I don't get new, relic guitars.

I never really liked them or understood the reasons people had for buying them. But, I've recently been changing my perception as I tried a couple of relic'd guitars and actually quite liked them.

I think the thing is, most of us buy new guitars and would absolutely hate to put a ding or scratch into them, especially if they are expensive high end ones with fancy finishes. However, I'm sure most of us would equally love to own one which has gone through 40 or 50 years of playing and we wouldn't give a damn if it had the marks and wear that reflected it so long as it still played nice. These guitars are well beyond the reach of most of us and will be snapped up by the likes of super rich investment bankers or the like. The only way to get a little bit of that action, albeit a virtual replica is to buy an aged or relic'd instrument. And I'm OK with that, if it's what people want then so be it, live and let live. Who knows, one day I might trade in one of my perfect guitars for a battered new relic!
 
Don't get it either ... But I guess there are guys who have become famous for their "relic" making skills ... So .. If you can make a living in the music biz .. Anyway .. I guess that's a good thing .. About a month ago I got so excited to see that I had actually worn a spot thru the finish under the saddle pick-up on my '91 LP classic I called a couple of friends to tell them .. LOL

Just joined this today ... My AXE will be here in a couple of days .. Pretty intimidated to be honest .. As I don't know where to start .. Have a gig at a "bike night" tomorrow night .. That should be the last gig on the trusted XTC .. We'll see ... I'm guessing this forum has some "newbie" threads .. Haven't found them yet .. But I'm looking
 
I am the polar opposite of a relic fan!
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Fair play to those who like them though... different folks and so on and forth...
 
Relic'd to me = fake, but that's just me, not knocking anyone at all for any reason. Found a lefty
'77 Strat, '77 ES335, and an '82 Les Paul Custom in that order all on EBAY. They look and sound great
and best of all, they're all original. Diffrent strokes.
 
LOL. Every forum for guitar gear has threads where people can chime in and take part in looking down their noses at something someone else likes. Today here, we have the Relic guitar, but in another forum ... it's probably the Axe-FX. Something to think about. I recognize that there is an art to relicing a guitar. Where there is art, there are probably fans. That's about all I need to know. If I found a relic'd guitar that sounded great, played great and was comfortable, I'd take it on stage without shame.
 
I understand why people do it, not that I would. One thing is for sure, I would rather have a new relic than a beat up piece of shit with a nice paint job.
 
Never understood this either.

I think if you want a strat style guitar from ESP, that is ALL they sell, atleast as far as I can tell from navigating the website.

But there must be a big market for them or else you wouldn't see so many being made.

I, like you, are not part of that market.

But if that's what somebody wants, and they are willing to earn the money to buy it, more power to them.
 
I can get that some people will grab one off the shelf and love it because of how it feels. My question to that is if it feels so great because the edges are worn down and crap than why don't they do that BEFORE they finish it?

I think that there are some fabulously cool guitars out there that have battle scars, but it's more about what those guitars were a part of in music history. It's like a war hero or something with a bullet hole or something and gives you that impression of perseverance or something. To me its like going to a plastic surgeon to have a big old scar put on your face to look like you were attacked with an axe or something. Each one of those nicks allegedly tells a story about a beer bottle flying on stage while the artist was still cutting his teeth or perhaps he's got some blood on it from whacking some guy over the head who was harassing some waitress. There are stories and history behind it....at least it appears that way.

I don't care one way or the other about what people choose and I agree that some of them look cool, but without the history to go with the battle scars it's just pretend time. There's something off putting about knowing that there is something fake or pretend when it comes to art and life in general. I think that is why some people have such strong feelings against them. A long time ago I likened it to someone jabbing a pencil in their leg and saying that they were in Nam. Just because it looks one way doesn't make it true.

The other thing is that when a guitar has been played to that point it's because it's indispensable and thus probably pretty special. Then you get the whole vintage thing where everything before 1960 is amazing. If you bought it off the shelf yesterday and it looks like that neither is the case.

It just comes across as fake to me. Doesn't mean that its not a great guitar or that it even looks bad. Just not my cup of tea. I got enough fake stuff in my life.
 
I see it as a scam to charge even more money for the same instrument, by appealing to silly people who think if it looks old, then it IS old . NOT!

( Unscrupulous folks in the antique business do this surreptitiously to "age" objects. But they dont tell the buyer they have done this deception.)

But then again I think that "leasing" is another ripoff scam as well, so theres that.
 
I can somewhat understand it if you try to recreate a certain famous guitar like SRV no 1 .. or Eddies .. etc ... (although I would never dream about doing it myself)
but other than that it just seems ridiculous and stupid, to first demand quality work from a luthier and then turn around and have him bust it up --

Now if it has to do with playability and such, I can understand it completely (making the neck easier / faster etc) but thats hardly relicing anyway ....

well we are all different and I celebrate diversity so in the end ... like it's being said above ... whatever floats your boat ..

:)
 
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