Relicing with steelwool & vinegar?

[Teleiac]

Somewhere not too long ago i read that someone would take steelwool and good old vinegar and work it into the back of a allparts or warmouth neck etc. and this would get that nice looking worn off finish that looked a little grayish like some of the Real geetar's of the 50's/60's tele's/strat's.Like i said i can't remember where i read that but if it was here maybe someone could direct me there.I'm going to do a search for it but i may not be able to ck.it out for awhile,WAY busy........... Thanxs if you know and thanxs if you don't.......!

[tonewoods]

Here ya go...

[Vizcaster]

The iron/vinegar solution is a method to age certain woods like oak that already contain tannins. What the woodfinisher on that page is doing is making a stain from the iron/vinegar solution and the tannins in the tea. IMHO it seems like a very complicated and unpredictable way to make a stain, and I don't think it's how the factories are making relics these days. It would be more predictable and reproduceable to mix up a wood stain and test it on a sample piece of maple before attacking a guitar with it.

Besides, what you really need to do is get to a vintage shop or wherever else you have access to really old guitars. The '57 strat neck will stand out because it looks worn and DIRTY. Not aged silver like it was out in the sun, but worn and blackened.

If you insist on the relic look then there are lots of pages dedicated to it, I think one whole site is for people trying to replicate Stevie Ray Vaughan's Number One. At any rate, you need to get the existing finish off the neck to get down to the wood. Nitrocellulose isn't hard to get off (just look at it funny and it peels or wears off) but polyester (used by Fender since 1968) is going to give you more of a challenge to get it scraped or stripped to where