Custom guitars

Riaan

I've been wondering...these custom shop guitars that are artificially aged by giving it that vintage look. For several thousands of dollars you can get a "vintage" relic made to look like it's had all hell played out of it for years. I've no problem with a real vintage guitar that's well played and has the scars to prove it, like David Gilmour's Telecaster. Even better if you're the one who played it since new to make it look like that. But to buy a brand new guitar, irrespective of the no-doubt excellent technical specs, and have it artificially aged to get that vintage look. A bit fake, don't you say? A bit like these stories we hear of mudd being sprayed onto certain southern suburb SUV's and 4X4's that have never done anything more adventurous than driving over a pavement at the mall while returning the Rambo DVD'd on a Saturday morning...or blokes who find the old "ballsak" full of army stuff in the garage and tells stories of untold heroism deep in Angols when in fact they peeled potatoes in Pretoria...Get my issue? Or am I missing something here?

Manfred-Klose

There's a lot of wannabees out there!
My opinion is that those type of people wont accomplish anything in their life.

AlanRatcliffe

I'm not a fan of relicing (I go to great lengths to ensure I keep most of my guitars in good nick), but I can see the attraction. Guys don't want to take their vintage instruments on the road and risk damage and theft, but like to have something that looks vintage and well played. To many, the honest wear of an old instrument is as desirable a cosmetic "look" as a shiny new nitro finish is to me. Short of getting a guitar and playing it hard for the next 25 years, a relic job is a shortcut to getting a guitar that looks "right" to them. I can understand that.

Of course, there is nothing like having a guitar that you have worn in "honestly", where every ding tells a story and it is worn in all the right places that are as much an indication to your hands that you are playing your guitar as the sound coming out of the amp.

Renesongs

Yeah - I was wondering about that. If you respray your old Strat it loses it value, but if you attack it with a rasp it becomes a valuable relic ???

AlanRatcliffe

Only the Custom Shop relics are more expensive/valuable. If you relic a new guitar it also loses value.

Some of the relics which are done by specific 3rd party relicers are worth more - like the Nash reliced Gibsons, but he's a master of the art and starts with carefully selected "good'uns", so you get a known good example of a good model Gibson, which is reliced so well it can at first fool many experts into thinking it's an old guitar until they open it and see his logo.

Renesongs

I think I know the answer to this one but does the finish on a solid body guitar play no part in it's tone ?

Second question, what If your guitar is genuinely reliced by your use do you have to get an sworn affidavit to say yes those dents are when he/she accidentally knocked the guitar off the stage etc.?

Reef

I think I know the answer to this one but does the finish on a solid body guitar play no part in it's tone ?

Doesn't it depend on what the finish on the guitar is? I've read things about nitro being the best finish to allow the wood to resonate. If a nitro finish gets worn down and buckle rashed and chipped does that have a noticeable effect on the tone?