Figaro Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 What is the best way to age (relic) nickel parts? I would like to get the new nickel parts for my 1960 ES 330 to match the original tarnished nickel parts . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 OK, let me see if I have this straight. You have tarnished nickel parts on your guitar, and you want to replace them with brand new nickel parts but have them tarnished to look just like the ones your taking off. ;) Am I missing something here? :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figaro Posted July 18, 2010 Author Share Posted July 18, 2010 I had to replace the tuners and the ABR bridge. I already have these new shiney nickel parts and I would like them to match the tarnished look of the remaining original parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 If you are buying from Jason Lollar, he may be able to advise. Otherwise StewMac have all kinds of tricks to help you do this. http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/ts0017_agedtuners.hzml It's called relic-ing Larry. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BentonC Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 It is obviously a "proceed at your own risk" type of project- so now that that caveat is out of the way: I've heard of a lot of people using etching solution. The same type of solution that is used to make circuit boards, and can be bought at electronic supply stores. I haven't tried it, but I've seen a lot of folks who have done it, and it seems to turn out pretty good. I've also heard of people sanding with extremely fine grit paper, and then soaking in salt-water solution. From what I hear though, this is for pretty heavy relicing, to the point of rusting. I'd be willing to bet that a quick search for either of these methods will bring up a bunch of DIY info for you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon S. Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 It is obviously a "proceed at your own risk" type of project- so now that that caveat is out of the way: I've heard of a lot of people using etching solution. The same type of solution that is used to make circuit boards' date=' and can be bought at electronic supply stores. I haven't tried it, but I've seen a lot of folks who have done it, and it seems to turn out pretty good. I've also heard of people sanding with extremely fine grit paper, and then soaking in salt-water solution. From what I hear though, this is for pretty heavy relicing, to the point of rusting. I'd be willing to bet that a quick search for either of these methods will bring up a bunch of DIY info for you...[/quote'] +1 I've tried both ways, and they work great. Another way i've seen is by using a rock/case tumbler. The tumbler is usually used for polishing, but if you add random stuff(nuts, bolts, etc) it ages the hardware nicely!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwelly Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 I sweat a lot; spread a load of sweat over the nickel part and put in a used sweaty sock for a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickinbuddy Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 VERY simple....TIME! Just play it and enjoy it...and TIME will do the rest. Nickel ages beautifully all by itself.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 VERY simple....TIME! Just play it and enjoy it...and TIME will do the rest. Nickel ages beautifully all by itself.... You know people dont live forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon S. Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 I aged some nickel parts this weekend, and tried a different way(which works great). I used Muriatic Acid(normally for PH balance in pools). I took 2 tupperware containers-1 big and 1 small- and put about a 1/4 inch of the acid in the large container, and then put the hardware in the smaller one. I let it sit in the large container(with the top on) for bout 20 minutes and took it out. After that I let it sit in the open until it matched the other parts. If you try it this way make sure to do it outside. The fumes are nasty!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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