BP's thoughts on Relic'd guitars and is EBMM going to do a test run?

[Slav123]

With the popularity of Relic'd guitars, any thoughts of EBMM doing something like it? Fender's custom shop Relics are going for $3K - $6,500 and even John Suhr has a light relic version that he calls Antique. Hey, maybe even the EBMM artists can relic a few by hand.

 

[paranoid70]

BP, if EBMM does do a test run, you can put me down for zero. I think artificially relic'd guitars are stupid.

No offense Slav. I guess I just don't get it. They usually look so phony to me.

 

[Slav123]

No worries bro, I'm not a big fan either. There is a market for them out there though and I just wanted to get BP's thoughts on where EBMM stood on the whole Relic'd fad.

 

[threeminutesboy]

BP, if EBMM does do a test run, you can put me down for zero. I think artificially relic'd guitars are stupid.

No offense Slav. I guess I just don't get it. They usually look so phony to me.

Agreed on the way Fender is doing theirs. But there is a shop in Amsterdam (Rebel Relic Guitars) who is doing a fantastic job on the relic side, more natural than any artificial fender relic.

I sometime think how an EBMM would look after a relic job in his hand. Maybe I should relic my Dargie Luke (just kidding)

 

[Dr.Strangenote]

If anyone needs any of their EBMM's relic'd, you can send them to me, the turn around time is typically anywhere between 10-20 years, but I have a 100% satisfaction of getting the job done..

 

[73h Nils]

If anyone needs any of their EBMM's relic'd, you can send them to me, the turn around time is typically anywhere between 10-20 years, but I have a 100% satisfaction of getting the job done..

This is the only way to "relic" a guitar, IMO.

and lol, I meant by playing it.... not sending it to a random forumite in Pennsylvania

 

[DrKev]

He's not random. He's possibly the only forumite in Yardley, PA. That makes him unique!

 

[JMD]

Thumbs down on the relic of an EBMM.

 

[straycat113]

I truly hate the whole concept behind the relic finish, and hope it has finally run it's course and would disappear. They seemed to have truly run out of ideas and are grasping at straws these days with models like the burnt finish. Seriously how many guys have lit there guitar on fire!

 

[ScoobySteve]

BP has stated on numerous occassions that he's not a fan of making new products that look used.

I don't get the relic craze either.

 

[beej]

It's an understandable craze- the majority of buyers still seem to want what was offered in the 50s, and that's how those instruments look today. Beaten to hell.

But for anyone buying an instrument with a modern design, it just makes no sense to me. Sure there are well-worn guitars I lust after (cough ... SM's #1 ... cough), but I'd want THAT guitar, not a perfect replica with all the scratches.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I watch my mate build a fantastic guitar then he has to relic it - 'cos that's what the customer wants. It takes quite some time to get all the hardware worn and then all the other cr4p that goes into making the guitar body look old.

The only time I have been in agreement with the relic process was when Burke Shelley brought his beat up bass into the workshop and had a new neck fitted.That new neck (once it had gone thro the relic process) looked great.

Same here thumbs down on relic'd guitars- as it would add sooooo much money to the manufacturing process

 

[savannah_sean]

BP speaks to this at 3:42:

Ernie Ball - Steve Morse Talks With Sterling Ball #1 - YouTube

 

[DaPatrooch]

I think a replica of Steve Morse's #1 could be cool, and that's kind of a relic I guess. But I'm not really a fan of artificial relics- I'd rather "wear out" a guitar myself. Not my JP though...

 

[Big Poppa]

Here it is...The market is super tough out there....it is so hard to be doing what we are doing that only great passion drives me....not return trust me....I didnt want to do classics but the public wanted them and there is a factory to feed...so an honest and open dialogue is that If I need to and the market demands it I will Currently we dont have any plans though

 

[ScoobySteve]

Thanks BP for your candid response its always appreciated. Its the nature of business to deliver what thr conconsumer wants, but if I may just ramble a bit...

I totally understand the market for relic'd guitars. I totally do. Part nostalgia, part tribute to a great age in guitar building. But to me its a genuine sign that a manufacturer has failed to produce new and updated products which consumers desire. Granted some 57 and 62 strats were great (its total hysteria and nonsense that all Strats made during this period were great, and don't even get me started with 59LPs) there has been practically no evolution at all. Nothing wrong with having a market in the past. They do it extremely well, but as the Robo LP has shown, it limits the investments they can make innovation. Music Man has always struck me as a progressive, challenging, and innovative industry and relic'd guitars stand as an antithesis to that aim. Look at the Gamechanger. A title deserved. The thought of a relic'd GC is just a mind boggling paradox.

I known I know, I need to shut up and play. But I'm just saying.....

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I have always thought that relic guitars look daft! I remember walking into Andertons in Guildford when the craze first started and there was a wall of them. Looked like a bring and buy sale!

Give me a shiny new guitar any day that I can play the hell out of and make into my own relic! You should see my red Axis these days! But every scratch was done by me by playing it!

 

[Norrin Radd]

My dog put the first relicing touch on my #1 the other day. She walked over by my amp, tripped over a cable, and a pedal I had on top of the amp came crashing down on the lower horn. I wasn't thrilled but, what the hell, its a tool. Still sounds and plays the same. Had she dinged the fingerboard, well..............let's just note she's still here with us as I type.

I don't care if people like 'em or not. Not really my business. The market wil decide the fate of relics. I'm not being forced to buy one so I don't care. I've owned a couple. Not any longer though. Whatever happens I'm convinced I'll always have the option to NOT buy one. What others buy - I don't care. I hope new EBMMs will continue to be around my whole lifetime and well beyond. I know the ones I already have are built to last long after I'll be dead. Looking forward to passing them on to my kids some day. I guess they might actually get some EBMM relics then!

 

[DR5Guy]

Friends,

Speaking of relic'd stuff I have a set of heavy relic'd Regular Slinkies which can be yours for mere $59.99. The tone and mojo of these "senior" Slikies is incredible compared with the dull and lifeless sound of a new set of strings. I can also relic your own set of strings and picks for a small fee. The process takes few weeks. PM me if interested.

 

[LawDaddy]

I believe the relic market is primarily modeled after late '50s guitars having thin nitro finishes that aged quickly and nicely. Modern poly finishes don't so much as relic as chip. So I wouldn't have expected a relic EBMM. However, a nitro-finished EBMM would be nice!

Interestingly, one of the major points of appeal for reliced guitars is that the necks are typically sanded down to the wood to give that natural, worn-in felling. The gun stock oil finish on most EBMMs already gives that feel.

The whole relic thing gets real divisive on other forums; hope the discussion stays cool here. I actually own a reliced P-bass, I bought it in spite of the finish since it was such a player. In a strange twist of irony, some of Fender's best players off the shelves are from their Road Worn series, and they really have the relic thing down to an art in their Custom Shop.

One thought I had: an exact duplicate of Morse's #1 with the exact wear patterns and the faded DiMarzio clip strap.