
Photo 1 (left) and Photo 2 (right)
A lot of you have been waiting for this penultimate step of our guitar aging project, so let’s do some damage!
Welcome back to Mod Garage. Today we’ll continue to work on our aging project, and some of you might be wondering why there was such a long break. The reason is simple: suboptimal timing from my side. The last part of this column was in the middle of autumn, and I wanted you to do the following steps outside (if possible) and not on the kitchen table. Wintertime is not the best time for such a challenge but now is a good starting point, so let’s go!
We’re almost done with our project, can you believe it? In this installment, we’ll take care of the color, talk about fading, and we’ll crack the lacquer—something a lot of you have been waiting for—before we add some dings and dongs in the last part of this series, which is the final touch before we put it all together again.a
We also have an advice column on aging from my friend and colleague Matthias “Matti” Meyer, from the German-based Bassart Guitars. Matti is one of the best pro agers I know. Please follow his advice and recipe for aging wood at the end of this column—we will need these tools in the next and final part of this project.
Aging the Color
Over time, the colors on guitar bodies start to fade, and depending on the type of color and the paint-job method itself, discolorations can show up. The two main factors are if the guitar was exposed to ultraviolet light and if the paint job is all intact. A famous example is the Gibson Les Paul goldtop guitars with the golden color turning greenish, or the Gibson sunburst Les Pauls losing the red color of the sunburst spray job over time. But Fender guitars also suffer similar problems.
What we want to mimic is an old nitro lacquer, but with our Harley Benton guitar we have two problems:
- The mustard color is not a real TV yellow, as discussed before. TV yellow is much lighter, so even when we find a way to fade the color, it won’t look like a faded TV yellow, but a faded mustard yellow. We can’t change this easily, so we must work with what we have and love it for what it is rather than hating it for what it’s not.
- It’s not nitro lacquer on our Harley Benton but a modern, not-so-thin, ultra-durable poly lacquer. In a technical way, this modern lacquer does a much better job than any vintage nitro stuff regarding protection of the guitar. The downside is that we can’t make poly look like nitro when aging; it will only be an approximation. But again, it is what it is, and we’ll make the best out of it.
If you have the time, exposing the guitar to direct sunlight for some weeks or months will cause a fading of the color to a certain degree. Over the years, I’ve seen the oddest attempts to do such things, including regularly placing the guitar inside a home solarium. Using artificial UV light is also an option but building a well-working construction for such a big object, like a set-neck guitar, is not easy and you’d need a lot of UV lamps for that. Such devices are often used to make yellowed plastic materials look shiny white again. An overspray with the correct color is also an option. but a lighter color on a darker one is always difficult to do—especially with a semi-transparent color like TV yellow. And I doubt it’s worth the time and money. Not everything is doable and this falls into that category. But we’ll do other things to make it look old and cool, so leave the color as it is.
Let’s begin. As usual, grab your steel wool and abrasive cloth to break the shine of the high-gloss lacquer, and don’t forget the backside of the neck. The difference can be seen in Photo 1 (before) and Photo 2 (after).
Aging the Lacquer
This is what a lot of you have been waiting for and today we’ll finally do it: cracking the lacquer!We all know the look of cracked lacquer on vintage guitars, which is part of their special appearance and charm. On vintage guitars this happens over time, the softener disappears, and the paint starts to crack. Here again, facing that our Harley Benton is poly and not nitro-painted, we must follow a different route to get a good result.
Generally, there are two basic methods to do this:
- Mimicking the cracks by using a razor blade to cut the cracks into the paint.
- Using a combination of heat and cold to crack the lacquer.
In both cases this is only the first step. Next, we’ll have to make the cracks more visible, but first things first.
I decided to use the second method: using heat and cold to crack the lacquer. Please note, this will take some time and patience to do it right: It won’t be done in 15 minutes. You don’t need much for this, just a heat gun and several bottles of cooling spray. The process is easy but safety first: Only do this outside, wear gloves and goggles, and place a bucket with cold water or an extinguisher near you … a heat gun gets very hot!
You can’t do this in one step, and you’ll need to work in smaller areas, one by one. Heat up the first area with the heat gun and be careful—you only want to heat up the lacquer and not melt or burn it. If you want to intentionally add some burned spots, a heat gun is the way to go, too. Depending on the type and thickness of the lacquer as well as the power of your heat gun, it can take some time until the lacquer is ready to crack. Start to heat it up from a distance and not with the heat gun directly on the guitar, checking the temperature of the lacquer from time to time with one of your hands. Never put your hand directly under the heat gun! Take the guitar body and your hands away from the gun when you check the temperature. If you feel that it’s not hot enough, keep heating it up until it’s good to go.
Photo 3
Photo 4
There are no rules set in stone because it depends on the things mentioned above. So, you have to try and see what works on your guitar. If you think the lacquer is hot enough, take away the heat gun and immediately spray the heated area with the cooling spray to create a sudden temperature gradient. You’ll likely have to repeat the process several times until the lacquer starts to crack, and usually you can hear when it cracks, which is a good sign. Work your way all over the guitar and crack it area by area. I needed approximately 90 minutes and four bottles of cooling spray until I was finished (Photo 3).
Does it look the same as cracked nitro lacquer? No, it’s not the same cracking pattern because of two reasons. On a nitro-lacquered guitar, the cracking happens because the softener disappears over time, which is a completely different thing. Poly is hard as glass and will never lose its softener. So, the vintage guitars of the future, let’s say in 100 years from now, will look much different compared to today—no more cracks. The second reason is that only in the middle of the spray is the lowest possible temperature not on the edge of the spray. But it’s the same ballpark, so don’t worry.
After you’re done with the entire guitar, let it cool down for some time before we start to make the cracks more visible. Again, there are different ways to do this. I prefer to use a strong black tea or coffee. Warm up the guitar slightly and dip some paper towels into the black tea or coffee before covering the guitar with them. Let them sit there for some hours before you remove them. The moisture will creep into the cracks, coloring them slightly, so they are more visible. This is a permanent process: The cracks will not lose their color again over time. On poly-lacquered guitars, I’ve also seen and tried alternative methods like using Coca-Cola, potassium permanganate, coffee grounds, stains, and more. The tea/coffee method works great and with good results and is, of course, harmless. But feel free to try other methods if you want to experiment, there’s no law against it.
After removing the paper towels, let it dry for some time before removing any residues from the lacquer using a dampish paper towel. Then, heat up the guitar slightly and let it cool down again. And voila, done! You can see the cracks are now brighter in Photo 4.
Congratulations, we are only one step away from finishing our aging project! Next, we’ll add some dings, dongs, and scratches, which is a lot of fun and a great way to individualize your guitar.
That’s it for now. Next month we’ll do another cool guitar mod, so stay tuned. Until then ... keep on modding!
Teatime: How to Age Wood at Home
Matthias Meyer of Bassart Guitars
Hi PG readers,
Did you ever wonder how it’s possible to add a special gray and dark color to the exposed wood on aged guitars? Here is my recommendation for how to do this with some simple household stuff you already have.
You will need: vinegar essence, water, black tea, steel wool, paper coffee filters, and some jars.
First, twitch a good handful of steel wool and put it in a jar. Next, fill up the jar with vinegar essence, close the jar, and let it sit for one or two days. The reaction of the steel wool and the vinegar will result in iron(II) acetate, which you can use as a dye. Use a cone-shaped paper coffee filter to percolate the liquid into a new jar and you hold the panacea in your hands. By adding some water, you can mitigate the dying effect and it’s easy to make some different aging dyes this way, from very dark to light gray.
Now it’s teatime. Make a strong black tea by using 6 to 8 tea bags in a pot, let it cool down, remove the tea bags, and pour the tea in a new jar.
One way of aging the exposed wood is to use the tea first, immediately followed by the iron(II) acetate (wet on wet technique). For a different effect and color, use the tea first and let it dry before applying the iron(II) acetate. Or use both liquids individually without the other one. It all depends on your personal taste and, of course, the wood itself. Before applying these liquids directly to your precious instruments, you should try to practice the process on some wood scraps you have lying around. Different woods react in very different ways and often the aging process needs one or two days before it becomes visible.
I hope you enjoy experimenting with this process. Cheers!
—Matthias “Matti” Meyer
www.bassartguitars.de
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MayFly Le Habanero Review
Great versatility in combined EQ controls. Tasty low-gain boost voice. Muscular Fuzz Face-like fuzz voice.
Can be noisy without a lot of treble attenuation. Boost and fuzz order can only be reversed with the internal DIP switch.
$171
May Fly Le Habanero
A fuzz/boost combo that’s as hot as the name suggests, but which offers plenty of smoky, subdued gain shades, too.
Generally speaking, I avoid combo effects. If I fall out of love with one thing, I don’t want to have to ditch another that’s working fine. But recent fixations with spatial economy find me rethinking that relationship. MayFly’s Le Habanero (yes, the Franco/Spanish article/noun mash-up is deliberate) consolidates boost and fuzz in a single pedal. That’s far from an original concept. But the characteristics of both effects make it a particularly effective one here, and the relative flexibility and utility of each gives this combination a lot more potential staying power for the fickle.
“Le Habanero’s fuzz circuit has a deep switch that adds a little extra desert-rock woof.”
The fuzz section has a familiar Fuzz Face-like tone profile—a little bit boomy and very present in that buzzy mid-’60s, midrangey kind of way. But Le Habanero’s fuzz circuit has a deep switch that adds a little extra desert-rock woof (especially with humbuckers) and an effective filter switch that enhances the fuzz’s flexibility—especially when used with the boost. The boost is a fairly low-gain affair. Even at maximum settings, it really seems to excite desirable high-mid harmonics more than it churns out dirt. That’s a good thing, particularly when you introduce hotter settings from the boost’s treble and bass controls, which extend the boost’s voice from thick and smoky to lacerating. Together, the boost and fuzz can be pushed to screaming extremes. But the interactivity between the tone and filter controls means you can cook up many nuanced fuzz shades spanning Jimi scorch and Sabbath chug with tons of cool overtone and feedback colors.
Significantly smaller and lighter than original TAE. Easy to configure and operate. Great value. Streamlined control set.
Air Feel Level control takes the place of more surgical and realistic resonance controls. Seventy watts less power in onboard power amp. No Bluetooth connectivity with desktop app.
$699
Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander Core
Boss streamlines the size, features, and price of the already excellent Waza Tube Expander with little sacrifice in functionality.
Many of our younger selves would struggle to understand the urge—indeed, the need—to play quieter. My first real confrontation with this ever-more-present reality arrived when Covid came to town. For many months, I could only sneak into my studio space late at night to jam or review anything loud. Ultimately, the thing that made it possible to create and do my job in my little apartment was a reactive load box (in this case, a Universal Audio OX). I set up a Bassman head next to my desk and, with the help of the OX, did the work of a gear editor as well as recorded several very cathartic heavy jams, with the Bassman up to 10, that left my neighbors none the wiser.
Boss’ firstWaza Tube Amp Expander, built with an integrated power amp that enables boosted signal as well as attenuated sounds, was and remains the OX’s main competition. Both products have copious merits but, at $1,299 (Boss) and $1,499 (Universal Audio), each is expensive. And while both units are relatively compact, they aren’t gear most folks casually toss in a backpack on the way out the door. The new Waza Tube Expander Core, however, just might be. And though it sacrifices some refinements for smaller size, its much-more accessible price and strong, streamlined fundamental capabilities make it a load-box alternative that could sway skeptics.
Micro Manager
The TAE Core is around 7 1/2" wide, just over 7 " long, and fewer than 4 " tall, including the rubber feet. That’s about half the width of an original TAE or OX. The practical upside of this size reduction is obvious and will probably compel a lot of players to use the unit in situations in which they’d leave a full-size TAE at home. The streamlined design is another source of comfort. With just five knobs on its face, the TAE Core has fewer controls and is easier to use than many stompboxes. In fact, the most complicated part of integrating the TAE Core to your rig might be downloading the necessary drivers and related apps.
Connectivity is straightforward, though there are some limitations. You can use TAE Core wirelessly with an iOS or Windows tablet or smartphone, as long as you have the BT-DUAL adaptor (which is not included and sets you back around 40 bucks). However, while desktop computers recognize the TAE Core as a Bluetooth-enabled device, you cannot use the unit wirelessly with those machines. Instead, you have to connect the TAE Core via USB. In a perfectly ordered world, that’s not a big problem. But if you use the TAE Core in a small studio—where one less cable is one less headache—or you prefer to interface with the TAE Core app on a desktop where you can toggle fast and easily between large, multi-track sessions and the app, the inability to work wirelessly on a desktop can be a distraction. The upside is that the TAE Core app itself is, functionally and visually, almost identical in mobile and desktop versions, enabling you to select and drag and drop virtual microphones into position, add delay, reverb, compression, and EQ effects, choose various cabinets with different speaker configurations and sizes, and introduce new rigs and impulse responses to a tone recipe in a flash. And though the TAE Core app lacks some of the photorealistic panache and configuration options in the OX app, the TAE Core’s app is just as intuitive.Less Is More
One nice thing about the TAE Core’s more approachable $699 price is that you don’t have to feel too bad on nights that you “underutilize” the unit and employ it as an attenuator alone. In this role, the TAE Core excels. Even significantly attenuated sounds retain the color and essence of the source tone. Like any attenuator-type device, you will sacrifice touch sensitivity and dynamics at a certain volume level, yielding a sense of disconnection between fingers, gut, guitar, and amp. But if you’re tracking “big” sounds in a small space, you can generate massive-sounding ones without interfacing with an amp modeler and flat-response monitors, which is a joy in my book. And again, there’s the TAE Core’s ability to “expand” as well as attenuate, which means you can use the TAE Core’s 30-watt onboard power amp to amplify the signal from, say, a 5-watt Fender Champion 600 with a 6" speaker, route it to a 2x12, 4x12, or virtual equivalent in the app, and leave your bandmate with the Twin Reverb and bad attitude utterly perplexed.
The Verdict
Opting for the simpler, thriftier TAE Core requires a few sacrifices. Power users that grew accustomed to the original TAE’s super-tunable “resonance-Z” and “presence-Z” controls, which aped signal-chain impedance relationships with sharp precision, will have to make do with the simpler but still very effective stack and combo options and the “air feel level” spatial ambience control.The DC power jack is less robust. It features only MIDI-in rather than MIDI-in/-through/-out jacks, and, significantly, 70 watts less power in the onboard power amp. But from my perspective, the Core is no less “professional” in terms of what it can achieve on a stage or in a studio of any size. Its more modest feature set and dimensions are, in my estimation, utility enhancements as much as limitations. If greater power and MIDI connectivity are essentials, then the extra 600 bones for the original TAE will be worth the price. For many of us, though, the mix of value, operational efficiencies, and the less-encumbered path to sound creation built into the TAE Core will represent a welcome sweet spot that makes dabbling in this very useful technology an appealing, practical proposition.
IK Multimedia is pleased to announce the release of new premium content for all TONEX users, available today through the IK Product Manager.
The latest TONEX Factory Content v2 expands the creative arsenal with a brand-new collection of Tone Models captured at the highest quality and presets optimized for live performance. TONEX Tone Models are unique captures of rigs dialed into a specific sweet spot. TONEX presets are used for performance and recording, combining Tone Models with added TONEX FX, EQ, and compression.
Who Gets What:
TONEX Pedal
- 150 crafted presets matched to 150 Premium Tone Models
- A/B/C layout for instant access to clean, drive, and lead tones
- 30 Banks: Amp & cab presets from classic cleans to crushing high-gain
- 5 Banks: FX-driven presets featuring the 8 new TONEX FX
- 5 Banks: Amp-only presets for integrating external IRs, VIR™, or amps
- 5 Banks: Stompbox presets of new overdrive/distortion pedals
- 5 Banks: Bass amp & pedal presets to cover and bass style
TONEX Mac/PC
- 106 new Premium Tone Models + 9 refined classics for TONEX MAX
- 20 new Premium Tone Models for TONEX and TONEX SE
TONEX ONE
- A selection of 20 expertly crafted presets from the list above
- Easy to explore and customize with the new TONEX Editor
Gig-ready Tones
For the TONEX Pedal, the first 30 banks deliver an expansive range of amp & cab tones, covering everything from dynamic cleans to brutal high-gain distortion. Each bank features legendary amplifiers paired with cabs such as a Marshall 1960, ENGL E412V, EVH 412ST and MESA Boogie 4x12 4FB, ensuring a diverse tonal palette. For some extremely high-gain tones, these amps have been boosted with classic pedals like the Ibanez TS9, MXR Timmy, ProCo RAT, and more, pushing them into new sonic territories.
Combined with New FX
The following 5 banks of 15 presets explore the depth of TONEX's latest effects. There's everything from the rich tremolo on a tweed amp to the surf tones of the new Spring 4 reverb. Users can also enjoy warm tape slapback with dotted 8th delays or push boundaries with LCR delay configurations for immersive, stereo-spanning echoes. Further, presets include iconic flanger sweeps, dynamic modulation, expansive chorus, stereo panning, and ambient reverbs to create cinematic soundscapes.
Versatile Control
The TONEX Pedal's A, B, and C footswitches make navigating these presets easy. Slot A delivers clean, smooth tones, Slot B adds crunch and drive, and Slot C pushes into high-gain or lead territory. Five dedicated amp-only banks provide a rich foundation of tones for players looking to integrate external IRs or run directly into a power amp. These amp-only captures span clean, drive, and high-gain categories, offering flexibility to sculpt the sound further with IRs or a real cab.
Must-have Stompboxes
TONEX Pedals are ideal for adding classic effects to any pedalboard. The next 5 banks focus on stompbox captures, showcasing 15 legendary overdrive, distortion, and fuzz pedals. This collection includes iconic models based on the Fulltone Full-Drive 2, Marshall DriveMaster, Maxon OD808, Klon Centaur, ProCo RAT, and more.
For Bass Players, Too
The last 5 banks are reserved for bass players, including a selection of amp & cab Tone Models alongside a few iconic pedals. Specifically, there are Tone Models based on the Ampeg SVT-2 PRO, Gallien-Krueger 800RB, and Aguilar DB750, alongside essential bass pedals based on the Tech21 SansAmp, Darkglass B7K and EHX Big Muff. Whether it's warm vintage thump, modern punch, or extreme grit, these presets ensure that bassists have the depth, clarity and power they need for any playing style.For more information and instructions on how to get the new Factory
Content v2 for TONEX, please visit:
www.ikmultimedia.com/products/tonex
Alongside Nicolas Jaar’s electronics, Harrington creates epic sagas of sound with a team of fine-tuned pedalboards.
Guitarist Dave Harrington concedes that while there are a few mile markers in the music that he and musician Nicolas Jaar create as Darkside, improvisation has been the rule from day one. The experimental electronic trio’s latest record, Nothing, which released in February on Matador, was the first to feature new percussionist Tlacael Esparza.
Taking the record on tour this year, Darkside stopped in at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, where Harrington broke down his complex signal chains for PG’s Chris Kies.
Brought to you by D’Addario.
Express Yourself
Harrington bought this mid-2000s Gibson SG at 30th Street Guitars in New York, a shop he used to visit as a kid. The headstock had already been broken and repaired, and Harrington switched the neck pickup to a Seymour Duncan model used by Derek Trucks. Harrington runs it with D’Addario NYXL .010s, which he prefers for their stretch and stability.
The standout feature is a round knob installed by his tech behind the bridge, which operates like an expression pedal for the Line 6 DL4. Harrington has extras on hand in case one breaks.
Triple Threat
Harrington’s backline setup in Nashville included two Fender Twin Reverbs and one Fender Hot Rod DeVille. He likes the reissue Fender amps for their reliability and clean headroom. Each amp handles an individual signal, including loops that Harrington creates and plays over; with each amp handling just one signal rather than one handling all loops and live playing, there’s less loss of definition and competition for frequency space.
Dave Harrington’s Pedalboards
Harrington says he never gives up on a pedal, which could explain why he’s got so many. You’re going to have to tune in to the full Rundown to get the proper scoop on how Harrington conducts his three-section orchestra of stomps, but at his feet, he runs a board with a Chase Bliss Habit, Mu-Tron Micro-Tron IV, Eventide PitchFactor, Eventide H90, Hologram Microcosm, Hologram Chroma Console, Walrus Monument, Chase Bliss Thermae, Chase Bliss Brothers AM, JHS NOTAKLÖN, two HexeFX reVOLVERs, and an Amped Innovations JJJ Special Harmonics Extender. A Strymon Ojai provides power.
At hip-level sits a board with a ZVEX Mastotron, Electro-Harmonix Cathedral, EHX Pitch Fork, Xotic EP Booster, two EHX 45000 multi-track looping recorders, Walrus Slöer, Expedition Electronics 60 Second Deluxe, and another Hologram Microcosm. A Live Wire Solutions ABY Box and MXR DC Brick are among the utility tools on deck.
Under that board rest Harrington’s beloved Line 6 DL4—his desert-island, must-have pedal—along with a controller for the EHX 45000, Boss FV-50H volume pedal, Dunlop expression pedal, Boss RT-20, a Radial ProD2, and another MXR DC Brick.