Relic rant

[adorshki]

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.

It is if there's a guitar body's edges rubbing on 'em for several hours a day. Mine always happen on the left upper thigh.

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

walrus

Those are so hot when they're relic'd.

 

[mavuser]

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

walrus

hahaaa!

seriously though, I would like to point out, in my original post...I said the artificial relicing "started out" ...as posers cosmetically making thier own guitars look older/more played. those guitarists did not pay extra, and at least modded the guitar they already owned, the way they wanted it.

What the relicing has turned into...is a major marketing move for guitar manufacturers. Of course if people will pay for it, they will sell it. And so, much of the masses has followed along like, "that looks pretty cool" or "i like my guitars beat to hell" or whatever. Personally I like my own wear on my guitars from my own playing, and a nice pre owned vintage guitar in varying conditions, as vintage guitars go.

I will concede at this piint I have seen current professional musicians playing relic'd guitars. But generally they got the guitar for free as an endorsement, and generally are indifferent. There are certainly players out there much better than me, that prefer artificially relic'd guitars...maybe I am the poser?? maybe i should go practice...or take a belt sander to one of my teles...

 

[Walter Broes]

I will concede at this piint I have seen current professional musicians playing relic'd guitars. But generally they got the guitar for free as an endorsement, and generally are indifferent. There are certainly players out there much better than me, that prefer artificially relic'd guitars...maybe I am the poser?? maybe i should go practice...or take a belt sander to one of my teles...

the percentage of pros playing relics is probably the same as non-pros - people love beat up guitars, real wear or not.

Not all thát many people get guitars for free - you have to be a bona fide star for that. Most endorsers pay artist price - usually is around dealer price.

 

[mavuser]

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.

jeans do not need to be so old to develop holes. If you wear the same pair of jeans all the time, and keep keys and other things in your pockets, walk a lot, and wash them regularly... they can rip fast in the upper thigh area. that can happen in a year or so (maybe 2) for a real pair of regulars. Not sticking up for Neil Young, but jeans rip easilly on their own.

 

[SJS]

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

Wherever this "rant" belongs, I'm in total agreement. Paying for that silliness is, well, silly.

 

[mavuser]

the percentage of pros playing relics is probably the same as non-pros

I was only referring to one or 2 pros I know of. and one of them relics his himself. If you are referring to *artificially relic'd guitars, I would have to disagree with your percentages

I know many pros personally, that would never pay for, or even play in all likelyhood... a newer artificially relic'd guitar. Those same musicians do love a true vintage from the 50's or 60's with genuine playwear, however

 

[PreacherBob]

Out here in our small farm town you tell when a kid‘s dad handed down him some jeans. They are walking around middle school with a Copenhagen ring on the back pocket. We had to swallow a little and throw up to earn our rings. Alas, you can now buy distressed jeans already with the rings.

 

[Opsimath]

Out here in our small farm town you tell when a kid‘s dad handed down him some jeans. They are walking around middle school with a Copenhagen ring on the back pocket. We had to swallow a little and throw up to earn our rings. Alas, you can now buy distressed jeans already with the rings.

You can buy them like that?! Great day!

 

[adorshki]

Anybody wanna buy a hand-relic'd D25? Stupid question, I guess.

 

[davismanLV]

It is if there's a guitar body's edges rubbing on 'em for several hours a day. Mine always happen on the left upper thigh.

Those are so hot when they're relic'd.

I can't let this go by without a huge SIGH!! That's a Nash something, yeah Al?? Love the white walls....

 

[adorshki]

I can't let this go by without a huge SIGH!! That's a Nash something, yeah Al?? Love the white walls....

Nash-Healey.

 

[dpc915]

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?

Easy. Switch to decaf . It’s just an opinion. I think it’s silly is all. If anything they should be cheaper. I don’t have 30 years either. Still silly

 

[walrus]

I posted this quote from Roger Sadowsky before in another "relic" thread, but I love the sentiment. This is my goal for my '09 Sadowsky Semi-Hollow.



walrus

 

[tonepoet]

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).

Oh, yeah! Bell bottoms through all of high school in all sorts of colors... even a deep blue "crushed velvet" pair. But, for some reason, we all only patched Levi's.

Us "Freaks", as we proudly called ourselves, ( "Hippie" seemed old school to us)... we thought "flares" were wanna-be bell bottoms. No self-respecting Freak would be caught in a pair of flares.

 

[tonepoet]

That's not normal wear and tear.

Ah, Stevie Ray... yeah I just couldn't bring myself to beat up a guitar like he did in that El Macambo show. I still have that show on DVD. I first rented it back in the Blockbuster Video days to watch with pizza and a six-pack of Sierra Nevada Porter and ended up buying a copy to watch again and again. The overall performance of every tune blew me away. He was a musician obsessed... played with every fiber of his soul.

 

[tonepoet]

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!

Yep, we called them "Cut-Offs". Mom would say "Do you want me to make a pair of Cut-Offs out of that pair of jeans?"

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

 

[davidbeinct]

Oh, yeah! Bell bottoms through all of high school in all sorts of colors... even a deep blue "crushed velvet" pair. But, for some reason, we all only patched Levi's.

Us "Freaks", as we proudly called ourselves, ( "Hippie" seemed old school to us)... we thought "flares" were wanna-be bell bottoms. No self-respecting Freak would be caught in a pair of flares.

I suspect you, like me, are from somewhere at the tail end of the baby boom. This New Yorker article calls us the “Dazed and Confused” generation.

The “Dazed and Confused” Generation

People my age are described as baby boomers, but our experiences call for a different label altogether.

www.newyorker.com

 

[tonepoet]

I suspect you, like me, are from somewhere at the tail end of the baby boom. This New Yorker article calls us the “Dazed and Confused” generation.

Yes, in the article he is calling the "Dazed and Confused" generation 1956 to 1964. I would drop in the beginning at 1956, graduating high school in 1974.

And I will state as a member of that group the we had the absolute best soundtrack to grow up in during our school years. Those 10 years of 1964 to 1974 (give or take a few years on either side) where phenomenal years for Rock 'n Roll guitar based bands.

 

[dpc915]

Stevie Ray Vaughn bought i
His #1 already beat to hell from a pawn shop because he liked the way it looked. I guess he was a poser?

i’ve said this in the many other threads in the subject, but I thought relics were dumb until I bought this:

Story here:

GAD Buys a Relic

I'm one of the first people to say that I think relics are dumb. I've always said that if I want a worn guitar then it needs to be that puts that wear on there. I get why people like them but they're just not for me. I even prefer mint examples of vintage guitars for the same reason. Don't get...

letstalkguild.com

People like relics so companies make relics. It’s really that simple.

Stevie’s guitar was real wear. I love beat up guitars. My whole point was i like real wear. Not manufactured and over priced. Folks getting too sensitive on here. I was just trying to make a fun post . Everybody should enjoy what they like.