Rotten Relics

[MT]

I personally think it's a really dumb concept, they look cool but it's cheating, if you really want a beat up looking guitar, you should play this shit out of it.

Might be a good idea not to raise this question on either Gear Page or the Telecaster Forum

"But it's cheating" - this statement never makes sense to me. Nobody posts over on the projects/refin forum about how they're all "cheating" by taking their worn vintage guitars and making them look like new vintage guitars. Nobody posts "if you want a new looking guitar you should just go and buy a new one".

It's also a bit unfair to tell someone in their 60's (not me, just playing devil's advocate ) that they should buy a guitar and "play the shit out of it" for the next 35 years so that they can play a guitar that feels the way they like. Especially with poly guitars.

Relicing is just another finishing option.

Edit - I've realised a bit late that I probably should have just stayed away from relic discussions.

[second skin]

I'm of the opinion that people should do to their guitars what they want.... If relicing makes you happy with your guitar,and will make you play it more often, who am I to tell you you're a poser etc.. That being said, I prefer normal non-reliced finishes most of the time.

[Carbohydrates]

Actually, can one of the anti-relic people explain NOT why you dislike relics or wouldn't own one yourself, as that's been made quite clear, but why there's so much vitriol towards them (besides the fact that musicians tend to be contentious and like to argue about relatively meaningless things)? We're all pretty cool here, but on other forums, relic arguments tend to get pretty heated, with "poser" getting thrown around a lot.

[Orang Goreng]

I personally think it's a really dumb concept, they look cool but it's cheating, if you really want a beat up looking guitar, you should play this shit out of it.

I'm not into relicking either, but who is it that one would be cheating?

[dug]

Who gives a fuck? Really? Is it important? NO.

That's my two cents.

[otis]

Before a couple of months ago, the idea of relicing a new guitar was totally repulsive to me.
In theory, I still more or less think that it's a silly thing to intendently destroy the lacquer or scar the wood of a new ,valuable instrument.
But at the same time, when not overdone, there seems to be some beauty in a lightely checked instrument( like a beatifull girl smoking a cigarette).
Since I thinned the poly-coat of my MIJ BB'66 jazz, the instrument really grew on me. I didn't try to make scars, though; I just sanded down some of the top-coat, and at some curves, this also resulted in minor areas showing the wood.
As a result, the guitar's 'feel' changed to the better.
I can imagine, that apart from the looks, the feel would possibly be a far more important argument for the relicing of a guitar.
It probably isn't necessary to overly relic a guitar in order to change it's feel.
I much prefer 'Fenders 'closet classic' or 'New Old Stock' to their 'relic or heavy-relic' instruments.
That said, I think a heavy-relic Black Jazzmaster would be a very desirable guitar!

[Haddock]

I've seen plenty of new "road worn" or "reliced" guitars that look like they've had decals applied. I'm thinking of the ESP Kirk Hammett models especially. It just looks fake as anything.

The James Hetfield model ... Seriously, wtf ?

[panoramic]

I think there was a thread here last summer that got locked down about this. If I remember a formumite sat on top of his jazzmaster body and rode it down a hill.

budda12ax7

Yeah I really bombarded him on that thread, I couldn't belive i was seeing those pictures

[dug]

That's supposed to look like a car that's had body work done to it, not so much a reliced guitar.
Its still weird looking, especially if you don't know what the hells going on with it.

[bdm]

I personally think it's a really dumb concept, they look cool but it's cheating, if you really want a beat up looking guitar, you should play this shit out of it.

i used to totally agree with you...then i played my nash tele and literally knew i had to have that guitar right then. it looks stupid but i'll be damned if it isn't the most solid and dependable, best playing, best sounding guitar i've ever played.

[Rox]

I don't mind a lot of the relic-ing . A lot of it is kind of artistic . Some of the RoadWorn stuff or even the Strummer Tele ( which at first it looks like it spent a week in the English Channel).





But stuff like the Hetfield guitar is kinda silly. It tries too hard.


There was a guy in my area that was paid to "Relic" instruments . Charges a lot too. Guess it really is an art form.

[byrel]

i wouldn't do it, but i don't have a problem with people that would - 10 years ago, i probably would have thought relicing was a great idea

[Pacafeliz]

when i had my (stripped) '69 comp'stang refinned i had to age/relic the body a bit, to match the beat up (still blue) headstock.
the colors don't exactly match (near impossible) but i think it looks pretty cool, no having over-done it.







other than that, i have buffed out the shiny-ness on my '97 CIJ jazzmaster a bit, on purpose. i don't like too shiny guitars.

Pat.

[Kilgore Trout]

I love the way how old beat up guitars look, but I have never contemplated buying a "reliced" instrument. I just imagine myself talking about the guitar to a friend or another guitar enthusiast: "yeah man, it looks really cool, but you know, it was built that way". Feels fake, you know?

Besides, I like the look of a brand new guitar as much as I like the look of an old beaten up guitar. From the way I see it, there's really no point to "relicing".

[SignoftheDragon]

I love the way how old beat up guitars look, but I have never contemplated buying a "reliced" instrument. I just imagine myself talking about the guitar to a friend or another guitar enthusiast: "yeah man, it looks really cool, but you know, it was built that way". Feels fake, you know?

Besides, I like the look of a brand new guitar as much as I like the look of an old beaten up guitar. From the way I see it, there's really no point to "relicing".

My thoughts exactly. I respect the trashed-up guitars of some of my hero players, but personally I like mine looking new. If eventually I wear through the finish on one of mine, I'll consider it a battle scar to be worn with pride, but I'm not about to hasten the process artificially. I'm not going to abuse mine just to make it look like it's been through hell when it hasn't. If one of my geets ever looks like it's been there, that'll be because it has, and it was worth the trip.

Relicing is like putting a bumper sticker on your car- one that says you've been to a country that you've never been to. It's for people to look at and get the impression that you're well-traveled.