Poll, Would you buy a relic, or distressed looking new guitar

Would you buy a relic, or distressed looking new guitar

  • Total voters
    133
luke said:
It's funny how some items reliced is desirable and others not.

Acceptable relics: guitars, jeans, baseball hats and furniture

Unacceptable relics: automobiles (sans rat rods), homes and wives

The entire relic thing took on a life of its own when yuppie lawyers driving new BMWs would show up at blooz jams with a reliced axe and an non-OEM trophy wife. Which is it dude? You're so mysterious with all your contradictions.
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could you provide a link to the info that substantiates this? i'd love to see it.
 
MisterE said:
Relics are just a very clever invention of accountants to rob idiots and wannabes that want to look like they're the hardest working player on the planet, of their hard earned cash.
Quality control?
No longer needed.
Chrome peeling of a bridge?
Slap it on a relic and charge double.
Dropped a guitar or damaged it during the production.
Never mind. At some more dings and charge double.
All IMHO and YMMV of course.
I want my guitars in premium condition for as long as possible.
And if it gets damaged it'll be by me and I won't care.
But nobody may even look at my guitars in a funny way or I get very upset :devilish:
Oh, and I don't even care for real 50 year old relics with hardly any paint left on them.
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This ^
 
There are very poorly done "relics" and some extremely accurate well thought out jobs too. I could never pay big bucks for a relic, I view all guitars as "players" and they get beat up (aged, lol) accordingly. That said, a vintage Strat neck or even a well done relic has a feel a playability you just don't get in a new guitar. I have a Black 1981 Japanese Strat w/ maple neck. I've owned it since new, and it's been my #1 guitar for every gig since. Looking at it, it's beat up, body and the neck looks very much like a 33 yr old guitar should. More importantly, the finish is gone off the back of neck and the neck has been "shaped" over years of playing.
For someone looking to get that feel from a new guitar, the only way in may be buying a relic. I just think you connect more with an instrument you've put the time, (years, not sanding, acid dipping and scratching) into. A relationship is built with the instrument that $$ can't buy.

My $.02


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Bill Piersall said:
There are very poorly done "relics" and some extremely accurate well thought out jobs too. I could never pay big bucks for a relic, I view all guitars as "players" and they get beat up (aged, lol) accordingly. That said, a vintage Strat neck or even a well done relic has a feel a playability you just don't get in a new guitar. I have a Black 1981 Japanese Strat w/ maple neck. I've owned it since new, and it's been my #1 guitar for every gig since. Looking at it, it's beat up, body and the neck looks very much like a 33 yr old guitar neck should. More importantly, the finish is gone off the back of neck and the neck has been "shaped" over years of playing.
For someone looking to get that feel from a new guitar, the only way in may be buying a relic. I just think you connect more with an instrument you've put the time, (years, not sanding, acid dipping and scratching) into. A relationship is built with the instrument that $$ can't buy.

My $.02


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Bada Boom! :D
 
I like 'em personally. If the "right" one came along I'd probably buy it, if not at least give it some solid/serious consideration.

That said, I take care of my guitars. I play the shit out of them, but I don't BEAT the shit out of them. They still look nice, and I like 'em that way.

On either front, I've never really cared what other people thought of me or my purchase habits. I buy what I like and I like what I buy. Don't like it? Go pound sand.
 
EJ James said:
I like 'em personally. If the "right" one came along I'd probably buy it, if not at least give it some solid/serious consideration.

That said, I take care of my guitars. I play the shit out of them, but I don't BEAT the shit out of them. They still look nice, and I like 'em that way.

On either front, I've never really cared what other people thought of me or my purchase habits. I buy what I like and I like what I buy. Don't like it? Go pound sand.
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Well said! At the end of the day, only the player has to love their purchase.
I don't beat on mine, just don't stress over it either.
Funny, my number one guitar cost me $179 new! Many upgrades, but the Jap Strats were pretty well built and are really great players. When Gibson put out the ES-339, I had to have one. I was a manager at Guitar Center and got the guitar at cost. That said, I was a manager at Guitar Center, so I was broke too, lol! Paid it off on layaway over 8 months. Got it home, beautiful Tobacco Sunburst, nicest guitar I had ever owned. My wife yelled at me, a not so uncommon occurrence , lol, saying I spent all that money on the guitar but I never played it. I was afraid of scratching it, lol. Too much of a prom queen for me, but like some old dates, I miss her sometimes :)
YMMV


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I'm conflicted about relics. I love the look of a worn guitar, but today's poly finishes WILL NEVER SHOW THE WEAR. I have chips and dents, but no wear (except frets). I've put thousands of hours in on my main guitar over the 12 years I've had it, but when I shine it up, it looks pretty much new. The alternative is then to paint the guitar to look relic'd so you get the wear... which seems wrong to me.

Also, I sniff underwear.
 
jlynnb1 said:
I don't think people that buy relic'd guitars buy them to try and pass them off as guitar they've gigged for the last 30 years...
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I'm sure there are plenty who buy them just for that reason. They're the same people that buy custom "choppers" or hot rods rather than build them themselves (or bring Plymouth Prowler's to car meets.)
 
I don't personally like the fag burns or bumps and scratches on the body but I do like the played-in feel that a good 'relic' has. I'm thinking Fender custom shop and Rock'n'roll Relics guitars.
 
Sidivan said:
I'm conflicted about relics. I love the look of a worn guitar, but today's poly finishes WILL NEVER SHOW THE WEAR. I have chips and dents, but no wear (except frets). I've put thousands of hours in on my main guitar over the 12 years I've had it, but when I shine it up, it looks pretty much new. The alternative is then to paint the guitar to look relic'd so you get the wear... which seems wrong to me.

Also, I sniff underwear.
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Plenty of new guitars, including almost all Gibson's, Custom Shop Fender, PRS etc. that have Nitrocellulose finishes. These will wear like the vintage stuff did. Just be careful, 52 Tele RI for instance used poly filler under nitro, kind of defeats the purpose, lol.


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jlynnb1 said:
some of you guys are being ridiculous...it's a finish option, period. I don't think people that buy relic'd guitars buy them to try and pass them off as guitar they've gigged for the last 30 years...they just like the way it looks. I've seen some really cool looking relic'd guitars, that I'd buy in a heartbeat. Not because i'm a noob or a poser or am trying to trick anyone...but because I dig how it looks. I've played for 25 years, I gig 3-4 nights a week in a very competitive town...I don't need to pretend like I've put miles on a guitar.

Also, with a relic'd guitar, you don't have to worry about it as much in those situations. If you just dropped a few thousand on a nice LP or Deusy, or a custom shop Strat or a Suhr....you're far more likely to baby it and freak over every little dent. What the harm in having a great guitar that you don't have to worry about bumping into every little thing?
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I hear what you're saying, but if it's "a finish option" why does it have to cost so much more?? I'm also with you about bumping a new multi thousand dollar guitar and dinging it. I never understood that. If you don't want it touched/bumped/dinged, put it in a museum. Play the effing thing!! If it sounds amazing, is that ding going to intrude on your OCD?
 
EJ James said:
He's from the UK. It means something different over there
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lol.gif
 
Wow i'm actually surprised at how many people here sniff other peoples undies (bonus poll answer).

However, you know i started this thread yesterday with all my pig headed exuberance thinking there wasn't really another side to the equation.

Ie i thought, the only people who actually bought these things are johnny-come-latelys who aught not to have an aged guitar

I must admit (with all the comments) my eyes have been opened to the reason why relatively established musicians might buy them

I spend (and im guessing we all do) so much money on these things they become a shrine, and i even have little rituals when i play

* I have a little fold up wood stand they sit on, i wipe them down before and after use (even the pickups), and when i put it to bed (yes bed), i always put my cleaning cloth over its head

I probably have more mental problems than what i thought the people who buy reliced guiatrs have
 
Tonemeister said:
I mean this in the nicest way possible.....Part of me says. "Wow! Great job. Looks really authentically beat up and aged" and part of me says "Are you F-ing insane!?? That LP cost you $3k and the first thing you do is hack at the back with the claws of a hammer, sand it down with a cheese grater, pour maple syrup all over it and dip it in acid!???" Hahaha. It does look frickin' cool though. I just thing you must have gigantic buffalo balls to try that? LOL. Crazy that someone would pay $9k for a 2001 R8, relic'd or not. Did the seller lie and say it was a "1938" like in the photo? LOL
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No photo tricks to sell, i stated all the upgraded parts besides the relic job, it has the nicest parts for well known vintage correct parts makers as well as some vintage 50's parts too. In all i managed to recover the money from the initial retail price, the money from all the parts, the money to send it to USA from here that was $400 alone and some extra cash, nothing to cover the year i spend slowly ageing the guitar, that money went to the 3rd seller's pocket.

I am just glad it sold and that some people really appreciate the love i put into doing this.
 
By the way.... some people find the Axe FX extremely unnecessary when they can buy a POD HD for $400, to them, the tone differences are just minimal.... to them, to there ears... those people already have their minds made up and hardly anyone would be able to change their view... this is the same with relics.

And for the record, those that compare relic guitars to cars and how they will never buy a car that looks beat up... grow up, grow a brain.
 
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