Relic'd guitars - Yay or Nay

[Visconti]

Personally I like shiny brand new guitars and relic'd guitars. Even with a new guitar if you're going to play it, it will get relic'd over time. Even if you keep the guitar in your closet over time it will relic.

Look it, we only get so many trips around the sun so why not have a few relic's guitars that look like they're 30 years old.

I love me some Dismal Ax Guitars.

[brandass]

Not my cuppa, but to each their own.

[PurpleTrails]

Nay.  I see no reason for a relic'd guitar, other than to confirm you are a poseur.  Most look either incredibly phony or overblown.

[gardo]

To me, it's just wrong.

[Visconti]

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PurpleTrails wrote:

Nay.  I see no reason for a relic'd guitar, other than to confirm you are a poseur.  Most look either incredibly phony or overblown.

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Poseur?

So when you buy some new levis you like the brand spankin stiff levis that have never been broke in?

How about you want to put in some new hard wood flooring. Do want the brand spankin' new look or the distressed look?

On the Disneyland ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad everything looks very old, but it's all new to look old.

The Fender Jeff Beck Tele.

 

 

[Chordite]

A relic'd gutar says "I am a fake "

A guitar like Nile Rodgers "Hitmaker" looks like it does by infinite and continuous use, he has hung on to that thing like a linus blanket for decades. Joe strummers Tele is another example of a genuine article that is now having 1500  fake clones made for people who want to look the part without doing the art.

It's plain wrong because there is no honest reason have a relic'd looking guitar other than it has played its life away making music upon a thousand stages.

[Alexilaiho]

I make a lot of steampunk props but for me it's nay, I don't see why you would relic a guitar when you can get the same effect by 3 years of plaing as hard as SRV

 

[Visconti]

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Chordite wrote:

A relic'd gutar says "I am a fake "

A guitar like Nile Rodgers "Hitmaker" looks like it does by infinite and continuous use, he has hung on to that thing like a linus blanket for decades. Joe strummers Tele is another example of a genuine article that is now having 1500  fake clones made for people who want to look the part without doing the art.

It's plain wrong because there is no honest reason have a relic'd looking guitar other than it has played its life away making music upon a thousand stages.

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What about hardwood flooring or furniture that looks old, but is new. Does it say I'm a fake?

This flooring is expensive hand distressed gunstock plank.

 

[Visconti]

 

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Alexilaiho wrote:

 

I make a lot of steampunk props but for me it's nay, I don't see why you would relic a guitar when you can get the same effect by 3 years of plaing as hard as SRV

 

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Most of these relic'd guitars have a worn in feel to the neck.

I had a Music Man Van Halen guitar and they copied his favorite neck with the worn in areas.

The guitar felt like it had been played a long time. It felt great.

What if you played a Fender Relic'd Strat and it played great and sounded even better and you had the money to buy it. Would say no I don't play relic'd guitars or would you buy it because it played and sounded great?

[kayd_mon]

Nay for me. It's not the image I prefer to portray when it comes to guitars.

[kayd_mon]

Oh, and the OP pics don't count. Relic guitars are Fenders or whatever that are factory stressed ans rusted. OP guitars have shiny hardware

[Visconti]

 

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kayd_mon wrote:

 

Nay for me. It's not the image I prefer to portray when it comes to guitars.

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So what would you do if your favorite guitar got dinged up and the hardware got tarnished. Would you retire the guitar and go get a nice new shiny one?

[Visconti]

 

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kayd_mon wrote:

 

Oh, and the OP pics don't count. Relic guitars are Fenders or whatever that are factory stressed ans rusted. OP guitars have shiny hardware

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All of those Dismal Ax guitars that are built in Dismal TN are made with old reclaimed wood from barns and rafters. He will bulid them with new hardware or distress them to your specs.

[kayd_mon]

@visconti

 

I probably wouldn't get rid of my guitar after the finish got dinged up, but if the hardware got rusty I'd either clean or replace the rusty stuff. I certainly wouldn't buy a new faux-relic, as that's not my preference. It's cool if you like it, though.

 

And reclaimed wood is cool, but the ones in question aren't relic'd. Again, relicing is taking a new guitar and trying to make it look old. The OP models use old wood to make a new-looking guitar. Different thing.

[Visconti]

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kayd\_mon wrote:

@visconti

 

I probably wouldn't get rid of my guitar after the finish got dinged up, but if the hardware got rusty I'd either clean or replace the rusty stuff. I certainly wouldn't buy a new faux-relic, as that's not my preference. It's cool if you like it, though.

 

And reclaimed wood is cool, but the ones in question aren't relic'd. Again, relicing is taking a new guitar and trying to make it look old. The OP models use old wood to make a new-looking guitar. Different thing.

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Would you change out the hardware on a '59 Les Paul?

Do you know what the problem is with old stuff? It's old and lots of time unreliable.

[jpnyc]

Distressed can look good. Banging up a new guitar to imitate something old usually looks stupid. Relicing almost always looks absurd on a modern multi-layer polyurethane finish, because it just makes the sanding obvious.

[Visconti]

Fender 1956 Telecaster Heavy Relic Olympic White Over 3 Tone Sunburst

[Professor Tom]

It's funny how people never relic expensive cars ?

[kayd_mon]

Of course I wouldn't replace rusty hardware on a legit '59 Les Paul. That would ruin the resale on that, and believe me, I'd sell it. But of course that's an exception. My oldest electric is a '96, and the hardware is in fine shape. In 20 years, we'll see.

[reverberlayed]

I care more about feel. The Fender Road Worn guitars I've played have felt great so I wouldn't hesitate to but a relic'd guitar because I felt like a poseur. I do prefer my new guitars to look new, but looks are definitely lower in importance than playability.

[reverberlayed]

That Fano is hot.

[5Strings2Many]

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Visconti wrote:

Fender 1956 Telecaster Heavy Relic Olympic White Over 3 Tone Sunburst

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that looks pretty silly.  particularly the pristine condition of the neck backplate in contrast to the rat-clawed finish on the back.  i'm sure it's a killer playing guitar though.

[Mr.scary96]

Well most cases I seen they go overboard and it winds up looking phony and a bit stupid. Why pay extra when going off and buying a 20 year old MIM strat thats been gigged would yield the same or better results

[wankdeplank]

I really dig old guitars, not the over-priced relics but the overlooked old Kays and Harmonys, the old Matsomuku gems, even the older MIMs.  I like em cause they generally play and sound great or can be set up to be and because they don't cost a lot - maximum bang for the buck.  Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate nice new guitars as well even some with a distressed look - I'd love one of those Dismal axe guitars for example, I mean if I didn't have to pay for it.  They look really rustic which appeals to me at an aesthetic level.  Now the Fender relics, custom shop included, with the worn paint thing going on really don't do a thing for me.  I can deal with a few dings but I'd have to refinish a guitar that was as sloppy looking as that Fender Custom shop relic, let alone me paying several grand just to get that look.

[*BLEEP*]

I don't specifically like or dislike artifically relic'd or authentically relic'd geetars.  I evaluate them on a case-by-case basis.  Otherwise, there are indeed some forms of fine distress / patina that I consistently like, such as interesting "fractal-like" wear or distress patterns.  Beyond that, styling with fake pick scratch patterns, chunks missing, grafitti, et cetera tend to be rather boring these days.