SHOW YOUR RELICS?

Diminished Triad

Diminished Triad

New member
While looking through the recent "show your strats" and "show your basses" posts I didn't notice any relic'd guitars. Yet, relics remain some of Fenders most expensive out of their Custom Shop. If real players are not buying and seem to prefer nicer looking instruments, why would Fender continue to dedicate such resources to scratching up guitars and basses? A real shame too because some of the signature guitars would be great additions if not so expensive and not so relec'd up.

Does anyone here collect relics? Doesn't seem like from the posts.
Would enjoy seeing your relics and hearing from you how they play if you do have one or two.
Thanks!
 
Re: SHOW YOUR RELICS?

Just want to scream out very loudly that reliced instruments are beyond stupid , buy a new one and play it for 30 freaking years and it will never look like those awful things. Just my opinion , feel free to waste your moeny.
 
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Respect your opinion Oinkus - but just don't agree. They are tremendous instruments, despite whether they look beat up.

-Proud owner of 2 Fender "Relics". Bought before the prices went insane.
 
Re: SHOW YOUR RELICS?

I was looking at my black Strat last night and thinking "if this thing was nitro instead of poly, it would be quite nicked up".

I have two nitro guitars that I take extremely good care of, but if I didn't I can see how they could start looking worn.

I don't foresee anything new coming of this thread, but I can say I like the look of ambered maple necks and spruce tops better than bright white ones, and the checking on a vintage finish looks quite nice to me as well.
 
Re: SHOW YOUR RELICS?

The only relics I have I relic'd them myself by 10+ years of gigging/recording with them. Most of the guys I know/am aware of that buy expensive customs and relics are actually collectors/investors and not players.

I was at a local guitar shop a few years back and they had a customer that would buy/pre-order every new unique custom/relic that came out - he had more than 40-50 guitars. He was just investing - it was his retirement fund - because guitars, if kept stock, after 10 years typically only go up in value, and at 20 years they are often double or more the original cost, so they typically beat the stock market overall.

There have been a couple rare occasions where I was asked to come over to someone's house and play their guitars so they could hear what they sounded like - because the owner didn't play but they knew I had just enough skill to demonstrate the instruments they owned.
 
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I tell people who don't play " the instrument is not for sale" unless they're buying for someone who actually does play.
I'm here to spread the love, not the money.
Forced relicing is an abomination.
PC
 
Re: SHOW YOUR RELICS?

Here ya go, DT.

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I did a relic not so long ago. But with a twist, my relic hasn't got any raw exposed timber. Its all been leveled and glossed over flat.









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Fender as compared to Fender - there's really no difference. I lucked out (actually bought sight unseen) on these 2 and both are really stellar sounding instruments. The red one was refretted before I got it - I added the benders shortly after I got it in 1999.

The red one is in pretty good shape, but the white one is quite beaten up, just not worn through like I see on a lot of newer relics.

I really liked the Closet Classic level - Something appealing to me about finish checking but no other real wear. I have a couple of those.

There's a Masterbuilt thread over on TGP - lots of relics on that thread. I went to Suhr for my built to spec stuff.
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1464382
 
Re: SHOW YOUR RELICS?

I am embarrassed about owning a guitar with fake wear and aging on it, but it was such a great guitar, and so rare to find one in any color but Lake Placid Blue or Blonde. Rustics are fairly rare guitars as it is, but I've only seen three Legacy Rustics that are not one of those two colors. I had to have it, relic or not. It's a G&L (my favorite Fender-style brand), it's lacquer finished (my one minor gripe about G&Ls being that they use poly), and it's in a color scheme that I love (the classic "Blackie" look). Besides, I was able to haggle and get it for below dealer cost out the door (about $900 below standard retail price plus shipping):

14764847980_8f87d57824_o.jpg


That said, it's a "light" level Rustic. If it had been a "heavy," or even a "medium" level Rustic, I wouldn't have got it. I couldn't have brought myself to do it; it would just look too ****ing lame for me to go onstage with something like that. I also would not have paid standard retail price ($2,150) for it. I have a price limit when it comes to guitars. I don't feel that any guitar that isn't collectible/antique is worth much more than perhaps $1,500 or so...especially when it's relatively easy to make your own that is just as good for half that.

Also, look at the price difference between it and a Fender Relic, while the quality between the two brands is easily equal. For this brand new Fender Custom Shop level instrument, I paid just a few hundred more than a brand new American Standard would cost someone. I'm sorry, but a Fender decal is not worth $3K–$4K dollars.
 
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Re: SHOW YOUR RELICS?

Oinkus said:
Just want to scream out very loudly that reliced instruments are beyond stupid , buy a new one and play it for 30 freaking years and it will never look like those awful things. Just my opinion , feel free to waste your moeny.
Click to expand...

Reliced instruments are for posers. But true, after 30 years of battering and bruising, a Strat can look like it has been thru hell and back. Have you seen Rory Gallagher's Strat? The paint is 90% stripped down to bare wood.
 
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I wont buy a brand new reliced guitar. If I get a used one, depending on the value of the guitar I might even refinish it.
Both my acoustics are reliced, but that is because of 100 % play and use on one of them. On the other while most of it is natural because of use, I once scraped of some finish on the neck which was touching the fret board wood.
To me a guitar or any instrument should get reliced naturally by use. I refinsihed my old V copy. To be honest I did like the old reliced look too. But then the body was splitting down the middle and when I glued back, it did look like the guitar could do with a refinsh.
 

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Re: SHOW YOUR RELICS?

I've played my 12 string fender acoustic for 30 years straight and not a sign of the "wear" that all the other guitars seem to get. And I live on an island in the Pacific with sun and humidity through the roof! Not sure what truly causes the "wear" and I don't spend too much time cleaning my guitar. I remember when torn/worn jeans took off years ago and I learned it's about preference because the younger people could never convince me their torn/worn jeans were better than my brand new Levis. :-)

Always enjoy reading everyone's perspective - most interested in tone/sound and comfort. Is there really much difference? Maybe everyone should leave their guitars out of their cases and as long as not hit/hurt the wear and elements may just help it feel more comfortable and/or sound better? Thanks for sharing....
 
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Edgecrusher said:
relicing is about aesthetics not sound or comfort.
Click to expand...

Not really. Some guys relic the back of necks and forearm contours to make them feel well played in. Rolled fretboard edges, matte necks and dulled forearm locations can make a guitar feel super comfy.
If the relic is for this I wouldn't mind.... I just don't like when people relic a guit to look old...
 
Re: SHOW YOUR RELICS?

Chocklit_Thunda said:
Not really. Some guys relic the back of necks and forearm contours to make them feel well played in. Rolled fretboard edges, matte necks and dulled forearm locations can make a guitar feel super comfy.
If the relic is for this I wouldn't mind.... I just don't like when people relic a guit to look old...
Click to expand...

to me a matte neck is not relicing... relicing is when its made to look old... neither are rolled fretboard edges. theres a big difference between using some steel wool on the neck vs making it look like the pores are filled with green finger gunk and complimentary dings and checking.
 
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On the jeans example...

I don't know of any people that would buy the stiff, unwashed denim jeans and wear them that way from day 1. Certainly there's a few out there, but I just don't know of any.

I certainly would not, but I typically buy the least processed stonewash possible. Guess that makes me stupid/poser/abominable, huh? Tongue firmly in cheek for that one.
 
Re: SHOW YOUR RELICS?

Diminished Triad said:
I've played my 12 string fender acoustic for 30 years straight and not a sign of the "wear" that all the other guitars seem to get. And I live on an island in the Pacific with sun and humidity through the roof! Not sure what truly causes the "wear" and I don't spend too much time cleaning my guitar. I remember when torn/worn jeans took off years ago and I learned it's about preference because the younger people could never convince me their torn/worn jeans were better than my brand new Levis. :-)

Always enjoy reading everyone's perspective - most interested in tone/sound and comfort. Is there really much difference? Maybe everyone should leave their guitars out of their cases and as long as not hit/hurt the wear and elements may just help it feel more comfortable and/or sound better? Thanks for sharing....
Click to expand...

I get ya. I know a few people who can claim that. My granddad used to take a lot of care of his Violins. I do take a lot of care of my guitars. The Jumbo is very old. It belonged to a cousin, who we visited on holiday to GOA. He had a lot of guitars lying around. Some of which some other cousins of his had abused, including this one. When he seen my interest in the instrument, he gave it to me, rather then letting it go into somebody who would abuse it. If you look closely at the top below the bridge you can see the finish more paler then the rest of the top, that is because some idiot had painted that part silver. A lot of the other dings are also from when I first got the guitar. This is my best sounding guitar. I have owned this guitar since 1989, and I dont know how much older it is than that. My cousin did tell my dad back then it was around 10-12 years old. To me it looks the same as when I first got it, except for a repair done on the top that was cracking, and a finish chip on the neck that I can recall that has come from my own handling, though I am SURE there are more. I did consciously take a lot of care of this guitar.
The other acoustic is a so so archtop nothing great but a player, again this actually belongs to a friend, who is not in the country. This again was dinged when I got it and I am responsible for the rest.
On my V copy I take full responsibility for the abuse on the finish some of which I admit was intentional. (again I did like the reliced look).

I am in no way implying that a reliced guitar has been carelessly used. I do understand dings that take place due to bumps beyond control, nitro finishes, body chemical reactions ext. The few naturally reliced guitars I have seen are players and well maintained.
 
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