accelerate aging

[RedMastiff]

i had the same question since years ago when i bought my first epiphone ^^
Do rock stars clean their guitars after playing, clean it every x time or never clean it?
i saw many pics and videos of ppls like angus young or keith richards for example were their guitars are very dirty, even when they was going to play one song only, wich makes me think that their radies have express order to not clean th eguitars?
my doubt is, to let the guitar to age, its better to clean or to clean with polish or just let the guitar take all the sweat it gets from playing?
polish accelerates aging or its better to just clean with some white cotton tshirt dry or wet?
now i have a nitro lacquer finish and after 3 weeks or 4 its getting much scrachs and some small chips. Even if i take the guitar and have a pick on my hand that touches the body and it creates a ding.
also yesterday a friend came to home and he was playing like two hours and after he gone i was cleaning the guitar and had several sweat tears that i cant remove, they just faded into the lcquer.
i use to play a lot, i dont gig but i play many hours per day with my guitars, so i sweat a lot on the body and neck.
so, i wanted to age the guitar the faster way possible so, do i let the guitar with the sweat, do i clean with a shirt or do i clean-polish?
btw my sweat its not corrosive, i can let it for a day and the wipe and the lacquer goes gloss but my friend sweat even in 1:30- 2 hours had made permanent marks.
should i just give it to my friend to play much and not clean i get it back in a year?(joking)

 

[Comanche]

Have your guitar take up drinking, drugs and chasing loose woman. That should age it right quick.

 

[chasenblues]

Join/start a band or jam with friend or just keep playing the crap out of it. It will start showing aging soon enough.

 

[_ZIGGY_]

"Cocaine is a hell of a drug!"

 

[RedMastiff]

i get the you have to play the guitar a lot, wich actually im doing it, the question is more of should i clean the guitar? should i polish it? or just let it be after playing and only clean the strings and take care of the fretboard?

 

[Left Paw]

Don't clean it. Let the mojo accumulate until it just cruds over. And listen to Rick James, above.

 

[Farquad]

Well, I would think that not cleaning it would lend itself to aging the guitar. The oils and chems from your skin coming into contact with the guitar will have an effect on the finish and hardware. (notice I didnt say what type of effect).
Theres a number of threads here on aging artificially. But naturally accelerated aging, you need to not clean it ('cept for the strings as you want those to last a good bit between changes), and you need to be a bit carefree when using and storing the guitar. Not careless, just more welcoming to lifes little issues.

 

[QuicksilverSS]

It's an Epi, it's poly. It wont age like Nitro. It'll just look grungy and abused. I keep my Epi BB3 nice and clean for the most part. Use it, don't abuse it.

 

[Cjsinla]

Don't clean or polish nitro. It will eventually get soft and rub off.

 

[stringbender11]

Buy a used guitar if you want the worn look. It'll take forever to get a new guitar looking worn unless you totally abuse it. Much easier to just buy a 15-20 year old guitar that will already have some wear.

 

[James R]

The real fun is in the journey, not the destination.
Accelerating or artificially aging a guitar is like sleeping through the road trip.

Whether it takes 30 days or 30 years, mine will all come by their aging naturally.

 

[Gandy Dancer]

I dont clean mine too.....just play it and use it and have fun.. I dont want artificial aging ..I dont like sterile, over shiny, LPs that looks like its fresh out of the showroom...a used and well played guitar is a happy guitar

 

[stealthelephant]

Have your guitar take up drinking, drugs and chasing loose woman. That should age it right quick.

but chasing loose women rejuvenates?

 

[Fernandomania]

The real fun is in the journey, not the destination.
Accelerating or artificially aging a guitar is like sleeping through the road trip.

Whether it takes 30 days or 30 years, mine will all come by their aging naturally.

Same for me. I clean and polish regularly. I don't do it every time I play but when I change strings I give it a good cleaning. I'll even wax them occasionally. I want mine to age gracefully and authentically.

 

[p90fool]

It's an Epi, it's poly.

Short attention span alert.

 

[MooCheng]

Im in the not cleaning guitars camp, no other reason than I simply car'nt be bothered,

 

[cowsgomoo]

I'm surprised people still care so much about having an aged and worn guitar, given that there's so many of them out there nowadays.

Whenever I see one, it conveys nothing of 'guitar with a full life lived' vibe any more, just because they're so ubiquitous.

 

[JCM900MkIII]

or just play it for years. Whatever feels more comfortable.

 

[frankv]

It's an Epi, it's poly. It wont age like Nitro. It'll just look grungy and abused. I keep my Epi BB3 nice and clean for the most part. Use it, don't abuse it.

Hey quickie.. He said his FIRST guitar was an Epi... Not this quitar..

 

[pnuggett]

Road worn? Try this.
DESCRIPTION | Museum Experience Blog

I just don't get the whole thing about the phony road worn look.

If you want it to look naturally aged let it age naturally.