Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

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thegluefactory
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Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by thegluefactory » Sun Jan 05, 2014 6:28 am

Hi guys, I've just bought a cheap anodised (anodized) gold guard on the eBay. It's off a Squier JMJM so it has that really yellow gold look to it.

I wondered if anybody had any experience/knowledge about ageing anodised guards? Is there anything compound I can rub on it that would fade that colour? Or what look would scrubbing it with scotchbrite achieve?

I'm not looking to relic the heck out of the thing, but if it is possible to knock back that colour, it'd be cool.

Thanks,

A

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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by Vaporized » Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:59 am

thegluefactory wrote:Hi guys, I've just bought a cheap anodised (anodized) gold guard on the eBay. It's off a Squier JMJM so it has that really yellow gold look to it.

I wondered if anybody had any experience/knowledge about ageing anodised guards? Is there anything compound I can rub on it that would fade that colour? Or what look would scrubbing it with scotchbrite achieve?

I'm not looking to relic the heck out of the thing, but if it is possible to knock back that colour, it'd be cool.

Thanks,

A
Drown it in coffee... Seriously, you can do all your knobs too if you want. Just let everything sit in coffee for like 2/3 days

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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by Vaporized » Sun Jan 05, 2014 9:02 am

Actually sorry… maybe not for gold :P although it will leave you with a nice off white if you use a white pickguard

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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by thegluefactory » Sun Jan 05, 2014 9:32 am

Vaporized wrote:Actually sorry… maybe not for gold although it will leave you with a nice off white if you use a white pickguard
Thanks but 'tis just the anodized pickguard I'm wanting to age! It's just super yellow.

Hopefully you can see the difference between the purple JMJM and squier JMJM in this pic (pinched from another post)

Not sure I'd be able to get it nearer, but at least make it a not so yellow gold.

Image

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jagstang
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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by jagstang » Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:49 am

sorry for pulling out this old thread. But have you found out something? I'm really interested in getting mine a little more bleached looking...

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Larry Mal
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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by Larry Mal » Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:53 am

Definitely don't scrub it. It's got a coating on it, after all.
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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by dm_cambridge_ma » Tue Jan 16, 2018 5:47 pm

There's really nothing you can do. The whole point of anodization is to passivate the metal so it won't react with anything.
I'm sure there's some extremely harsh chemical treatment that could do something to the color, but it wouldn't be worth the cost and effort, and it would probably come out blotchy.
Just buy a ToneGuard. Or get a cheap plastic guard in cream.

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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by pscates » Tue Jan 16, 2018 6:11 pm

Unfortunately, "buying a ToneGuard" appears to be a bit of an iffy dice-roll.

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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by MechaBulletBill » Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:44 am

I was talking with the guy who runs a guitar shop who'd been asked to relic an ano guard for a customer. Said it took forever to sand any sort of faux-wear onto it.

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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by lunaticjaguar » Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:32 am

http://www.eyguitarmusic.com/62-Jazzmas ... _2267.html

I have the EY one on my Squier VM and it looks great, I yanked the tone wheels though so I don't know if thats an issue. Nice guard for $30 though.

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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by Rocky67 » Sat Aug 03, 2019 11:56 pm

Hi.
New to the forum. Thanks for letting me in. Starting with a nekro bump. ::)

I too have the same problem.

I’m thinking of trying baking soda to fade the guard.

Not sure if this will work or if it will just slowly strip the anodization instead of changing the the color.

Has anybody found a better solution for this ?

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epizootics
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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by epizootics » Sun Aug 04, 2019 12:08 am

You might have seen this already but just in case -

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/g ... ing-87894/

Granted, the guy wants to get rid of the oxide altogether, but some of the chemicals mentioned in there might do the trick. I'd give it a try on the inside of the guard first...

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Rocky67
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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by Rocky67 » Sun Aug 04, 2019 12:27 am

Thank you.
I have seen youtube clips where they use caustic soda or oven cleaner to strip anodized aluminium but it seems hard to control.
Also a clip of a guy using hydroflouride acid , that is way too dangerous for me.

Has anyone her had good results with aging the J Macsis pickguard ?

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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by Rocky67 » Tue Aug 06, 2019 10:22 am

Spray paint seems to be the easy way out.
This guy nailed it IMHO.
https://www.tdpri.com/threads/spray-pai ... ay.681609/

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Re: Fade/age/relic anodized/anodised guards

Post by parry » Tue Aug 06, 2019 11:07 am

Don't judge. These were different times... :whistle:

but I used scotchbrite pads and some steel wool on an early AVRI guard that was too yellow for my taste. I can confirm that it did knock back the colour. I can also add that it was a crap-ton of work. Based on that experience, I don't hesitate warning that it'd be super hard - nearing impossible - to get it done so that it's even and doesn't look like an "aged" (*cough*relic*cough) guard.

For the record: I would not do this again. If it really means that much to you, buy a replacement and sell off ol' Yeller.
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