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Jaco Relic Bass by Fender ? Thoughts ?
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Author:  Bruce Dickey [ Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:32 pm ]
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I have a buddy with a Jaco Pastorius Relic Fender Bass. Just Relic-ed out a new neck as he was changing the fretless to a fretted neck.

I just stripped the back of the new Mighty Mite licensed neck added black grime then overcoated the white maple clear lacquer with amber tint lacquer. Looks pretty good and it was fun as heck beating the crap out of a new neck.   

Just curious what folks really think of these basses? And do they hold their resale value? I think this particular Fender Relic was about $3100.USDollars.

Oh, and Part II, this same guy wants to Relic out a body from an American Jazz Bass. This makes me a bit sick to my stomach, but it is already pretty beat up, but natural, not forced as he intends......   yikes. I have to admit it's fun to try and make this stuff look old and worn out.

Any secrets aging a set of shiny chrome tuners for the second bass? The Jaco's look sandblasted mainly, not shiny at all.
Author:  Rick Turner [ Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:42 pm ]
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In the Fender Custom Shop there's a corner with some nasty bottles of chemicals for relicing hardware.   They've got it down to a science there.

And a story...

I heard that some Japanese guitar manufacturing types were coming to see Seymour Duncan in his custom shop, so he put some jars of various shades of a yellow liquid up on the shelf and labeled them "Billy Gibbons Pee", "Jeff Beck Pee", etc. When asked about how he makes the signature models and antiques them, he pointed to the jars...
Author:  Bruce Dickey [ Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:06 pm ]
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Author:  James Orr [ Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:31 pm ]
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Hey Bruce

Aging the hardware is where it gets sketchy because the once nickel
hardware is nickel no more---it's cheap chrome. A lot of guys do
amonioa baths, which gives a similar patina as sweat. A lot of guys scuff
with fine sand papers or steel wool, unlike sweat. A lot of guys drop the
parts in a jar of etching solution from radio shack (for etching circuit
boards), which just eats away the chrome and gives a brownish look.
When I look at the original fenders in person, the hardware is never all
that aged, and I would try the amonia first. I picked that one up from
Kevin G. about five years ago.

Make a little net to hold the hardware out of window screen or
something else that won't melt away. Put 1/4" or so of amonia in the
bottle of a coffee can, then suspend the net with string tied to a pencil or
stick resting over the lip of the can to let it hang over the amonia. Don't
do it inside This works best for brass, and you'd want to check that
every 30 seconds or so. Check chrome stuff ever couple of minutes.

What I've found best to get the right look out of lacquer is putting the
color on the wood, not using the amber nitro (and only sand to 150).
Then finish as you usually would, but buff by hand instead of machine.
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:50 pm ]
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My son used to use Muriatic acid (used for cleaning brick & stuff).  He put a small amount in a small bucket, and had an inverted container in it that he set the hardware on.  Put the lid on and checked it every few hours.  Seems to me it didn't take a long time.  After doing that, you have to wash the stuff off pretty well to kill the process.  He probably relisized 5 or 6 Strats and a couple of Tele's.
Author:  Bruce Dickey [ Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:38 pm ]
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I even saw Dr. Phil making fun of Fender for trashing out his son's new strat. That was funny. I wonder if that's on YOU Tube yet. ?
Author:  A Peebels [ Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:08 pm ]
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Bruce I will relay any specific questions to Tom Murphy if you like. His shop is nearby.

Al
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