Reliced guitars?

[kslight]

Okay how's this business plan for a relic service:

you give me your guitar for 6 weeks

I rent your guitar to a band that is going on tour

the band in turn put five gallons of sweat/piss/beer/puke into the guitar, and treats it like shit because it's a rental.


I give it back to you (for a fee).


Profit.

[Eggmann]

Send a belt sander out with the guitar when it goes on tour. That will help speed up the "aging" process.

[lysander]

Reliced guitars are the acid washed jeans of the music world.

Exactly.

[PT]

I'll share my relic guitar story.

Firstly, I, too, think reliced guitars are cheesy and there really is no need for them.

But...

In the late 90's I came a cross an early version of a Fender Nocaster. It was the best Tele I had ever played and sounded amazing. On top of that, the relic job really was well done. Looking at the guitar you really could not tell that it was only a few years old (at the time). Not at all like the recent Road Worn Fenders. So I sold a bunch of cool gear to buy this one guitar and I still have it to this day. I still love it and I will have this guitar till I die.

I've since found out that the guitar I have is apparently a desirable Custom Shop model, and it was made by some renowned builder. (His signature is on the neck and body.) And apparently the guitar has appreciated in value considerably.

I could care less about all this. All I know is I love this guitar and I'm sure I've spent thousands of hours playing it, loving every minute it's in my hands. I recently had the frets done and had it set up and it's playing better than ever. And, as an added bonus, I found out that having a reliced guitar has it's advantages to the busy musician in that you don't have to worry about keeping it in pristine condition. It actually helps you relax when you're playing some shitty bar.

So my point: if those acid wash jeans fit you really well. Fuck it, just wear them.

[???????]

Live and let live. I do not own any relic'd guitars, and having spent most of my life from my preteen years onward around old guitars, I can spot a "relic" from across a convention center floor. But whatever makes someone happy is their business.

My mother has a house full of "distressed" faux-antique furniture that she paid good money for.

I don't wear blue jeans, but if I did, I imagine that nowadays I'd have a hard time finding any that weren't distressed in at least some mild way. And yes, most of the new jeans you'd buy wherever have quite unrealistic wear patterns, too, but nobody seems to mind.

Eventually it will get better. Relic guitars will look more natural as people get better at it. As a concept, it's barely more than 10 years old. It's in its infancy. And even when they're done well more often, I still probably won't have a use for one. But I think there will always be a market for them, just as there has been a consistent market for stonewashed/distressed jeans and distressed furniture and patina'd copper and bronze lawn ornaments, or whatever. It's a "look." It's valid. There's charm in it for some and that's cool.

One thing I WOULD do, if I had to replace a part on one of my 'actual' worn old guitars, would be to replace it with a "relic'd" part.

I wouldn't want a stark-white brand new pickguard should I have to replace the one on my '62 jazzmaster. It would stand out like a sore thumb. I would want an 'aged' part that blended in more. The technology of aging parts, etc. has gotten considerably better over the last 10 years. And we have the 'relic' guys to thank for that.

[Trick Fall]

The cheaper relic'd guitars don't really look good to me, but if I was going to drop big coin on a strat I would probably go for a custom shop closet classic. I can put the dings in myself, but the patina on the parts looks cool.

I've also owned a bunch of guitars over the years and until two years ago all of them were finished in poly. My most recent guitar though is a LP jr that someone made for me that is finished in nitro and I absolutely love it. I will never buy another poly guitar again. I love the way the nitro feels on the neck and it is wearing beautifully.

[tonewoods]

Firstly, I, too, think reliced guitars are cheesy and there really is no need for them.

I dunno.....

I do a lot of guitar relicing, and I really enjoy how they come out....

Here's a '53 P-Bass I put together:



Here's a '55 Esquire copy...

And, finally, Here's a Gretsch 6120 that I just antiqued...

The new Gretsches are just too shiny for my tastes, and it really adds a lot to knock down the finish and add a few beauty marks...

It's the best of both worlds, really. The old Gretsches can be really problematic, with dissolved bindings and bad neck joints, but the antiqued new ones are all really solid, with a nice aged feel to them...

YMMV.....

[Snarl 12/8]

God, what a weird sport. It's like pigeon rolling or something. Getting all into fetishizing faux fuckeduppedness.

I could actually see myself getting really carried away and addicted to trying to get the perfect checked finish or realistic looking mock rust even though it seems utterly unnecessary to me. I think the refinishing, wearing down the neck so that it *feels* right is totally legitimate, but rusting stuff just for looks seems like a waste, since you're speeding up the demise of the instrument.

[JGriffin]

Firstly, I, too, think reliced guitars are cheesy and there really is no need for them.

I dunno.....

I do a lot of guitar relicing, and I really enjoy how they come out....

Here's a '53 P-Bass I put together:


Here's a '55 Esquire copy...

And, finally, Here's a Gretsch 6120 that I just antiqued...

The new Gretsches are just too shiny for my tastes, and it really adds a lot to knock down the finish and add a few beauty marks...

It's the best of both worlds, really. The old Gretsches can be really problematic, with dissolved bindings and bad neck joints, but the antiqued new ones are all really solid, with a nice aged feel to them...

YMMV.....

The Chicago Store sticker on the '53 Esquire headstock is a nice touch.

Here's my thing: I appreciate the work that goes into relicing, and I appreciate that there's artistry there. I work a lot with scenic artists who have to make things they've just built look old, and I know there's a bunch of really cool techniques they've developed to do it. That's awesome, but it just ain't something I'm into as a guitar owner. The guitars that I have that are banged up, I'm the one that did the banging and the guitar's got stories. The guitars that aren't banged up are the ones I've been responsible enough to take good care of. My old 335 copy is still really nice, and part of that is it hasn't been in a bar in 20 years and ain't ever going back into one.

like you said, YMMV. If you like relic'ed guitars, that's fantastic.

[PT]

Firstly, I, too, think reliced guitars are cheesy and there really is no need for them.

I dunno.....

I do a lot of guitar relicing, and I really enjoy how they come out....

Here's a '53 P-Bass I put together:



Here's a '55 Esquire copy...

And, finally, Here's a Gretsch 6120 that I just antiqued...

The new Gretsches are just too shiny for my tastes, and it really adds a lot to knock down the finish and add a few beauty marks...

It's the best of both worlds, really. The old Gretsches can be really problematic, with dissolved bindings and bad neck joints, but the antiqued new ones are all really solid, with a nice aged feel to them...

YMMV.....

These are actually quite awesome.

Considering the subject a little more let me qualify "cheesy". It's not the guitars as objects, really. It's more the big companies marketing to the weekend warrior that is cheesy. There is a reason why people love old guitars and the materials they were made from have a lot to do with it. So, for me, in a perfect world all the big companies would simply make guitars exactly like they use to do 50 years ago. Then we could all relic our own guitars in no time. Because we would love to play them so much and nitro gets old looking fast.

[tonewoods]

God, what a weird sport. It's like pigeon rolling or something. Getting all into fetishizing faux fuckeduppedness.

Relics (gawd I hate that word) are built to be appreciated by the blind...

It's all about the way they feel....

It's more the big companies marketing to the weekend warrior that is cheesy.

+1...

Plus, they are so-ooo shitty at it...
A good relic takes a lot of time, and that's something the biggies don't have a lot of...

[chovie d]

nice bass tonewoods...and you get to live on orcas island? sweet.

Those roadworn strats and teles are GOOD. I am not into the relicing for the sake of looking cool on a mass produced guitar, but those guitars feel, play and sound awesome. I'd buy a used one if I ever ran across one cheap .

Its kind of an odd catch 22. These guitars are trying to look cool and trying to look cool is lame, yet if I am honest with myself the reason I dont want to play one is cause they look uncool for TRYING to look cool and therefor I am trying to look cool by NOT playing a poseur guitar and as we discussed earlier trying to look cool ...is lame.

Try a roadwron and see. I like em. I like the thin coat finish without all the polyester fill and the worn necks feel great to me.

The worst were the reliced amps. remember? fender tweeds with beer ring stains and faux cigarette burns? they did NOT sell well and were discontinued quickly.

I also dont care for the guitars were they mimic stickers of stars. James Hetfields explorer or whatever...the van halen ones...wretch.

[vvv]

I think it's mebbe a young guy's thing.

When I was inna Goth band, I liked my women relic'd; now they just come that way.

[tonewoods]

I think it's mebbe a young guy's thing.

For me, it's the other way around....

I crave to play the guitars of my youth, but can't afford the 20-85K that they are going for these days...

So-ooo, I build 'em for 600.00 a pop and call it a day....

[jgimbel]

I think it's mebbe a young guy's thing.

I'm 22, it's certainly not my thing! Maybe you meant the teens/beginners.. though I certainly didn't start on a $900 guitar! Phew!