Aged Pickguard Bonus

[Muddy T-Bone]

I completed this build on Father Day this year. The pickguard is aging just beautifully due to an unexpected result. I'm more than pleased with the look.

I aged all the metal and plastics, and the one piece of plastic that gave me the hardest time to age was the torteise white pickgaurd. I de-glossed it with "0" steel wool and applied numerous yellowish stains to replicate some age and patina, but either the color wasn't right or the stain wouldn't adhere to the plastic, so I started over many times. I finally settled on Watco Golden Oak and it seemed to adhere to the plastic and have the patina I was going for.

The unexpected bonus on the pickguard treatment, as hopefully you can see in the photo, is the finger wear marks off the high E side of the plastic. It seems that the Watco being an oil based medium, tends to soak up the finger schmutz from playing, and it enhances the aged look of the pickgaurd.

Hope this tip helps...