GuitarTalk
@GuitarTalk on Instagram
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2017
- Messages
- 314
- Reaction score
- 895
Hey guys,
Introduction (skip if in a hurry):
So as you may know I finally got my hands on my favourite Les Paul a couple months ago, a Murphy aged 59 True Historic. It’s a perfect guitar but the one thing that stood out to me was how shiny the pickup covers were compared to the rest of the worn-in look of the guitar. I had ordered aged nickel Throbak pickups so I thought Id was to see them before doing anything to the originals. The Throbaks were barely aged at all (I had posted a “new pickup day” post about it), so unfortuneatly I hadn’t solved the issue of the pickups looking too new. So, I searched the vast inter webs... Etching solutions, cleaning detergents, etc. So I decided to experiment and found the following way of using table salt, apple cider vinegar (regular works too), and hydrogen peroxide.
Materials Required:
•2 pieces of toilet paper
•1-5 Q-tips
•2 table spoons of salt
•3-4 table spoons of vinegar (apple cider or regular)
•3-4 table spoons of hydrogen peroxide (over the counter disinfectant)
•a bowl and spoon to mix all this in
•something that you can scratch nickel with (sandpaper, a fork, iron wool, etc)
Step 1:
•mix the vinegar, salt and peroxide
Step 2:
•remove strings from the guitar (the cool part is you dont even have to remove the pickups with this method)
Step 3:
•get scratching: use whatever you have to scratch the pickup covers to your preference to make them look aged.
Step 4:
•Dip the Q-Tips in the solution from Step 1 and apply the soaked Q-Tips to 2 pieces of toilet paper. IMPORTANT: Don’t make the paper too soaked as you dont want the liquid seeping into the actual pickup if you decided to not bother removing the covers to do this.
Step 5:
•Apply the soaked toilet paper pieces to the top of each pickup cover. Use your Q-Tips to press down the paper into the cover. If you don’t do this, and the paper isnt pressed against the nickel, the aging may look patchy
Step 6:
Open a window and place the guitar next to it (to help the metal oxidize) for ~15-30minutes (light - medium aged results).
Step 7:
Remove the paper. If it’s still really wet, feel free to use a low-heat airdryer to speed up the process.
Step 8:
Enjoy and keep aging the pickup covers as you feel fit... maybe by actually playing hehe
As a last note, the toilet paper allows you to age the pickups without removing them and taking the covers off. If you remove the covers and leave the covers in the actual solution, the paper is not required. IMPORTANT: if you decide to soak the pup covers directly into the solution, the oxidization happens much quicker so check the pickups every minute to not over do it.
Introduction (skip if in a hurry):
So as you may know I finally got my hands on my favourite Les Paul a couple months ago, a Murphy aged 59 True Historic. It’s a perfect guitar but the one thing that stood out to me was how shiny the pickup covers were compared to the rest of the worn-in look of the guitar. I had ordered aged nickel Throbak pickups so I thought Id was to see them before doing anything to the originals. The Throbaks were barely aged at all (I had posted a “new pickup day” post about it), so unfortuneatly I hadn’t solved the issue of the pickups looking too new. So, I searched the vast inter webs... Etching solutions, cleaning detergents, etc. So I decided to experiment and found the following way of using table salt, apple cider vinegar (regular works too), and hydrogen peroxide.
Materials Required:
•2 pieces of toilet paper
•1-5 Q-tips
•2 table spoons of salt
•3-4 table spoons of vinegar (apple cider or regular)
•3-4 table spoons of hydrogen peroxide (over the counter disinfectant)
•a bowl and spoon to mix all this in
•something that you can scratch nickel with (sandpaper, a fork, iron wool, etc)
Step 1:
•mix the vinegar, salt and peroxide
Step 2:
•remove strings from the guitar (the cool part is you dont even have to remove the pickups with this method)
Step 3:
•get scratching: use whatever you have to scratch the pickup covers to your preference to make them look aged.
Step 4:
•Dip the Q-Tips in the solution from Step 1 and apply the soaked Q-Tips to 2 pieces of toilet paper. IMPORTANT: Don’t make the paper too soaked as you dont want the liquid seeping into the actual pickup if you decided to not bother removing the covers to do this.
Step 5:
•Apply the soaked toilet paper pieces to the top of each pickup cover. Use your Q-Tips to press down the paper into the cover. If you don’t do this, and the paper isnt pressed against the nickel, the aging may look patchy
Step 6:
Open a window and place the guitar next to it (to help the metal oxidize) for ~15-30minutes (light - medium aged results).
Step 7:
Remove the paper. If it’s still really wet, feel free to use a low-heat airdryer to speed up the process.
Step 8:
Enjoy and keep aging the pickup covers as you feel fit... maybe by actually playing hehe
As a last note, the toilet paper allows you to age the pickups without removing them and taking the covers off. If you remove the covers and leave the covers in the actual solution, the paper is not required. IMPORTANT: if you decide to soak the pup covers directly into the solution, the oxidization happens much quicker so check the pickups every minute to not over do it.
Last edited:
