
Yes, it is possible to age your instrument. But there are pitfalls to avoid and techniques to master.
Hello intrepid modders! As a result of countless requests, this month I'll launch a new series that explores the art of DIY relic'ing. We'll cover the whole story, including how to age wood, finish, metal, and plastic, and we'll also discuss what gives vintage instruments their special look and feel, and how to mimic these attributes. Put away the blowtorch and ball-peen hammer—there's a lot more to this than you might think.
To illustrate these techniques, I'll take a brand-new guitar and age it from headstock to endpin, while documenting each step of the process. I'll introduce our case-study 6-string—an affordable Junior-style double cut—in the next installment of this series. And while we're aging it, I'll offer tips for upgrading parts. As a bonus, I'll occasionally include advice, insights, and trade secrets from relic'ing pros I've recruited specifically for this project.
Okay, for starters, let's get some perspective on the whole relic phenomenon—one of the hottest topics ever in the guitar-modding community. It's almost a new religion: The number of players using "aged" guitars continues to increase, and players starting their own relic'ing jobs on the kitchen table is also on the rise. You can find a slew of videos online addressing this, along with wild stories about how to use coffee, tea, shoe polish, and other mysterious stuff to make a guitar look old. And, of course, the web is full of DIY relic photos.
What's so appealing about aging a guitar? Over the years, my customers have shared many different reasons for wanting me to relic their instruments. Some wish to own and play a faithful replica of a famous vintage guitar (think SRV's No. 1, Clapton's Blackie, or Rory Gallagher's '61 Strat). Some time ago, while picking up his new Strat in my shop that we'd relic'd to his wishes, a customer explained it this way: "I really like the look and feel of a vintage guitar that has been played for decades and every single ding tells a story. But I can't afford one, and now that I'm in my mid '50s, there simply isn't enough time left to play a new guitar for another 50 years and give it a history. So I'll go this route now."
The goal of a relic job has always been to make the object appear more vintage by mimicking age. The vintage craze isn't limited to guitars: Watches, cars, clothes, furniture, jewelry, hi-fi equipment, wine ... the list is endless and whole industries have sprung up around it. As guitarists, we have many reasons to consider doing a relic job on an instrument. Perhaps you want to individualize your guitar—make it a one-of-a-kind piece with you as the designer. Or maybe you yearn for an era when music was still handmade and not computer-generated or auto-tuned.
The goal of a relic job has always been to make the object appear more vintage by mimicking age.
Naturally, there are different degrees of aging, ranging from "barely noticeable" to "totally messed up" and everything between. I really like the definitions that the Fender Custom Shop uses for its Original-Era Finishes and Time Machine series—their builders have put a lot of thought into this. Here are Fender's terms (you'll find detailed descriptions of each one on the Fender Custom Shop website):
- N.O.S. (New Old Stock) - As if you bought it new in 1954.
- Closet Classic - Kept in a case most of its life—perhaps even forgotten.
- DLX Closet Classic - Owned with pride.
- Journeyman Relic® - Used but not abused.
- Relic® - There and back—and still here today.
- Heavy Relic® - Hard-fought wear and tear.
As we explore the aging techniques, I'll refer to these terms, focusing on what Fender calls Journeyman Relic and Relic—their most popular grades. Beyond Fender's Heavy Relic grade comes the "Gone Too Far" category, and, sadly, you'll see this a lot. Over the years I have encountered a lot of ugly relic jobs, consisting of completely destroyed finishes, rusty hardware that ceases working because of its condition, and unnatural wear in spots you'd never see on heavily played instruments.
Most people who overdo it somehow become possessed, once they start to relic a guitar. Or as PG's John Bohlinger said in his November 2013 Last Call column on relic'd guitars: "Those who relic also give themselves away because they go too far. They're not satisfied with a normal 50 years' worth of wear. They want their guitars to look like Keith Richards himself personally played 50 years' worth of gigs on it."
Photo 2
Photo by Andy Ellis
Over the years, customers have sent me many images of such projects, and I archive them so I know what not to do. Photo 1 shows a sampling of the Gone Too Far relic category. In contrast, look at Photo 2, which is a well-loved 1942 Gibson ES-150. This guitar is 78 years old—a veritable grandpa of electric 6-strings. It shows finish checking and the kind of hardware tarnishing, scrapes, and scratches that come from being played for almost eight decades, but somehow they ring true. (A side note: This guitar's owner explains that the big gouge across the bass f-hole occurred when someone was apprehended stealing the guitar out of its case from the backseat of the owner's car. The case latch tore into the wood as the would-be-thief bolted, leaving the instrument. That still qualifies as genuine aging, wouldn't you agree?)
Many guitarists have never seen, touched, or played a real vintage guitar, so they have no sense for honest wear-and-tear that comes with the territory, and this can't be substituted with pics from the internet—especially in terms of an instrument's feel. This includes rounded fretboard edges and fretboard wear—a subject we'll return to during this DIY relic series.
If you decide you want to relic your own instruments, here's some advice:
Do your research: Get as many vintage guitars as possible in your hands and pay close attention to them. Go to vintage guitar stores and trade shows—nobody will be annoyed if you tell them you want to admire the instruments. Check local ads to see if someone near you is selling a vintage guitar. Often the seller will invite you to examine it. Politely ask if you can take some photos, measurements, and notes. Over time, you'll get a better sense of what it's all about and start detecting similarities in vintage instrument wear.
Dress rehearsal: Get an inexpensive new guitar and train your skills on it before you start to work on your cherished instruments. This is a good investment. If something fails ... who cares?
Go easy: Over the years, I've developed three golden rules. In honor of my personal hero, Star Trek's Captain Jean-Luc Picard, let's call this the Relic Prime Directive:
- Break the shine.
- No rust.
- Don't overdo it.
If you remember these three simple rules when doing any relic job, you'll be rewarded with a successful, aesthetically pleasing result.
That's it for now. Next month, we'll perform our next guitar mod, and then return to our DIY relic series, so stay tuned. Until then ... keep on modding!
[Updated 9/15/21]
- Last Call: Someday You'll Regret That Relic Job - Premier Guitar ›
- DIY: Relic'ing Metal Hardware - Premier Guitar ›
- DIY Relic’ing: Break the Shine - Premier Guitar ›
- Reader Guitar of the Month: Zoller Partscaster - Premier Guitar ›
- Reader Guitar of the Month: T-Style Chickadee - Premier Guitar ›
- DIY Relic’ing: Hardware Continued - Premier Guitar ›
- DIY Guitar Relic'ing: Let's Crack Some Lacquer Finish - Premier Guitar ›
- Reader Guitar of the Month—Pickups and Finishes - Premier Guitar ›
- DIY 101: How to Build a Delay Pedal Kit - Premier Guitar ›
Roger Waters is set to release a Super Deluxe Boxset of The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux on March 14, 2025. The Boxset includes a live album from his sold-out London Palladium shows, gold vinyl, CD, Blu-ray, and a track-by-track video interview.
The Super Deluxe Boxset includes:
- The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux on gold vinyl (2LP), CD, Blu-ray: Dolby Atmos Mix, 96/24 Audio.
- The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux Live on gold vinyl, CD, Blu-Ray, 96/24 Audio
- Roger Waters Track by Track video interview on Blu-ray
- Four 4 x 10-inch Vinyl from the original Redux album cut at 45 RPM for: Money, Time, Speak To Me/Breathe and Us & Them, each with an artwork etched B-side.
- A 40 page Commemorative Book of Photographs from The Making of the Album, Rehearsals, and Roger Waters Redux Live at The London Palladium.
- Initial Boxset orders from the official store include a signed print by Roger Waters
Waters Quote:
“All that is gone, all that’s to come? Looking back or looking forward, Dark Side of the Moon offers you choice. The choice is yours. Darkness or the Light”.
Track listing:
The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux studio album and Roger Waters Live album:
“Speak to Me”
“Breathe”
“On the Run”
“Time”
“Great Gig in the Sky”
“Money“
“Us and Them”
“Any Colour You Like”
“Brain Damage”
“Eclipse”
The Dark Side Of The Moon Super Deluxe box set Redux credits include: Roger Waters: Vocals / Gus Seyffert: Bass, Synth, Backing Vocals / Joey Waronker: Drums, Percussion / Jonathan Wilson: Guitars, Synth / Johnny Shepherd: Organ, Vocals / Via Mardot: Theremin, Vocals / Azniv Korkejian: Vocals, Percussion / Jon Carin: Keyboards, Lap Steel, Synths, Organ, Vocals / Robert Walter: Piano, Harpsichord, Synths / Strings: Gabe Noel: String Arrangements: Gabe Noel
Recorded live at The London Palladium // Produced by Gus Seyffert and Roger Waters // Mixed by Sean Sullivan, Darrell Thorpe, Roger Waters and Gus Seyffert // Mastered by Dave Cooley, Elysian Masters // Art Direction and Design: Sean Evans // Photography: Kate Izor.
For more information, please visit rogerwaters.tmstor.es.
Roger Waters - THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON REDUX SUPER DELUXE BOXSET - YouTube
The Milwaukee-based “guitarist’s guitarist” doles out decades of midwest wisdom on this episode of Wong Notes.
You might not know Greg Koch, but we’ll bet your favorite guitarist does. In 2012, Fender called the Wisconsin blues-guitar phenom one of the top 10 best unsung guitarists, and in 2020, Guitar World listed Koch among the 15 best guitar teachers. He’s been inducted into the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Hall of Fame. Koch is a bonafide midwest guitar god.
He joins Cory Wong on this round of Wong Notes for this meeting of the Middle-America minds, where the duo open with analysis of music culture in Wisconsin and Minnesota—Koch taught at Saint Paul’s now-shuttered McNally Smith College of Music, which Wong attended. Koch and Wong zero in on the blues roots of most modern music and talk through soloing theories: It can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be, but Koch shares that he likes to “paint himself into a corner,” then get out of it.
Koch and Wong swap notes on the pressures of studio performance versus the live realm, and how to move on from mistakes made onstage in front of audiences. Plus, Koch has created scores of guitar education materials, including for Hal Leonard. Tune in to find out what makes a good guitar course, how to write a guitar book, Koch’s audio tips for crystalline live-stream sessions, and why he still prefers tube amps: “I like to crank that sh*t up!”
John Petrucci, St. Vincent, James Valentine, Steve Lukather, Tosin Abasi, Cory Wong, Jason Richardson, Fluff, and more are donating instruments for contributors, and contributions are being accepted via this LINK.
The L.A. wildfires have been absolutely devastating, consuming more than 16,200 structures, and tens of thousands of people–including many members of the LA music community–have been displaced, as well as 29 persons killed. Historic gear company Ernie Ball has stepped up with a large-scale fundraiser, for MusicCares and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, to assist those impacted by the fire and responders on the front line. The company kicked off the initiative with a $50,000 donation.
“We are absolutely crushed by the devastation Los Angeles has endured over the past few weeks,” CEO Brian Ball said in a statement. “As a California-based company with origins as a small retailer in LA County, seeing the impact of these fires in our community is heartbreaking.
Message from Tim Henson
Tim Henson is donating one of his own Ibanez TOD10N guitars for the cause.
“That’s why we’re partnering with our family of artists to give back in a unique way. In addition to our donation, Ernie Ball artists are stepping up to donate personal guitars and gear—truly one-of-a-kind pieces that money can’t buy. Here’s how you can help: Donate any amount and we will randomly give these items away. Every dollar goes directly toward helping those affected by these devastating fires. If you can’t donate, sharing this message can still make a huge impact,” Ball declared.
The fundraiser will continue until February 14.
Message from Steve Vai
Guest Picker - Ariel Posen
The past year was full of new sounds and discoveries. Ariel Posen and Jeremy Jacobs join the PGteam to highlight what popped out to them over the last 12 months.
Q: What was your biggest guitar discovery of 2024?
Guest Picker - Ariel Posen
A: Twenty-twenty-four was a year of discovery and re-discovery for me. I tend to come back to records and artists that I haven't listened to in a long time and get back into them with a new-found excitement. In regards to guitar discovery, at the end of 2023 I got into Paramore for the first time, specifically their last album, This is Why. I don't really listen to guitar music these days, but I'm always infatuated by the extreme detail of finely crafted guitar parts that help serve the song, and that album is full of that stuff. In terms of rediscovery, I spent a lot of time digging back into early George Harrison, Christopher Cross, and some specific Steely Dan records. Seems to be a theme there. I love all that stuff but haven't really given it time in a while; that changed this past year.
Obsession: Doechii. Watch her Tiny Desk video. She's incredible and the band is too. I get goosebumps every time I watch it, and I watch it once a day.
Reader of the Month - Jeremy Jacobs
A: I was turned on to Mk.Gee after seeing his performance on SNL and immediately fell in love with the vibe. I’m always trying to keep an ear to the ground for new, innovative guitar sounds, and his unique approach to creating guitar tones was really refreshing and inspiring. I love the blend of retro ’80s synth sounds and modern digital guitar production.
Obsession: Jim Lill’s video series on YouTube experimenting with guitar tone. He’s like the Mythbusters of the guitar community and it’s really shaking things up! He’s taking a very scientific deep dive into commonly held beliefs about what makes certain equipment “sound good” and has returned some truly shocking results. I’m thinking about guitar gear in a totally different way thanks to his work.
Managing Editor - Jason Shadrick
A: Big delays and reverbs finally got to me in 2024. Typically, I would favor a modest spring or room setting, but a few gigs this year pushed me into more ambient territory. It’s incredible how the sound of space affects your touch on the instrument. My playing has become more melodic and intentional—but I’m still not digging the shimmer vibe.
Obsession: Noel Johnston’s YouTube videos from his Creative Fundamentals class have been warping my brain. Fair warning: They do require a bit of theoretical knowledge to get the most out of them. However, his triad workouts are a great way to start to visualize different shapes all over the neck—no matter what key.
Assistant Editor - Luke Ottenhof
A: Last year, I discovered germanium. This isn’t strictly true; I’ve used germ pedals in the past, but I never connected with the transistors until I picked up the Death by Audio Germanium Filter. Now, all I want is sweet, gnarly, splatty germanium grossness on whatever I play. The problem is it doesn’t really fit with my band’s sound. I predict many arguments in 2025.
Obsession: Figuring out ways to make, share, and celebrate music outside of the too-powerful platforms that have monopolized our arts and culture. Thankfully, there are loads of people way smarter than me working with each other to build new networks and meanings for music, including some that would be musician-owned. The future is bright—if we want it!