Relic rant

[walrus]

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.

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".

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?

See post #18, I would not include EVH in your list or "non-relicing" artists. And Clapton was well known for giving guitars to other artists, including George Harrison. Jimmy Page got a used Les Paul from Joe Walsh that replaced his Telecaster. Walsh also gave Pete Townsend an orange Gretch that he used for parts of "Tommy".

BTW, Page's Les Paul from Walsh was relic'd. "Jimmy Page’s primary instrument during his years in Led Zeppelin was a Gibson Les Paul Standard, a guitar he named “Number One,” Purchased from Joe Walsh in April 1969, it wasn’t exactly in stock condition. Walsh had it sanded and resprayed, which unfortunately eliminated the guitar’s serial number. Jimmy Page then had the neck of the guitar shaved dangerously thin". No "posers" here...

Also see post #12 (mine). A lightly relic'ed Nash (a few dings and wear, not much) convinced me of the possibilty of relic'ed guitars. The playability of the sanded down neck was great, as were the Lollar pickups. I didn't buy it, although I would not say "no" to one. Note that this was a "light" relic'd Nash, I would readily admit I would not buy a "heavy" relic.

Perhaps Nash is an outlier, since Bill Nash relic's them individually, i.e. they do not all look the same.

If I bought that Nash Telecaster - and in fact I still might get one some day, that's how much I loved the guitar - I hope I can post a NGD on LTG without being called a "poser".

walrus

 

[Opsimath]

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

Rip the seams and expand them with a patch? Unless of course you mean they need to be taken in a bit.

 

[davidbeinct]

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.

Oh I know that I wore plenty of patched pants as a kid. I was specifically addressing Neil’s jeans in that picture.

 

[Opsimath]

See post #18, I would not include EVH in your list or "non-relicing" artists. And Clapton was well known for giving guitars to other artists, including George Harrison. Jimmy Page got a used Les Paul from Joe Walsh that replaced his Telecaster. Walsh also gave Pete Townsend an orange Gretch that he used for parts of "Tommy".

BTW, Page's Les Paul from Walsh was relic'd. "Jimmy Page’s primary instrument during his years in Led Zeppelin was a Gibson Les Paul Standard, a guitar he named “Number One,” Purchased from Joe Walsh in April 1969, it wasn’t exactly in stock condition. Walsh had it sanded and resprayed, which unfortunately eliminated the guitar’s serial number. Jimmy Page then had the neck of the guitar shaved dangerously thin". No "posers" here...

Also see post #12 (mine). A lightly relic'ed Nash (a few dings and wear, not much) convinced me of the possibilty of relic'ed guitars. The playability of the sanded down neck was great, as were the Lollar pickups. I didn't buy it, although I would not say "no" to one. Note that this was a "light" relic'd Nash, I would readily admit I would not buy a "heavy" relic.

Perhaps Nash is an outlier, since Bill Nash relic's them individually, i.e. they do not all look the same.

If I bought that Nash Telecaster - and in fact I still might get one some day, that's how much I loved the guitar - I hope I can post a NGD on LTG without being called a "poser".

walrus

You would never be considered a poser and as you well know we love to see all new guitar days!!!

 

[tonepoet]

Rip the seams and expand them with a patch? Unless of course you mean they need to be taken in a bit.

Oh no, not taken in.. expanded would be the way to go.

 

[fronobulax]

Yeah, when I was a teen (1970s) the thing was "Patch Pants".

Lived through it too. Seems to me the jeans at the time were also flares or bell bottoms (which were synonyms in my part of the world but maybe not yours). Mine had natural wear so the knees had most of the patches. But there were some that managed to get worn at the cuffs and I recall a pair that needed some work on an inner thigh. Initially my mother did the patching. She liked doing that because it was cheaper than buying new jeans. My girlfriend took over the task. My girlfriend's younger sister coveted a particular pair and so when they were at their house for a new patch the sister wore them to muck out a stable in hopes that I would choose to discard them rather than wash them. I did give them to her - brownie points with the rest of the family.

 

[fronobulax]

See post #18, I would not include EVH in your list or "non-relicing" artists. And Clapton was well known for giving guitars to other artists, including George Harrison. Jimmy Page got a used Les Paul from Joe Walsh that replaced his Telecaster. Walsh also gave Pete Townsend an orange Gretch that he used for parts of "Tommy".

BTW, Page's Les Paul from Walsh was relic'd. "Jimmy Page’s primary instrument during his years in Led Zeppelin was a Gibson Les Paul Standard, a guitar he named “Number One,” Purchased from Joe Walsh in April 1969, it wasn’t exactly in stock condition. Walsh had it sanded and resprayed, which unfortunately eliminated the guitar’s serial number. Jimmy Page then had the neck of the guitar shaved dangerously thin". No "posers" here...

Also see post #12 (mine). A lightly relic'ed Nash (a few dings and wear, not much) convinced me of the possibilty of relic'ed guitars. The playability of the sanded down neck was great, as were the Lollar pickups. I didn't buy it, although I would not say "no" to one. Note that this was a "light" relic'd Nash, I would readily admit I would not buy a "heavy" relic.

Perhaps Nash is an outlier, since Bill Nash relic's them individually, i.e. they do not all look the same.

If I bought that Nash Telecaster - and in fact I still might get one some day, that's how much I loved the guitar - I hope I can post a NGD on LTG without being called a "poser".

walrus

I'll call you a poser just to stir things up but I did try to make a distinction between functional and cosmetic relic wear. if you buy it because it is the only way to get a sanded neck then you're not a poser. If you claim you really like the mix of bare wood and two tones of paint somewhat irregularly distributed I'll raise my eyebrows but if you can convince me it was a decision on aesthetics I will refrain from name calling.

 

[lungimsam]

I wore jeans back in my teen years.
Since stretchy material jeans came out, I don't know how I ever wore jeans as a teen. I remember them being stiff and pinchy.

 

[davismanLV]

Back when jeans were good and stood the test of time, I just wore them until they fell apart. I patched a few. Sometimes when they were torn up anyway, I just cut the legs off to accommodate a cast. Now if only I still had that hair and was still that size..... DAMN!!!



Also, when was the last time you saw WOODEN crutches?? LMAO!!! YIKES!!!

 

[GAD]

Was Stevie Ray Vaughn a poser? He bought his #1 from a pawn shop because he like how beat up it looked. He then proceeded to be beat the rest of it:



That's not normal wear and tear.

 

[Uke]

Let's don't forget the embroidered denim shirts of the "hippie" era. I had a denim shirt hand embroidered by a long ago girlfriend. I was quite proud of it (not the one below).

Men's Vintage Floral Embroidery Denim Western Shirt

This denim shirt has embroidery throughout: front, back, collar and shotgun cuffs. Features piping and arrow head embroidery on Smile pockets. Stonewashed preshrunk 100% denim. Men's are relaxed fit. Imported. Also available for women under No. 7857 and kids under No. 8857. Where others use...

rockmount.com

 

[walrus]

I grew up on a lake. As a kid, if my jeans were a bit worn, we cut the legs off and ta da, a bathing suit! I literally never had a bathing suit until I was almost out of college!

walrus

 

[PreacherBob]

 

[Opsimath]

That's great! Hard to decide whether to "laugh" or "love" that one!

 

[mavuser]

See post #18, I would not include EVH in your list or "non-relicing" artists. And Clapton was well known for giving guitars to other artists, including George Harrison. Jimmy Page got a used Les Paul from Joe Walsh that replaced his Telecaster. Walsh also gave Pete Townsend an orange Gretch that he used for parts of "Tommy".

BTW, Page's Les Paul from Walsh was relic'd. "Jimmy Page’s primary instrument during his years in Led Zeppelin was a Gibson Les Paul Standard, a guitar he named “Number One,” Purchased from Joe Walsh in April 1969, it wasn’t exactly in stock condition. Walsh had it sanded and resprayed, which unfortunately eliminated the guitar’s serial number. Jimmy Page then had the neck of the guitar shaved dangerously thin". No "posers" here...

Also see post #12 (mine). A lightly relic'ed Nash (a few dings and wear, not much) convinced me of the possibilty of relic'ed guitars. The playability of the sanded down neck was great, as were the Lollar pickups. I didn't buy it, although I would not say "no" to one. Note that this was a "light" relic'd Nash, I would readily admit I would not buy a "heavy" relic.

Perhaps Nash is an outlier, since Bill Nash relic's them individually, i.e. they do not all look the same.

If I bought that Nash Telecaster - and in fact I still might get one some day, that's how much I loved the guitar - I hope I can post a NGD on LTG without being called a "poser".

walrus

Sorry, but those guitars u refer to had genuine playwear, or the artist modified the instrument to thier own likeing. None of those guys ever paid for a "relic" job, so I stand by my post in its entirety. in the case of sanding down your own neck, the audience cannot even see that. And just because there is an EVH retail guitar for sale that is relic'd, does not mean Eddie himself would ever pay someone else for a relic job on one of his guitars with his own money- which he did not do. so I stand by my post. And I would not call you, or anyone else a poser, if I saw you playing an artificially relic'd guitar...because I would never know it was artificially relic'd. Only the performer knows the truth!

 

[mavuser]

I do not believe Stevie Ray Vaughn's guitar was ever artificialy relic'd. He apparently bought it with 15 years of playwear.

He then proceeded to play the hell out of it, sometimes kicking the guitar across the stage, and other antics. Thousands of gigs, rehersals, etc. many sessions most of us don't even know about (like the David Bowie sessions). In my eyes his strat had all genuine playwear, no one ever sat there and tried to make it look older than it was. He may have made some mods to the guitar to his likeing, but he did not pay extra for a "relic job." In fact quite the opposite. he likely paid very little for the guitar at the time, considering its condition.

 

[adorshki]

If folks wanna' pay to get their guitar beat up, so be it.

"Hi. My name is Pete, and for $50.00 I'll beat up your guitar."

 

[adorshki]

We've discussed this before. It's not a new thing. When Lennon and Harrison sanded down their Epiphone Casinos in the 60's, was that relicing?

I'm late and haven't read everything yet so if somebody already answered, apologies. And not for you, because I know you know this, but for anybody who doesn't, they sanded 'em down because they thought it'd improve the tone.

 

[walrus]

Only the performer knows the truth!

Excellent point! I guess I shouldn't have said I might get a Nash someday, now everyone knows they are relic'd!

walrus

 

[adorshki]

My jeans also magically rip their own holes in themselves...how does that happen?

Levi Strauss and Co. has the patent and they ain't talkin'. The shirts do it too. And if the denim underwear line had ever taken off it probably would have too. Funny thing though, denim socks NEVER get holes.