Wear and aging on a poly finish guitar

[Marty_McFly]

Hi guys and gals.

I am the kind of person who really digs guitars with a worn off paint job (worn off throug playing). Like when a finish that was once quite shiny turns into matt and if the actual wood shows up on certain spots where you touch the guitar a lot while playing.

My "main" electric guitar is at the moment a Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Pro which has a poly finish. When surfing throug the web, there are lots of people who do say that a poly finsh will nerver age and that only nitro finishes do. Althoug, I saw already pics and red threads about guitars with poly finishes that did age nicely over time.

The Les Paul that I talked about is played everyday by me since I got her 9 months ago. Playing time per day does vary couse I dont wont to neglect any of my other guitars, but I think it's a average of 1 hour + (sometimes more, sometimes much more, but on average 1h I think).


My question now:

How long will it take till the finish becomes more matt and that the wood comes throug on contact points (arm rest, etc...) ? 5 years?, less then that?, more?, 10 years and above :/?


Cant wait to read your replys and descuss that thing

Thank You in advance

 

[BGood]

You have to wear abrasive clothing, for something to happen. Like stitching Scotch Brite pads to your inner shirt sleeves.

 

[John]

There are guy out there that will relic it for you for a price. Some are better than others mind you and some need to stick with Crayola Crayons. I'm not a big fan of it but I have seen some that look pretty cool. My advise would be, play the hell out of it. Eventually it will have the look you are after.

 

[elephantrider]

poly will take 3x as long to age and checker, as nitro does. poly is plastic.

 

[Supersonic]

You have to wear abrasive clothing, for something to happen. Like stitching Scotch Brite pads to your inner shirt sleeves.

Yep. Get a couple of Scotch Brite pads and go over the guitar with them very slowly and gently. It will make the "plasticy" look go away. It's also great for doing the back of the neck on your guitars if they don't feel smooth enough.

 

[duceditor]

I won't address faking it. though, yes, some have become very good at that. But as to your question the non-faked answer is "never."

Yes, older type nitro finishes were delicate. Sensitive to various types of aging, not just wear.

The passing of time alone brought about changes in those guitars appearance, not just wear. Checking for instance, which was brought about by the micro flaking of the finish as well as its absorption into the grain of the wood.

Poly finishes simply do not do that. Nor will they within any reasonable meaning of "ever."

It is worth noting that newer nitros may not either. I have a 1988 Gibson Les Paul that has been out on a stand in non-controlled (temp and humidity) rooms for almost all of its thirty years that still could pass almost for new. While a Gibson ES from just 8 years earlier has a significant patina. Something in the finish obviously changed during those 8 years.

'Tis what it is. At least to me. I have come to actually prefer poly. But I am 72 years old. "Patina", as I see every morning as I shave, isn't all its cracked up to be.

-don

 

[Raiyn]

Just play the guitar and stop worrying about "aging" it prematurely.

This relicing trend is just that, a trend. Like stone-washed jeans, or chipotle.

 

[elephantrider]

But I am 72 years old. "Patina", as I see every morning as I shave, isn't all its cracked up to be.
-don

i'm starting to see some patina in the mirror as well. the wife has never asked me to "patina" a bit more

 

[Marty_McFly]

I won't address faking it. though, yes, some have become very good at that. But as to your question the non-faked answer is "never."

Yes, older type nitro finishes were delicate. Sensitive to various types of aging, not just wear.

The passing of time alone brought about changes in those guitars appearance, not just wear. Checking for instance, which was brought about by the micro flaking of the finish as well as its absorption into the grain of the wood.

Poly finishes simply do not do that. Nor will they within any reasonable meaning of "ever."

It is worth noting that newer nitros may not either. I have a 1988 Gibson Les Paul that has been out on a stand in non-controlled (temp and humidity) rooms for almost all of its thirty years that still could pass almost for new. While a Gibson ES from just 8 years earlier has a significant patina. Something in the finish obviously changed during those 8 years.

'Tis what it is. At least to me. I have come to actually prefer poly. But I am 72 years old. "Patina", as I see every morning as I shave, isn't all its cracked up to be.

-don

Thanks, but I am not talking of aging through time only, I mean aging through permanent usage + time. When I hold my LP against the light, I can see a lot of scratches on the spots where I have my hand while playing, altough I tread her very good. And if this is what comes out after not even a year, who knows how this looks in 5,10+ years.

 

[Marty_McFly]

Just play the guitar and stop worrying about "aging" it prematurely.

This relicing trend is just that, a trend. Like stone-washed jeans, or chipotle.

Just wanna make clear that I don't even want to age her prematurely. I am not into any trend, I am the opposite of mainstream. It's just that I love the look of a used/nicely aged/worn guitar because of the story and time and usage that is behind the whole thing, not because somebody takes scotch brite and grinds over the finish.

 

[DaveInSoCal]

I have an Epi SG, a 2008 I think, arctic white originally, poly of course. It has yellowed a bit but I don't expect the finish to ever wear off from playing.
I suppose the wear / patina is the result of a combination of sweat, oil from your skin and constant abrasion from your arm or wrist touching the surface over time.

Poly resists all of that, personally, I try to keep my guitars as pristine as possible, I wipe them down after I play and keep them all in cases, but that's just my thing.

I did have a SM58 fall out of the stand on to the front of my Strat and left a ding right on the front. That is natural relicing.

 

[Raiyn]

My '07 G400 Faded is actually starting to develop a bit of a shine in the spots where one would expect wear. That's a fairly thin poly too.

I am the opposite of mainstream.

Being the opposite of mainstream is so mainstream.

 

[John]

Thanks, but I am not talking of aging through time only, I mean aging through permanent usage + time. When I hold my LP against the light, I can see a lot of scratches on the spots where I have my hand while playing, altough I tread her very good. And if this is what comes out after not even a year, who knows how this looks in 5,10+ years.

With that being said then let nature take its course. There is no way of knowing how long the process would take naturally simply because everybody has different chemicals in their skin. More acid in your sweat will increase the natural process. There just isn't any way of knowing how long it will take.

 

[BGood]

More acid in your sweat will increase the natural process.

For your body acid to altere poly in any way, you must have dropped acid in your teens, at an olympic level.

 

[Biddlin]

you must have dropped acid in your teens, at an olympic level.

The training regime was brutal.

 

[BGood]

The training regime was brutal.

Right !
Kids have it easy nowadays.

When I was their age, if we wanted to hear good music, we first had to know from a friend of a friend we crossed in the back alley, that a certain band was coming to town.

Then we had to try to find where the gig was happening, Once we were pretty sure about that, we had to call on a rotating dial phone attached to the wall to the venue, to see when and where tickets could be bought.

Now, we had to take the bus, (or our vehicle if we were lucky it still ran) and get to the ticket office a few hours in advance of opening time. We had to carry cash in our pockets to buy the tickets. Well ... 15/20 dollars or so. We had to stash those tickets away in a safe place, until next week. No, you couldn't buy tickets months in advance.

Once the show date arrived, we had to take the bus again to get there a few hours in advance if we wanted a good spot, not hidden behind a column or something. While we waited, was a good time to buy illicit drugs. We had to. How else were you going to whitstand the zillion decibels thrown at you for three hours non stop ?

Once the show over, we were not finished yet. Still heavily under the influence, we had to find our way back home, or to a friend's, or to a secluded spot in the park.

I tell you, you kids have it easy with iTunes and The Cloud. Yeah ... i know, we too had a cloud, but it was made of something else.

And all that was on a week day. You can't even imagine how it was like on week-ends.

 

[Biddlin]

And all that was on a week day. You can't even imagine how it was like on week-ends.

In 1968, I saw the Chambers Brothers, Moby Grape and Steppenwolf in a reformatted bowling alley called The Sound Factory. Tickets were $5.00 through Tower Records or $4.00 at the door. My friend Lucy and I saw our first blacklight poster gallery with original dayglo art by R. Crum and Roger Shepard among other poster and album cover artists. Mind blown, trip begun.

 

[Marty_McFly]

My '07 G400 Faded is actually starting to develop a bit of a shine in the spots where one would expect wear. That's a fairly thin poly too.

Being the opposite of mainstream is so mainstream.

Hm, interesting. I always thought that these sort of finishes get much quicker sort of "shiny", thats why I didn't bought a goth explorer till now. On that one it would somehow destroy the look of the guitar, at least I think so. How often/much do you play your G400?

 

[John]

For your body acid to altere poly in any way, you must have dropped acid in your teens, at an olympic level.

The colors were incredible...

 

[Raiyn]

The colors were incredible...

Indeed.