Any place to get a crackle finish done?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JerEvil
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JerEvil

JerEvil

Well-known member
I am obsessed with crackles as of late and been thinking of having one of my guitars redone in a crackle finish. Anyone know who'd be a good place to look at for this?
 
Pipe freezer spray + hair dryer. Heat up the finish, then freeze it. It simulates the heating & cooling of your finish over time. It takes some time to do, so be patient. Do not try the razor blade method because it doesn't look authentic and there's no going back if you screw up. You might be able to get away with using an air spray can upside down, but that only works on very thin finishes. Condensation will build up so make sure you remove the hardware and electronics until you're done.

I did it with a couple of my strats and it came out fantastic. I'll post some pics later when I have a chance. You'll probably have to order the pipe freezer or look for a plumbing store.
 
SavageRiffer":g1qwr7fv said:
Pipe freezer spray + hair dryer. Heat up the finish, then freeze it. It simulates the heating & cooling of your finish over time. It takes some time to do, so be patient. Do not try the razor blade method because it doesn't look authentic and there's no going back if you screw up. You might be able to get away with using an air spray can upside down, but that only works on very thin finishes. Condensation will build up so make sure you remove the hardware and electronics until you're done.

I did it with a couple of my strats and it came out fantastic. I'll post some pics later when I have a chance. You'll probably have to order the pipe freezer or look for a plumbing store.
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Cool. Please do post those pics. Would love to see what you did.
 
The companies that used to do this won't anymore because it's considered enviromentally unfriendly. Something about the process or chemicals involved are no longer available or banned.

I remember that in the mid 2000's Kerry King's tech ordered another crackle V from ESP for Kerry. I do remember the crackle looked much different than the 80's or 90's version of the guitars because I guess that particular chemical is no longer available.

Sorry I don't remember exact details.
 
EXPcustom":3qr0prk5 said:
The companies that used to do this won't anymore because it's considered enviromentally unfriendly. Something about the process or chemicals involved are no longer available or banned.

I remember that in the mid 2000's Kerry King's tech ordered another crackle V from ESP for Kerry. I do remember the crackle looked much different than the 80's or 90's version of the guitars because I guess that particular chemical is no longer available.

Sorry I don't remember exact details.
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No worries on those details.

I saw this which got me wondering:

 
Also I have no idea what that poster is talking about using a freeze spray and a razorblade. Sounds totally wrong.

I am pretty sure that outside of California there are places that will and can do crackle like the video you posted.
 
EXPcustom":3jbl2kte said:
Also I have no idea what that poster is talking about using a freeze spray and a razorblade. Sounds totally wrong.

I am pretty sure that outside of California there are places that will and can do crackle like the video you posted.
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Cool. I reached out to a few folks. We shall see.
 
I also remember some place in Europe did a copy of a Kerry King ESP and the crazckle finish game out really horrible. It was on the online gallery but I just cant remember the name of the company.
 
EXPcustom":2796lhkc said:
I also remember some place in Europe did a copy of a Kerry King ESP and the crazckle finish game out really horrible. It was on the online gallery but I just cant remember the name of the company.
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Probably Ran Custom or Chambray. They LOVE copying everyone else's designs! LOL!
 
EXPcustom":2huobng2 said:
Also I have no idea what that poster is talking about using a freeze spray and a razorblade. Sounds totally wrong.

I am pretty sure that outside of California there are places that will and can do crackle like the video you posted.
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I think he’s was thninking about cracking nitro finish aka relicing
 
Ah ha ha ha ha! That was a dumb moment. LOL! I thought you were talking about crackling or what some people call spidering where you relic the finish. I haven't seen that kind of crackle finish for a long time... since the 80's or something. Well, I guess you can disregard the instructions then. LMAO!
 
Are we talking about 'checking' of the finish then? I remember taking a buffer to polish my 1990 Hamer Centaura about 7 yrs ago, and while it polished up nice and got all that smoke and crap off it left a bunch of crazy lines..checking. Kinda cool but kinda not. All that shit over the finish from years of gigging had hidden the cracked finish. Lol
 
paulyc":1try5cr0 said:
Racerxrated":1try5cr0 said:
Lee at GMW?
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Big plus one there. Lee is the man.
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This is where I heard the no crackle rumor from. Actually, it was Jackson guitars, they said they wont do it because environmental laws in California. I think it was Pat Wilkins who did those finishes for Jackson and GMW. Double check but I am pretty sure it's banned in California.
 
EXPcustom":3noa82sd said:
paulyc":3noa82sd said:
Racerxrated":3noa82sd said:
Lee at GMW?
Click to expand...
Big plus one there. Lee is the man.
Click to expand...

This is where I heard the no crackle rumor from. Actually, it was Jackson guitars, they said they wont do it because environmental laws in California. I think it was Pat Wilkins who did those finishes for Jackson and GMW. Double check but I am pretty sure it's banned in California.
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I thought I had heard the same thing on California, but somehow it seems they are working it again with Jackson having the recent green crackle Soloist run, plus there was also a recent red crackle pointy Charvel run.
 
GMW does incredible work. Dan Lawrence is also great, and I'm 90% sure he did crackles for Charvel fairly recently. And Jackson had a white crackle Soloist at NAMM either 2017 or 2016
 
I have had great luck and service from Dan Lawrence.
 
I believe Dan Lawrence paints for Lee Garver at GMW on occasion.
 
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