Relic rant

[Neal]

Over on the Gretsch-Talk forum, no one ever talks of intentionally damaging a guitar’s finish.

 

[shihan]

2001 Starfires are seemingly growing on trees out here:



I am much more partial to 4/IV than the 3/III's for no particular reason. Interestingly no model number on the truss rod cover which is probably a replacement.

Nice goldtop! Original pickups were minihums, yes? What's in there now?

Also, year (and condition) is everything with vintage LPs. If that were a '59 the "worth less than a modern relic" statement wouldn't be true.

Gibson's Custom Shop pricing is madness. I have two Custom Shop Historics and they're absolutely magnificent guitars but I bought them used years ago for 1/2 of what was then the price at the time. Thanks to the crazy price increases over the years I could probably sell them for double what I paid if not more. What sucks is the fact that you have to go through the custom shop today to get a guitar made like yours which was an off-the-shelf item at the time. What's worse, I sat in a Guitar Center once and the sales guy brought every Custom Shop LP they had and I played them all. All were good, one was pretty good, and none of them compare to the ones I bought from Mark's Guitar Loft, so even coming from the Custom Shop doesn't guarantee a good one.

If it was a ‘59, I would have no problems in this world!
Yes, originally mini-humbuckers. Now, ‘50’s P-90’s, ’cause, Freddy King…
the Mimi hums are really nice, though.

 

[GAD]

Over on the Gretsch-Talk forum, no one ever talks of intentionally damaging a guitar’s finish.

People paid big money for Custom Shop Brian Setzer guitars made by the Fender Custom Shop to look like his original ‘59 6120.

Gretsch Custom Shop Limited Edition Brian Setzer Tribute 1959 6120 Nashville

LTD Hollowbody Electric Guitar with Laminated Maple Top, Back, and Sides, Maple Neck, Ebony Fingerboard, and Two Humbucking Pickups - Vintage Western Maple Stain

www.sweetwater.com

 

[fronobulax]

So how could you ever tell if a factory relic is mint or not?

I was in a store and there were several relic'd Strats on display next to each other. What freaked me out was the wear patterns were identical. That is to be expected since they left the factory that way but they seemed "unreal".

 

[DrumBob]

Hi all
I’m sure I’ll get in the weeds on this one, but what’s the deal with the relic fad? I personally love guitars like we all do here, and I love as my telecaster ages it gets things and beat up. But, I put those marks there from real use. Why pay ridiculous prices for a “fake” or relic model. Seems silly to me. Ok. Lame rant over. Carry on guild friends

Dave

First of all OP, the "relic rant" thing is beyond tired, and it's as old as dirt insofar as online guitar forums. It's been discussed to death. You're seriously late to the party.

Second, some people like a guitar that looks and feels worn and broken in, with a smooth neck, minor scratches, dents, dings, and wear marks. Guitars that have some wear just feel good in their hands, as opposed to new shiny instruments. Of course, any idiot with a belt sander can destroy the finish on a guitar and call it a relic. Those guitars are all over Ebay and Reverb. Guitar Fetish is now selling Steve Brown relic shred machines that look ridiculous. They're laughable. There's an art and science to relicing a guitar. When it's done right, the guitars look natural, like they've survived 40 years of one-nighters under all conditions.

Finally, some of us don't have 20-30 years to naturally age a guitar. Did you ever consider that?

 

[lungimsam]

Is it true that poly coats don’t wear anywhere near as fast as nitro? Like takes decades to get poly coats to wear down to the wood the “natural” way?

 

[DrumBob]

Is it true that poly coats don’t wear anywhere near as fast as nitro? Like takes decades to get poly coats to wear down to the wood the “natural” way?

That's true. Nitro wears quicker.

 

[adorshki]

Is it true that poly coats don’t wear anywhere near as fast as nitro? Like takes decades to get poly coats to wear down to the wood the “natural” way?

It'd have to be awfully damn thin to wear at all. It's near indestructible except for high-impact gouges, scratches and such.
Part of NCL's "wear" is that it's continuously outgassing the solvents the that made it sprayable in the first place. So it's literally losing mass (thickness) every second of its life until it finally crystallizes to dust.

To paraphrase Neil Young, NCL never sleeps, but poly's one and done. What you see is what you get. For Life.

 

[Default]

That's some mojo with the relicization and that braz back and sides. I had a '71 D-28 (bought new) for about 50 years then sold it for a Guild in 2017. BTW, my D-28 was EIR, not braz...missed it by a year or two. Just returned to the US from India after two years living in a village in Rajasthan, introducing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice. Best decision I ever made. It was tough, but settled my interest in India and turned me into a linguist. Got back and went straight to grad school at UPenn and straight to 8th Street Music, when it actually was on 8th Street in center city Philly. I think I paid around $600 for the D-28, new.

Man, I remember that location! That whole store got relicced when a piece of the stonework on the adjoining building went through the roof, and took out the water pipes in the ceiling.

 

[chazmo]

First of all OP, the "relic rant" thing is beyond tired, and it's as old as dirt insofar as online guitar forums. It's been discussed to death. You're seriously late to the party.

Second, some people like a guitar that looks and feels worn and broken in, with a smooth neck, minor scratches, dents, dings, and wear marks. Guitars that have some wear just feel good in their hands, as opposed to new shiny instruments. Of course, any idiot with a belt sander can destroy the finish on a guitar and call it a relic. Those guitars are all over Ebay and Reverb. Guitar Fetish is now selling Steve Brown relic shred machines that look ridiculous. They're laughable. There's an art and science to relicing a guitar. When it's done right, the guitars look natural, like they've survived 40 years of one-nighters under all conditions.

Finally, some of us don't have 20-30 years to naturally age a guitar. Did you ever consider that?

@DrumBob , if you don't like the topic of a thread then don't post. Your snark and nasty tone are not appreciated. It's especially disturbing when you direct it at fairly new members of the forum.

Please see https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index...nouncement-from-the-moderators-of-ltg.209108/

 

[mavuser]

Cosmetic relicing seems silly to me and is something that appeals to posers who want a certain appearance and have more money than time or patience.

THIS. relicing began as something that enables posers to appear that their guitar was older than it actually was, and/or that it was played by it's current owner more than it was.
Earn your stripes!!!

Hendrix, VH, Clapton, etc. would have never paid for such a thing. they all played brand new guitars (or maybe some used ones with genuine playwear).

I donn't seem to have a problem naturally relicing my own guitars, if I play it a lot. My jeans also magically rip their own holes in themselves...how does that happen?

 

[Rich Cohen]

Man, I remember that location! That whole store got relicced when a piece of the stonework on the adjoining building went through the roof, and took out the water pipes in the ceiling.

Is that why they moved to Jersey?

 

[Default]

Yep, it was a total loss, and they had been complaining for years over the conditions at that property.

 

[Opsimath]

THIS. relicing began as something that enables posers to appear that their guitar was older than it actually was, and/or that it was played by it's current owner more than it was.
Earn your stripes!!!

Hendrix, VH, Clapton, etc. would have never paid for such a thing. they all played brand new guitars (or maybe some used ones with genuine playwear).

I donn't seem to have a problem naturally relicing my own guitars, if I play it a lot. My jeans also magically rip their own holes in themselves...how does that happen?

I have very old jeans, demoted to become my "barn jeans". Faded to pale blue, worn through here and there, actually finally "in fashion" but in my opinion time for their permanent retirement. It's a real head scratcher why people want to buy jeans that are already worn out.

 

[tonepoet]

Well, at 60 I'm just retired, drc. And what did I do?... I bought another Guild.

Congrats to all the retirees. I've been retired two years now and I am slowing down on my buying. My problem has always been that I don't sell !!!! Lazy, lazy, lazy about selling.

No buys yet in 2023. I did buy the parted out Guild Detonator in September of 2022 and restored it. I keep looking at eBay and Reverb almost daily but I've disciplined myself not to hit the BUY button. So far, it seems to be working.

 

[tonepoet]

It's a real head scratcher why people want to buy jeans that are already worn out.

Yeah, when I was a teen (1970s) the thing was "Patch Pants". There were no purposely worn out jeans on the market. Your new jeans wore out naturally and then you started sewing patches over holes with fabrics of many different colors and textures. Like Neil Young's in this photo of him from the early 70s. My brothers and friends all had at least one pair of jeans that we just kept patching. All unique and one-of-a-kind.



Then, for a while, there was a trend to randomly bleach your jeans and of course the whole "tie-dye" thing that was going on.

 

[Opsimath]

"...and patches make the goodbye harder still...."

 

[davidbeinct]

Yeah, when I was a teen (1970s) the thing was "Patch Pants". There were no purposely worn out jeans on the market. Your new jeans wore out naturally and then you started sewing patches over holes with fabrics of many different colors and textures. Like Neil Young's in this photo of him from the early 70s. My brothers and friends all had at least one pair of jeans that we just kept patching. All unique and one-of-a-kind.



Then, for a while, there was a trend to randomly bleach your jeans and of course the whole "tie-dye" thing that was going on.

I love Neil but I am not buying the idea that those jeans are old enough to be worn through enough to require all those patches. Fashion statement for sure. Also, I’ve worn out enough jeans from actual work to know where they wear out and it’s not the upper thighs.

 

[tonepoet]

"...and patches make the goodbye harder still...."

Very true... I still have a pair of mine in a box somewhere and I am positive they wouldn't fit anymore !!!

 

[tonepoet]

I love Neil but I am not buying the idea that those jeans are old enough to be worn through enough to require all those patches. Fashion statement for sure.

I'm sure some were "fashion statements" but us kids tried to stay true to the wear and only patched honest worn out parts and holes.