Relic Guitars, WTF?!?!

[Curbfeeler]

Beat the living crap out of your Fender Stratocaster and call it "RELIC" and sell it for 3x the value of a new guitar.

So why the need for Relics?

Does the "used, beat up, road-worn" look of a guitar makes one look like they are some kind of a pro musician?

I wish my Strat Ultra was in pristine condition with no dents or scratches.
Each knick, each mark on my beloved feels like my own skin getting the same scars.

It's like the worn "Jeans" with the holes and faded knees and bums, I just don't get the need for wanting to buy stuff that looks like they are beat up and worn and to buy something that looks like someone else got a hold of it and just beat the crap out of it.

But then again, I live near Hollywood, the "Land of Pretentious", LOL.

[ImmortalSix]

Sorry, you've arrived 3 years too late.

[lex666]

Sorry, you've arrived 3 years too late.

LOL @ I6, I was kinda thinking the same!

[MisterE]

These are one one the reasons I don't post on post on Strat-talk anymore.

Poly vs. nitro, anyone?

[75lespaul]

To each his own. There's no right or wrong. Except paying three times as much for a reliced guitar, hahahaha.

[ItsaBass]

Yeah; you're about 15 years too late for the ***** fest.

The guitars were first made for bands like the Stones, who didn't want to bring their old reliables out on the road any more, but didn't want to upset fans by showing up on stage with shiny new instruments. OK, still a little stupid, but kind of makes sense. Security must be an issue, and Keith did have almost all of his guitars stolen at one point.

But for the general public, I think they are really dumb, and I swore I would never buy one.

But, damn it, I did. I bought it because I think G&Ls are some of the best guitars made in the Fender style, and the only way to get one with a nitro finish is to get a Rustic model. One came up for a good price in a color I've never seen. I thought they only came in Lake Placid Blue or Blonde with three-ply guards, but this is black with a one-ply guard. So I put it on layaway.

First thing I'm gonna do is spray some Reranch black nitro into a bottle and fill in the chips with a brush. Then I am gonna take everything off and polish up the paint and hardware as well as I can, and clean the pickguard, pickups, knobs, etc.

Here are pix of the guitar:

[FuseG4]

The one thing I like about thing's like fender's road worn series is the feel of the back of the neck.

it's artificially smooth and worn in, but it does feel good on my hands. If you're a sucker for that way broken in neck feel, you might like that kind of thing. Y'know, for the studio... where people aren't watching you.

[JeffB]

Sounds like someone is worried about the size of their weewee.

[Kac]

Sounds like someone is worried about the size of their weewee.

Haha

I'd like to buy another guitar in the next couple months. Relic or not, I don't care, if I play something and it sounds good and feels great I'm gonna buy it.

[crusty philtrum]

I've spent the last few years reverse-relic'ing my guitars.

The strange thing is that now my guitars look younger and fresher but i am becoming relic'ed. Maybe there's a 'Portrait Of Dorian Gray' kinda thing going on here.

[Jessie's ghost]

[Dr.K]

This is just a marketing ploy to get people to buy a beat up guitar for more money. From a marketing standpoint it's brilliant, from a comsumer standpoint it's ignorance! They had to find a way to get rid of all the seconds coming off the floor, and it worked. Oh, I've got a reliced old Toyota you can buy for $24k and that's a great deal.

[TattooedCarrot]

So why the need for Relics?

Does the "used, beat up, road-worn" look of a guitar makes one look like they are some kind of a pro musician?

I wish my Strat Ultra was in pristine condition with no dents or scratches.
Each knick, each mark on my beloved feels like my own skin getting the same scars.

I like the relic look. Doesn't make me play any better, I still suck playing by myself in the house. Relic finishes are currently a popular aesthetic finish, no different than the loud colors and racy stripes of the 80's - did those stripes actually make those guys go faster?

I prefer relics because I'm not worried about banging up a nice guitar. I keep them out of the case and just grab them, set them here and there and play them, often rotating back and forth and stacking them against the wall in my computer corner. As a result, I play more impulsively and more often.

I hate a guitar being too nice because its kept in the case under the bed or in a closet and gets played a lot less because its not there for the impulsive grab, and I'm afraid to ding it up.

Last, you're a troll.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Personally I Like creating my own relic by playing the guitar(s) over alot of years...

[MetalManiac]

Good relics are badass. I have two..one is a reliced 60's style body The Butnut reliced that I picked up somehow.
Its like- "hey lookie- I have a guitar that looks a little bit from a distance like an old L-series, , but I didnt pay 15 grand, I only paid 350.00! And plus, its got the features I like ..big ass frets, Flatter radius, Locking tuners, and with a good set of Seymours, it sounds cool.
I also have a 70's Ash tribute . Ash is a wood that looks especially 'older' when reliced decently..and so I have that, and again, looks a quite a bit like a real 70's Ash Strat, plus its 4 bolt, and real Swamp Ash, not the boat anchor stuff Fender used in the 70's.!

[Jessie's ghost]

This is just a marketing ploy to get people to buy a beat up guitar for more money. From a marketing standpoint it's brilliant, from a comsumer standpoint it's ignorance! They had to find a way to get rid of all the seconds coming off the floor, and it worked.

Maybe. But more likely they've just found another way to monetize the desire for instant gratification. A lot of people want that cool, old, beat-up, broken-in guitar look and feel, but they don't want to play the same guitar for ten or twenty years to get it. It's exactly like paying a premium for artfully worn, tattered jeans. It's just fashion, is all. It's not that different from paying more for a fancy patent-leather belt when a cheap Fossil will do the job.

[oilpit]

Relics are like pre-distressed jeans...

Why skip the best part of the journey? I'm not personally offended by them or anything, but I think they're pretty dumb.

(but Fuse makes a very good point about the necks)

[Powdered Toast Man]

Yeah; you're about 15 years too late for the ***** fest.

The guitars were first made for bands like the Stones, who didn't want to bring their old reliables out on the road any more, but didn't want to upset fans by showing up on stage with shiny new instruments. OK, still a little stupid, but kind of makes sense. Security must be an issue, and Keith did have almost all of his guitars stolen at one point.

That's not exactly true. Legend has it that the Fender Custom Shop made a few guitars for Keith Richards and when they gave them to him he said something like, "These are nice guitars, but I'm not going to play 'em because they look too new!" Apparently that's where they got the idea to "relic" them on purpose - if you believe it.

[WhoFan]

i own a Closet Classic CS strat and if i was given a choice i would of bought NOS versions before this one... but it was half price so there ya go...

i am thinking the relic fad is going bye bye slowly... thankfully... i used to buy beat up guitars at pawn shops and guitar stores for cheap as they were fixer uppers... then they started calling any beat to crap guitar a relic and the prices for other peoples garbage went high... put me out of my hobby business... for example, why pay $700 for a beat American Standard Strat when you can buy a used one in good shape for the same

i've seen a few seriously stupid MIM guitars people chipped and dented into fake aged guitars... that thick finish don't work for that... buy a HWY1 and really use it for a while if it's your thing...

[gibson175]

RE: good feeling necks.....
if you have a polyurethane finished neck, rub the back lengthways with 400 grit.
Satin necks will feel fresher, glossy necks you will ruin the shininess, but youll mae it really slick and fast.
I did it on my strat plus deluxe...its definitely a good thng if you are not too concerned with keeping your axe looking new.
Don't do it to nitro.