Sorry I have'nt checked this post in a while. My photos are NOT Photoshoped...I don't even know how to do that. There is a stark difference and the only thing I can think of, is, the 1st 'white' pic, was taken during the day. That's when I first finished it...the 2nd pic was at night, I do remember shoe polishing it at night. I did the new faux Ivory knobs, pup rings and was very impressed how it yellowed so easily. I'll try to take a pic in bright day lighting of how it looks now.
Hey Spose...nice Strat. I don't know why your finish won't take. The Kiwi brow 'stains' anything easily...you may have a lot of wax/polish on it. Maybe wipe it down with some alcohol first or even Dawn, auto guys use Dawn to strip wax off.
Thanks Lou. I did all the 'relic' work using odd shaped metals, a sander and razor blade to make the cracks. I'll try and take a fresh pic to show you the zillion tiny lacquer 'checks' I did one boring night.
I'll post a pic soon.

Here's how it looks under a cloudless sunny Hawaiian sky...
http://www.montypics.com/pic.php?url...5_0513_IMG.jpg
Here's the checking I did, probably not how real lacquer checks (this is thick poly) but I thought it looked kool...
http://www.montypics.com/pic.php?url...5_0514_IMG.jpg
I left dark areas by the upper toggle and control panel for a dirty worn look. The checking cracks were invisible until the Kiwi hit it, it was too dark so some thinner softened it up. This body was 'white' before and it really looks like an aged white. I was suprised my poly Jimmie V had a pickguard 'shadow', I did'nt think poly darkened so fast, it was only a few years old. Anywho, there it is...

No problemo Spose. If you look at my webshot pic of my Jimmie V Strat above, I did not steel wool that one. I forgot I did steel wool the Tele though... the Strat took 2 trys as it was too splotchy, but it looks good now. Man, that Tele pic in your avatar is nuts! You gotta show it on www.telemodders.com
I'm there too and that one looks great!

:bug - beautiful. That website answered all my questions - great job! I have a recently-purchased guitar with the tung oil finish on the back of the neck. It feels great, it's super fast, but I'm a little concerned about warpage due to lack of protection for the wood over time. I don't have any experience with it though. Should I be concerned about this?

BTW, that sound file is awesome :dude - makes it even cooler hanging out here knowing that talent exists like it does...

I have quite a few Strats that have no finish on the back of the neck and I use a Laquer sanding sealer as recomended by my tech and many others.
You just wipe it on, wait 20 minutes till it hardens, sand it smooth then buff it out with #0000 steel wool.

Great protection and the neck feels like silk, I'm not kiddin. Very slick and very fast! :lhg

Thanks to both for your responses...

all you guys out there are die hards for the well worn aged look i think every one of you done beautiful work i am totally amazed i never thout kiwi brown shoe polish would age a guitar i will try it someday when i get the nerve to tear into my babys lmao unless i build a beater clone like i want to but i am stiill looking for a reasonable good reputabale nerck / body supplier to make a work horse
you all amaze me
let me kno if you kno any good cheap bodies /necks that are decent to make a strat copy guitar then i will relic something lol write me back
guitarnoise2002@hotmail.com
thank you lou

Thanks Jude. I've been real lucky finding bodies, necks, parts and guitars on Ebay...the Jimmie Vaughan neck was'nt cheap, but where else you gonna find one? Good luck and have fun...playing 'with' guitars is as much fun as playing them.

freakin cool stuff!

I recently traded a MIM Std Tele that I had Kiwi'ed the neck on.
The guy at the shop and the guy who ended up buying it were very perplexed. It looked pretty authentic. It was a blue body so I only did the neck. (A tooth pick or tooth brush are good tools to really get it out or the tiny crevices along the frets, BTW.)

Over time sweat and friction will rub off some of the color. But even that is subtle and natural lokking. I would guess this will happen where your forearm rubs in the body also.
It's a pretty neat trick.

butnut- very cool Beck Tele-Gib! First I've ever seen. Your creation or some kinda special MIJ deal?

Thanks Neo. I first heard of it on the Duncan board, since Seymour actually made it. I found some pics on the web and made my own copy of it. I got crazy later and modified it to have 3 knobs (2vol/1tone) and a Les Paul toggle on the upper bout. Here's my Webshot album...on the left side of the page, you'll find part 2. I had a blast making it and doing the 'relic' part.
http://community.webshots.com/album/52686162WRAIEv

I've used it also. I did parts of my Strat. I bought an "aged" kit with creme knobs and put Kiwi on the knobs and covers in an inconsistent fashion. Since they were creme, now with uneven dark tone on them, they really look good. That with a mint green pickguard unbelievably good.

I tried these knobs and covers on a mint green pickguard a long time ago, and it did not look good, now it does.

I also made sure I rubbed all the parts with alcohol. The first time I did it, it just came off. This time it is sticking.

It's kool to see others having fun shoe-shinin' their gear. My buddy made a Tele-Gib relicaster decal for me, and I shot clear poly on to bury it. Looked great, but too shiney and fresh. My Jimmie Vaughan neck already has a vintage look satin poly, but I thought I should make it look a bit more aged...since it's a Relicaster. I scuffed the fresh poly with steel wool and buffed it with the 3M white pad...nice and satin. Next I applied the Kiwi and the old 'tone' really jumped. I thought it was kinda 'dark' already, compared to a lot of Fender necks I've seen, but now it's really the old man. In the pic, I did it up to the 5th fret...love it. :nelson
http://www.montypics.com/pic.php?url...5_0577_IMG.jpg

That neck looks great!

I decided to try this on my Jazz Bass' neck today. I ended up doing the fretboard dots and pickguard as well.

Then I moved on to the binding and pickguard edge on my ES-135 and the neck on my USA Custom Guitars T-style!

I'm addicted now!!!

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Don
That neck looks great!

I decided to try this on my Jazz Bass' neck today. I ended up doing the fretboard dots and pickguard as well.

Then I moved on to the binding and pickguard edge on my ES-135 and the neck on my USA Custom Guitars T-style!

I'm addicted now!!!

---

I love this thread.Listen,i just bought a MIM Tele and the neck is far too white for my taste.It looks to be totally unfinished except for the smooth sanding.(?)Will i still have to use steel wool before i apply the shoe polish?I can't wait to try this.

I don't think you have to do anything. On your plastic knobs I wiped them with alcohol to make sure the color sticks.

Yeah, with the neck, just rub it on, let it sit a while, and rub it off. Use serveral clean rags to wipe all the polish off. May take a few times to get the right shade. Have fun.