THE WORKSHOP PROCESS
Relic'Art Guitares is a space of more than 50 m² located near Roanne in the Loire region ! (France)
This workshop is entirely dedicated to the re-varnishing and ageing of your guitar or bass.
The air is pure, the climate mild and calm is total... an ideal tranquility to create a beautiful instrument.
DISASSEMBLY
Your instrument and its hardware are completely dismantled and the microphones carefully disengaged to start stripping the paint.
All your hardware will have its own individual storage box.
They will be listed and protected throughout the transformation process of your instrument.
STRIPPING
Removing the original varnish and colour from the lutherie is an important step that must be done gently so as not to damage the wood.
The original colour is gently removed to allow each of you to rediscover the essence of the wood and why not a beautiful hidden veining that can influence the choice of the final colour.
SANDING
A long but essential process to prepare the new finish as well as possible, sanding is done exclusively by hand to avoid deforming the original design.
Small visible defects (holes and scratches) will be corrected and eliminated so that your lutherie can regain its original raw appearance before original painting.
PAINTING
From the undercoat to the different colours applied to the body, all the preparation is 100% nitro-cellulose in nature to ensure perfect coherence, compatibility and fidelity to the spirit of the time.
Different products are necessary to achieve a beautiful shade, these blends are made in the workshop and nothing is left to chance whether it is the dosages or the viscosity of the mixture to ensure a perfect result.
THE VARNISH
DRYING PROCESS
The gloss finishing varnish is a modified nitrocellulose formula, specially designed for the work of aging.
This recipe,favours the vintage aspect and allows a better control of the natural cracks in the varnish.
To be able to age and crack naturally, an appropriate drying time is very important.
4 to 6 weeks are necessary before ageing for the varnishes to be dry to the core.
Temperature, humidity, air quality: everything matters.
THE AGEING PROCESS
It is important for me to make a realistic ageing.
The relicage phase itself (ageing of the wood, paint, varnish, plastics, metals) is obviously done in a traditional way.
No electrical machine is used during this process to respect the coherence of a period ageing process.
Each instrument requires a different way of linking, which makes each model unique!
An instrument, which has the signs of the passage of time, was of course new at the beginning.
I reproduce this same process for a beautifully crafted patinated varnish.
A glossy varnish, then tarnished by time, will reveal the traces of its original colour under the hardware.
PATINATED VARNISH
WEATHER CHECKINGS
The effects of the weather for many years, and especially the outdoor concerts under strong spotlights, contribute to cracking a guitar.
In order to be realistic, I reproduce this same process so that the cracks in your guitars are also natural.
Realistic cracks are discrete cracks.
THE STORAGE
The shipping carton, hardcase or cover of your instrument will be listed and stored in a safe place.
I advise you to protect your instrument well during shipping because it will be shipped back to your home in the same box and protected.
THE SHIPMENT
Relic'Art Guitars ship anywhere in Europe
Shipments are always made after receipt of payment without exception.
Unless otherwise requested, the instruments will be sent by private carrier with insurance for added peace of mind (see "Rates" section for more information)
MY SIGNATURE
Your instrument is the result of a long work of craftsmanship.
Each guitar without exception (complete or only body or neck) will be stamped with my signature (behind the heads for the necks and in a cavity for the body).
This is a non-negotiable condition even on the oldest models.
IMPORTANT
I am not a luthier and not guitarist, I don't have the knowledge to be able to propose a setting of the instrument as advanced, fine and precise as a professional can do.
My speciality is only varnishing and relic process, I just propose a basic adjustment for each guitar or bass leaving my workshop but a more advanced adjustment will be necessary anyway with your usual luthier (especially with the risks of transport
The same goes for the rewiring of the pickups, I have no knowledge in this field, so I will leave it to you to have them rewired by a professional.