Relic'd guitars

[bazxkr]

No relics for me unless as some guys mention you play it to death typical Steve Morses no 1.

In the ideal world I want my Balls to stay in as immacualte condition as I can whether I have them for 5 or 50 yrs. Dings and scratches are inevitable but being only a home player I treat them as much like precious jewels as I can.

Has to help any resale value if you get in a cash bind & have move them on too


Cheers

Baz

 

[andynpeters]

Well I guess if you've got a Relic guitar, you'll be needing to pay out all your money for this stuff!!
GIBSON GUITAR POLISH Norlin 70's on eBay (end time 11-Oct-10 00:41:19 BST)

 

[Jack FFR1846]

I have a guitar that I've had since '69 in it's case under my bed. I have removed the hardware and polished and waxed it carefully to try to preserve the finish. It's in what I consider to be pretty decent shape, with a couple nicks here and there. If it looked like some of the crap I see being sold as new relic'd guitars, I'd be ashamed to play it and would likely be spending $$$$ to fix the finish. I guess some people just need to remember El Kabong from the cartoons when I was a kid.

 

[ScoobySteve]

There's just something REALLY unmanly about phony battle scars.

My .02 personally.

 

[Big Poppa]

Actually where I personally agree with you regarding me not wanting a reliced guitar...I prefer a guitar world with more choices...reliced is ok just not for us. If it makes someone happy than so be it.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Let's see - be nice - yeah.

Okay - on relics (a subject the internet has beaten to death a billion times over). I look at it like this - it's another finish option. Have you played a ton of relics? I have. Are all of them incredible? No. BUT, all of the Fender ones ARE very very good (yeah - an occasional dog - but very rarely). Why are they all very very good? Because the Custom Shop gets first crack at all the best pieces of wood - that's why. Regardless of how they finish them - the CS guitars are the best sounding ones that Fender makes. Period. Oh yeah - if you're thinking you would like those choice woods on a non-beat up guitar - you can buy CS stuff NOS - yep. Brand spanking new.

It seems silly to me to denigrate all these very good instruments because you dislike the finish. I mean come on - the lot of you bought a whole bunch of ugly green guitars with Martini glass inlays, remember? I'm sure in other internet spots in the blogosphere people were going: "What the hell were they thinking?!?!?" - right? Point is - we all like different things when it comes to guitars. Just because someone else chooses to like a certain type of finish option is no reason to be condescending or question their "manhood", IMO. That's just silly.

BTW, some people enjoy the broken in guitar feel because, well, it's already broken in and comfortable to play! Some people dig relics because they don't have to bother with worrying about dings/scratches/polishing and cosmetic maintenance. Does that make them bad people? I don't think so. I don't think you should judge the relics too harshly until you've played a whole bunch of them. Maybe they aren't for you - and that's okay.

Yeah - I have one. You know what its done for me? It relieved me of my OCD when it comes to my guitars having to be perfect. Let me give you an example. I was cleaning and restringing my HH AL the other day and I noticed that there was some finish cracking by the neck pocket. The pre-relic owning me freaks out and sends it back to the dealer to get them to fix it (it's not perfect@!). The post-relic owning me? Looks at it and goes - "Oh - that's what those look like. I guess that's the first bruise of many more to come. I guess mine is now unique to all the others." Pretty inevitable their going to get dinged. I'm just not as concerned now. It's nice - I spend a lot more time playing my guitars than worrying about and actually maintaining them. Yes - even the new EBMMs. See - they really don't require a wipe down and polish after each practice session!


My philosophy: Play what you like - let others do the same without making judgements.

 

[beej]

Since we're on the topic ... here's a nice reliced Morse belonging to Ian Thornley (Canadian musician). Apparently he took a sander to it.

 

[mojomkr]

I thought a while back someone posted a photo of Joe Perry

with a Reliced Axis. It looked like someone got happy with a

sander. I prefer a guitar thats aged naturally. I could be wrong

But I also thought it was Keith Richards who started the Relic

thing when Fender sent him a Guitar that looked "to new" and

he asked for a guitar that had some miles on it.

 

[Pluck_Rogers]

I 'get' the relic'ing thing I suspect it is so musicians with not too many road miles under their belt can be perceived as veterans of 10,000 one-night stands.

I was pretty much horrified when the 'Joe Strummer' signature Tele came out with every ding, worn-to-wood surface, and gray and black spray paint copied.

It's like wearing fake Rolex or hanging a fake Lichenstein on the wall.

Buy your own axe. Let your own experience give it the 'scars'.

 

[mikeller]

Hey whatever floats your boat but we dont have any plans on making new guitars look generically old

Thank you!

Seriously, that is something that has zero interest to me whatsoever. I would never spend a dime of my hard earned money to buy a new guitar that has been made to look old and crummy

 

[ShorterOnVenus]

Relic'd finishes aside, I do love the feeling of a neck thats broken in, thats why I love the oiled neck on my Axis; it felt like I had been playing it for years the first time I pulled it out of its case, and now after about 2 years it fits like a tailored glove. The few CS strats I have noodled (they were rightys I'm not) the relic one had that feeling, I know F*nder rolls the edges on alot of their mass production American guitars , but that relic had that broken in feeling down pat.

 

[ZeRaskolnikoff]

I wouldn't buy it... To me it's a "cheating"... It's nice when your axe has the natural "battle scars" where each of one those has its own history... When its fake it kinda goes against the guitarists' "sign language"...

 

[andynpeters]

As The Man says there won't be EBMM "relics"....the necks already feel "broken in" and I can't see any reason to start destroying a new guitar.
Personally I feel it only works for Fender & maybe Gibson (though they seem much less interested in the concept) as there's no such thing as a 50 year old guitar from most other leading companies.
Another question ....if a Relic guitar is "worn in" (or out) now, how many more years use would it be good for?

 

[Bungo]

Another question ....if a Relic guitar is "worn in" (or out) now, how many more years use would it be good for?

This was something that puzzled me when Fender produced a 'perfect down to the last detail' replica of Clapton's 'Blackie'. As far as I'm aware Clapton retired that guitar because the level of wear on the neck had made it virtually unplayable.

Does that mean that the (very expensive) replica would also be virtually unplayable?

 

[Stratty316]

This was something that puzzled me when Fender produced a 'perfect down to the last detail' replica of Clapton's 'Blackie'. As far as I'm aware Clapton retired that guitar because the level of wear on the neck had made it virtually unplayable.

Does that mean that the (very expensive) replica would also be virtually unplayable?

I thought the name on the headstock made it virtually unplayable... haha (insert rimshot)... hopefully that isn't to much of a cheap shot at the big "F"

 

[Astrofreq]

I understand the relic craze. I totally admit those relic strats look super cool, BUT I wouldn't buy one because I want to add the wear and tear myself. It's sort of like buying jeans with holes in them. Is it a bad thing? No. I probably wouldn't do it, but whatever works is cool with me.

 

[mojomkr]

I understand the relic craze. I totally admit those relic strats look super cool, BUT I wouldn't buy one because I want to add the wear and tear myself. It's sort of like buying jeans with holes in them. Is it a bad thing? No. I probably wouldn't do it, but whatever works is cool with me.

Yah ! A Storm Trooper wearing holy Jeans !!

 

[straycat113]

It is funny you guys both mentioned broken in jeans as that was one of the reasons behind the first relics. Jay Black and Vince Cunetto were the brains behind the whole original relic production and figured if people were into the look with jeans, leather jackets and furiture why not guitars.

There was a really great article in Guitar and Bass Magazine on the whole history of the relic.Also to clear up an urban legend they were not the idea of Keith Richards, in fact his partner Ron Woods and Bob Dylan were the first to have parts aged, a neck for Dylan and a restore for Woods. Since I am not a fan at all of these guitars I will leave everyone with these two little nuggets from the story.

With resale, it can get a little ridiculous. Take Musicians Friends-scratch and Dent, made up of customer returns that may have cosmetic flaws,scratches or nicks. Not long ago there was a CS Tele relic on offer there...think about it if you can keep your brain from imploding. This begs the question: without the help of an icon like SRV or Clapton attached, or a master builders name, are relic'ed guitars just damaged goods?

Or this little jewel
These are some of the most identifiable guitars in history. While designed to play, most sit in the display cabinets of the rich... and perhaps that's where they belong.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[Brand X]

I've just bought a relic'd mobile phone like Michael Douglas one he uses on the beach in Wall Street. Battery lasts about two minutes!

Then I bought a relic'd car - it looks like **** but drives really well!

Just bought the kids a relic'd PC and it don't load any new games!

I just don't get the relic thing........you buy a new guitar and look after it, and if it gets a dent / scratch - you live with it until you've got a beat up guitar through PLAYING nicks are yours alone. I can understadn people wanting relics of iconic instruments (Ed's 5150, Morse's #1, Nuno's orig N4, SRV, Blackie, Yngwie's 'Play Loud' Strat).....but outside of that......I just don't see the point.

 

[Astrofreq]

For the record, I think old beat up trucks look cool too, but I can't imagine buying a new beat up truck either.