'59 Burst UV Fading From Artificial Light Source

stephenswayne73 said:

A see a good amount of discussions about UV aging, but haven't actually found someone post specifics on the most effective lightbulb type, where to purchase it, and amount of time to allow. Looking for expert comments from those that have successfully done this UV fading on their sunburst LP with an artificial light source. Not keen on the idea of using direct sunlight as it can provide too much heat damage with it.

I have a recent '59 Murphy Aged Les Paul in Royal Teaburst. I would love to UV fade out the lower body portion of the red/orange(?) die in the burst - basically would just like the lower body to be predominantly the yellow aniline dye as you would find on a Slowed Iced Tea finish.

I would appreciate a recommendation for the most effective lightbulb, where best to buy it, and how much time I should expose (roughly) to get the desired effect?

Cheers!

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El Gringo said:

I have my 14 R9 and it gets sunlight and has faded a good amount and it looks nice . Maybe sunlight is the way to go

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CatManDoo88 said:

Some have used UV reptile lights with success. You can purchase them at pet stores. Just make sure they are purely UV lights and not also heat lamps. There are a bunch of past threads on the subject if you do a keyword search. Be careful though because you can never predict exactly how a guitar will fade (in terms of evenness or even colour). All Gibson sunbursts are sprayed by hand and if certain areas got more cherry than others, those will fade slower. The current historics don't use the same dyes on the tops as the vintage bursts and are much more colorfast and fade resistant. Also, make sure you cover the fretboard, pickups, and remove any plastics that might fade or discolour.

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