1954 Fender Stratocaster Replica
Masked off scratchplate.
Spraying the light tint.
It’s a subtle effect but the ‘shadow’ of the pickguard can be seen after light tint clear was sprayed.
Use a block when you’re wet sanding flat surfaces. We added a drop of washing up liquid for lubrication.
Try to find a guitar you like the look of and use it as a guide for your project. Coincidentally the picture we chose showed a guitar with similar grain to ours. Here’s the link - http://www.stratcollector.com/scn/base/54.html - we’d like to think we got pretty close. Notice how glossy our body looks before relic’ing.
Dropping several bunches of keys on the body created convincingly random dents of various shapes and sizes. Some relicers prefer to put the keys and body in a bag and shake them around, but that didn’t work for us.
The neck plate is positioned upside down and protected by masking tape before the wear marks are added using micromesh.
As usual we had to force the lacquer to check with a hot air gun and an aerosol duster. Make sure you add the dents and chips before you do this.
Lacquer checking.
Fender’s move to oblong holes was undeniably a practical improvement, but we couldn’t resist the look of this Retro Vibe spring plate from WD Guitars.
Positioning the backplate.
The cost of high quality relic’d parts generally can mount up but we think Kevin Hurley’s trem block is second to none and a genuine bargain. It’s also available non-relic’d.
This Shed Vintage ’54 pickup set was lightly relic’d Check out the period correct black potting wax and rounded covers. There’s also a metal induction plate on the bridge pickup for a more Tele-like tone.
