
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
- Last Call: Someday You'll Regret That Relic Job - Premier Guitar ›
- How to Relic Your Guitar Neck Pt. 1 - Premier Guitar ›
- The DIY Relic Job—Fantasy or Reality? - Premier Guitar ›
- The Quick and Dirty Details on Guitar Finishes - Premier Guitar ›
- Can You Really Hear the Difference of Guitar Finishes? - Premier Guitar ›
Listen to the new track from Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, and Steve Vai's G3 Reunion Live.
Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, and Steve Vai returned to the G3 touring concept in 2024 for a sold-out US tour. This was the original G3 lineup that saw the three virtuosos first share a stage back in 1996. Each guitarist plays a full set with their own band and then the three join together for an encore jam.
"G3 Reunion Live" is much more than “just” a live album. It’s a full album-length set from each artist plus a collaborative supergroup LP. The deluxe edition features a different colored vinyl for each artist, a special splatter LP for the encore jam, and a 64-page photo book, divided into artist and jam chapters, with the full program also on 2 CDs. It is also available in a 2CD digipak with a 16-page photo booklet, 4 LP gatefold and digital download.
For more information, please visit satriani.com.
Marcus King will return to the road on the Marcus King Band Goes To School: The Tour across North America.
This headline jaunt kicks off on April 2 at Durham Performing Arts Center in Durham, NC, canvases the country, and concludes on May 11 at The Cotillion Ballroom in Wichita, KS. A special artist presale launches at 9am local time on December 17 followed by venue presales on December 18 at 9am local time. General on-sale commences on December 19 at 9am local time. Tickets will be available on marcuskingofficial.com.
He's in the midst of a thrilling creative run. Earlier this fall, he and The Marcus King Band appeared on CBS Saturday Morning, performing “F*ck My Life Up Again,” “Hero,” “Save Me.” In addition, his Howard Stern session is now available where he performed the same tracks as well as the Allman Brothers classic “Ramblin Man.”
Not to mention, he recently served up two new renditions of “Hero” (from Mood Swings) and “8 A.M.” (from The Marcus King Band’s Carolina Confessions) featuring Drew Smithers on guitar and recorded live at the legendary Bluebird Café.
King is a Grammy nominated fourth generation musician from Greenville, SC, who started playing guitar at 8 years old following in the footsteps of his guitarist Father and Grandpa. Logging thousands of miles on the road as “The Marcus King Band,” he established himself with unparalleled performance prowess and a dynamic live show. His solo debut El Dorado, garnering a Grammy Award nomination in the category of “Best Americana Album.” In between packing venues on his own, he performed alongside Chris Stapleton (he opens for him once again at U.S. Bank Stadium - Minneapolis), Greta Van Fleet, and Nathanial Rateliff in addition to gracing the bills of Stagecoach and more with one seismic show after the next. He has been open about his challenges with mental health in his songs and throughout his career, and earlier this year, Marcus launched the Curfew Fellowship Fund and partnered with MusiCares and Stand Together Music that will help build a more mentally health aware touring community for himself and other artists to follow. King has also released a mastercourse on in-depth song performances, guitar techniques & styles, songwriting insights and much more
Marcus King’s latest album, Mood Swings takes us in a very different sonic direction to his considerable catalog of studio albums. Combining elements as diverse as modern pop, R&B, aughts hip hop, piano driven classic rock and the warm production and symphonic instrumentation of classic era soul, R&B and jazz. Previously released song “F*ck My Life Up Again” is a considerable departure stadium sized rock, with strings that accent over a smoky jazz beat, while his soulful delivery booms, “Come f*ck my life up again, don’t deserve to live without pain.” A guitar solo “played backwards” channels stark confusion offset by the unshakable hook. On “Hero,” his croon rises over acoustic guitar towards a fluttering crescendo. The same naked emotion defines “Delilah” where over piano led pop rock and innovative tracks such as “Inglewood Motel (Halestorm)” are an alt R&B masterpiece. The album closes with “Cadillac,” steeped in psychedelic symphonic soul it is an arresting tale of dark desires and suicidal ideation.
Despite its often bleak subject matter, Mood Swings is an album with a message of hope. Legendary producer Rick Rubin who has worked with everyone from Adele to Johnny Cash, was instantly drawn to King’s guitar playing, singular voice and songwriting, and after witnessing a King live performance, one day randomly cold-called him to float the idea of working together. Rubin helped King find a new personal and sonic approach and instead of crumbling under the weight of his anxiety, Rubin inspired him to shift his perspective. “He helped me view mental health as a writing partner in a way,” recalls Marcus. “I’ve learned it can give me that creative spark.”
For more information, please visit marcuskingofficial.com.
MOOD SWINGS THE WORLD TOUR DATES
*new Marcus King: An Intimate Acoustic Evening Featuring Drew Smithers acoustic dates
+supporting Chris Stapleton
*December 17, 2024 - Duling Hall - Jackson, MS
*December 19, 2024 - Louisiana Grandstand - Shreveport, LA
*December 20, 2024 - The Hall - Little Rock, AR
*December 21, 2024 - The Caverns - Pelham, TN
December 27, 2024 - Hard Rock Live - Bristol, VA
December 28 – Hard Rock Casino - Cincinatti, OH
December 29 – Victory Theater - Evansville, IN
*January, 23, 2025 - Sheridan Opera House - Telluride, CO
*January, 24, 2025 - Vilar Performing Arts Center - Beaver Creek, CO
*January, 25, 2025 - Strings Pavilion - Steamboat Springs, CO
*January 27, 2025 - Center for the Arts - Jackson, WY
+February 25, 2025 - Rod Laver Arena - Melbourne, Australia
+February 26, 2025 - Rod Laver Arena - Melbourne, Australia
+February 28, 2025 - Brisbane Entertainment Centre - Brisbane, Australia
+March 1, 2025 - Brisbane Entertainment Centre - Brisbane, Australia
+March 4, 2025 - Qudos Bank Arena - Sydney, Australia
+March 5, 2025 - Qudos Bank Arena - Sydney, Australia
+March 7, 2025 - Spark Arena - Auckland, New Zealand
+March 8, 2025 - Spark Arena - Auckland, New Zealand
September 15-21, 2025 - Keeping The Blues Alive At Sea - Seattle, WA
“MARCUS KIND BAND GOES TO SCHOOL: THE TOUR” DATES
April 2, 2025 - Durham Performing Arts Center - Durham, NC
April 3, 2025 - Savannah Music Festival - Savannah, GA
April 4, 2025 - Tortuga Music Festival - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
April 6, 2025 - Florida Theater - Jacksonville, FL
April 8, 2025 - Saenger Theater - Pensacola, FL
April 11, 2025 - Ting Pavilion - Charlottesville, VA
April 12, 2025 - Schaefer Center - Boone, NC
April 13, 2025 - Renfro Valley The New Barn Theater - Mount Vernon, KY
April 17, 2025 - Immersive Media PAC - Gulfport, MS
April 18, 2025 - Sweetwater 420 Festival - Atlanta, GA
April 19, 2025 - Greenfield Lake Amphitheater - Wilmington, NC
April 24, 2025 - The Lyric - Oxford, MS
April 26, 2025 - Billy Bobs - Ft. Worth, TX
April 29, 2025 - Montgomery PAC - Montgomery, AL
May 9, 2025 - Avalon Theater - Grand Junction, CO
May 11, 2025 - The Cotillion Ballroom - Wichita, KS
After decades of 250 road dates a year, Tab Benoit has earned a reputation for high-energy performances at clubs and festivals around the world.
After a 14-year break in making solo recordings, the Louisiana guitar hero returns to the bayou and re-emerges with a new album, the rock, soul, and Cajun-flavoredI Hear Thunder.
The words “honesty” and “authenticity” recur often during conversation with Tab Benoit, the Houma, Louisiana-born blues vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. They are the driving factors in the projects he chooses, and in his playing, singing, and compositions. Despite being acclaimed as a blues-guitar hero since his ’80s days as a teen prodigy playing at Tabby Thomas’ legendary, downhome Blues Box club in Baton Rouge, Benoit shuns the notion of stardom. Indeed, one might also add simplicity and consistency as other qualities he values, reflected in the roughly 250 shows a year he’s performed with his hard-driving trio for over two decades, except for the Covid shutdown.
On his new I Hear Thunder, Benoit still proudly plays the Fender Thinline Telecaster he purchased for $400 when he was making his debut album in Texas, 1992’s Nice & Warm. After that heralded release, his eclectic guitar work—which often echoes between classic blues-rock rumble-and-howl, the street-sweetened funk of New Orleans, and Memphis-fueled soul—helped Benoit win a long-term deal with Justice Records. But when the company folded in the late ’90s, his contract and catalog bounced from label to label.
Tab Benoit - "I Hear Thunder"
This bucked against Benoit’s strong desire to fully control his music—one reason he settled on the trio format early in his career. And although his 2011 album, Medicine, won three Blues Music Awards—the genre’s equivalent of Grammys—he stopped recording as a leader because he was bound by the stipulations of a record deal, now over, that he deemed untenable.
“I wanted to make records that reflected exactly how I sounded live and that were done as though we were playing a live concert,” Benoit says. “So, I formed my own label [Whiskey Bayou Records, with partner Reuben Williams] and signed artists whose music was, to me, the real deal, honest and straightforward. I couldn’t do anything on my own, but I could still continue putting out music that had a positive impact on the audience.”
Benoit’s new album, which includes Anders Osborne and George Porter Jr., was recorded in the studio at the guitarist’s home near the bayou in Houma, Louisiana.
Those artists include fellow rootsers Eric McFadden, Damon Fowler, Eric Johanson, Jeff McCarty, and Dash Rip Rock. Benoit also spent plenty of time pursuing his other passion: advocating for issues affecting Louisiana’s wetlands, including those around his native Houma. His 2004 album was titled Wetlands, and shortly after it was issued he founded the Voice of the Wetlands non-profit organization, and later assembled an all-star band that featured New Orleans-music MVPs Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, George Porter Jr., Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Vidacovich, Johnny Sansone, and Waylon Thibodeaux. This ensemble, the Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars, has released multiple CDs and toured.
Essentially, Benoit comes from the bayous, and when it’s time to record, he goes back to them, and to the studio he has in Houma, which he refers to as “the camp.” That’s where I Hear Thunder came to life. “George and Anders came to me and said, ‘Let’s go make some music,” Benoit offers. “So, we went out to the camp. They had some songs—and George and Anders and I go back so many years it was really a treat to put everything together. It only took us a couple of days to do everything we needed to do.”
“George Porter and Anders Osborne and I saw this alligator sitting around the boat where we were writing the entire time. I guess he really liked the song.”
I Hear Thunder has become his first number one on Billboard’s blues chart. Besides the fiery-yet-tight and disciplined guitar work of Benoit and Osborne, the latter also an esteemed songwriter, the album features his longtime rhythm section of bassist Corey Duplechin and drummer Terence Higgins. Bass legend Porter appears on two tracks, “Little Queenie” and “I’m a Write That Down.” Throughout the album, Benoit sings and plays with soul and tremendous energy, plus he handled engineering, mixing, and production.
Once again, that ascribed to his aesthetic. “My main reason for taking on those extra duties was I wanted to make sure that this recording gives the audience kind of a preview of how we’re going to sound live,” he declares. “That’s one of the things that I truly don’t like about a lot of current recordings. I listen to them and then see those guys live and it’s like, ‘Hey, that doesn't sound like what was on the album.’ Play it once or twice and let’s run with it. Don’t overdo it to the point you kill the honesty. All the guys that I love—Lightnin’ Hopkins, Albert King—they played it once, and you better have the tape machine running because they’re only going to give it to you that one time. That’s the spontaneity that you want and need.
“One of the reasons I don’t use a lot of pedals and effects is because I hate gimmicks,” he continues. “ I’m playing for the audience the way that I feel, and my attitude is ‘Let’s plug into the guitar and let it rip. If I make a mistake, so be it. I’m not using Auto-Tune to try and get somebody’s vocal to seem perfect. You think John Lee Hooker cared about Auto-Tune? You’re cheating the audience when you do that stuff.”
Tab Benoit’s Gear
Benoit in 2024 with his trusty 1972 Fender Thinline Telecaster, purchased in 1992 for $400. Note that Benoit is a fingerstyle player.
Photo by Doug Hardesty
Guitar
- 1972 Fender Telecaster Thinline
Amp
- Category 5 Tab Benoit 50-watt combo
Strings
- GHS Boomers (.011–.050)
The I Hear Thunder songs that particularly resonate include the explosive title track, the soulful “Why, Why” and the rollicking “Watching the Gators Roll In,” a song that directly reflected the album’s writing experience and environment. “George and Anders and I saw this alligator sitting around the boat where we were writing the entire time. I guess he really liked the song. He’d be swimming along and responding. That gave it some added punch.” As does Benoit and Osborne’s consistently dynamic guitar work. “I’m not one of these people who want to just run off a string of notes or do a lot of fast playing,” Benoit says. “It has to fit the song, the pace, and most of all, really express what I’m feeling at that particular moment. I think when the audience comes to a show and you play the songs off that album, you’ve got to make it real and make it honest.”
When asked whether he ever tires of touring, Benoit laughs and says, “Absolutely not. At every stop now I see a great mix of people who’ve been with us since the beginning, and then their children or sometimes even their grandchildren. When people come up to you and say how much they enjoy your music, it really does make you feel great. I’ve always seen the live concerts as a way of bringing some joy and happiness to people over a period of time, of helping them forget about whatever problems or issues they might have had coming in, and just to enjoy themselves. At the same time, I get a real thrill and joy from playing for them, and it’s something that I always want the band’s music to do—help bring some happiness and joy to everyone who hears our music.”
YouTube It
Hear Tab Benoit practice the art of slow, soulful, simmering blues on his new I Hear Thunder song “Overdue,” also featuring his well-worn 1972 Telecaster Thinline.
David Gilmour releases a special live version of the "The Piper's Call" from his solo album Luck and Strange.
"The Piper's Call Live Around The World" is a digital only release and was recorded at The Brighton Centre, Circus Maximus in Rome, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and Madison Square Garden in New York and edited together by Gilmour, Charlie Andrew and Matt Glasbey to form one seamless track recorded throughout the Luck and Strange tour.
David Gilmour “On the Luck and Strange tour, I played with the best band I've ever had. Their personalities, playing abilities and enthusiasm for my new music have made for a fabulous experience for Polly and me. Romany's voice really stands out and has its own particular character, she brings a sense of mischief and fun to the live performance, which I think we needed. Thank you to everyone who attended the shows in Europe and America and thank you for buying 'Luck and Strange’. I hope you found as much enjoyment in the music as we did while performing it.”
Luck and Strange was recorded over five months in Brighton and London and is Gilmour's first album of new material in nine years. The record was produced by David and Charlie Andrew, best known for his work with alt-J and Marika Hackman. The album features nine tracks, including the singles' The Piper's Call', 'Dark And Velvet Nights', and a beautiful reworking of The Montgolfier Brothers' 1999 song, 'Between Two Points,' which features 22-year-old Romany Gilmour on vocals and harp; the lead-off track, 'The Piper's Call,' and the title track, which features the late Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright, recorded in 2007 at a jam in a barn at David's house. The album features artwork and photography by the renowned artist Anton Corbijn.
The Luck and Strange tour began with two sold-out warm-up shows at the Brighton Centre before moving to Circus Maximus in Rome for six sold-out nights, followed by the same about at London's Royal Albert Hall before moving Stateside for sold-out evenings at the Intuit Dome and Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles before concluding with five sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Learn more: www.davidgilmour.com.