Am I being picky? Micro scratches on ordered body

[Smooth_bass88]

Looks good to me. Not sure why so many of you have issues with finishes. No one's forcing you to play a bass with one type of finish or another- you play whatever you choose! OP, don't get discouraged, I bet once that bass is all put together it will sound and look OUTSTANDING.

 

[bassydrums]

I'm not sure if it's worth it since the body cost ~350 and I won't recover shipping costs, but at this point I think I'm leaning toward returning it. I also don't have the necessary tools (or time or desire to be honest) to buff it out. It is very true that the lighting doesn't help, but I took it in that angle to illustrate just how much there is. It's still pretty visible...
@Smooth_bass88 -- my mindset keeps going back and forth between this and saying why should I care?

 

[creaturegods]

Looks good with the pickguard on!

Unfortunately, with a term as nebulous as "relicing," unless you are making a 100% custom order, you're kind of at the mercy of the seller's definition of "light relicing."

 

[DrBnz]

So can't you take it outside, throw it down in the gravel, stand on it and do the "twister". Then kick it down the driveway and go check the mail. That should "fix it".

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Did you and the seller both agree on what "Light relic" means. Or did they provide photos so you could see what to expect?

Where someone used to work, might carry a little weight, but aren't you really just going on the reputation of a former employer, rather than that of the person you dealt with. I also don't put much stock in eBay reviews. Those can be pumped up in positive or negative ways.

 

[stlrocker]

tools and time arent really an issue with buffing this out.

if you have never done this before, it is way quicker and easier than you may think.

if you have hands and a soft cloth, then you have the tools you need.

about 15-20 min hand buffing with meguiars 105 compound will have that looking drastically better. 105 is a pretty aggressive compound and nitro is soft.

105 will leave a good shiny surface. if you want it mirror polish, you would follow up with 205 compound. but it really wont be neccesary for a light relic.

 

[aprod]

Looks good to me. Not sure why so many of you have issues with finishes. No one's forcing you to play a bass with one type of finish or another- you play whatever you choose! OP, don't get discouraged, I bet once that bass is all put together it will sound and look OUTSTANDING.

Nonsense. Garbage in garbage out. I would send it back immediately if not sooner.

 

[scuzzy]

A lot of current refinishers and builders are simply doing "relic" because they can't level sand and buff out a quality finish. Or they are not willing to put the time into it. So they half-a$$ the finish, chip and scratch it, mark it up, and sell as a relic.

 

[bherman]

I’m the same way! I honestly don’t care for it, but I knew I wanted a nitro body and it seems like about nobody sells a nitro body with no wear? I thought if it’s minimal with a few bumps, I don’t care too much, but this isn’t what I expected. Another option was buying an American original body from stratosphere but I didn’t want to drop 700+tax on the body alone.

I ordered a nitro body a few weeks ago that is listed as "closet clean", the seller went to great lengths to make sure that I knew what I was getting. Here is his definition:
"The least amount of relicing I offer is my Closet Clean finish. It may have a few nicks/dings in it. Sometimes there are imperfections during the painting process that I have to “nick” out and that is where the few nicks/dings come from. Not always but I don't like to back myself into a corner to where I feel like I have to have a perfect finish. The nicks/dings would be very small though. It will also have a vintage gloss finish with some sheen to it but definitely not a brand new shiny guitar. Can be with or without lacquer checking. If choosing no checking, I won’t do any intentional checking but since it is nitro lacquer, it could check naturally in my shop, in transit or after you have the body." So yes, it is possible to order a nitro finish without being reliced.

I havent gotten it yet but with that description, it'll be pretty clear when I do if it fits those parameters or not.

 

[Bassquest]

Somebody should cut their nails!

 

[Lowandfat]

No matter what, relicing should always look random, there should be no fields of parallel scratches like in the pic. That is seriously poor work, and appears to be done with sandpaper.

If you sign a waiver that you get what you get, I will relic any bass body for free if you pay shipping. My process involves steel wool, and apple butter. And our cats.

Real relicing advice alert: The only time you should use sand paper is 50 grit when you want a nice bumpy little ding. Real dings more often than not aren't clean edged, the 50 grit spreads the impact from a few light hammer taps and chips the edges.

Seriously, no one should pay for relicing. Find a $50 banger on craig's list, watch a few videos, and have at it yourself for practice. The more you plan and process the more fake it will look.

 

[two fingers]

Yeah that's a mishap. They did that intentionally. But it's in poor taste. The checking is cool. The scratches are not.

 

[ddnidd1]

Perhaps the seller can provide images of reliced basses (other than his) that are covered in sandpaper scratches that are a normal, professional relic job?

Personally I wouldn't use that body if it was given to me. It is repairable, but that shouldn't be your responsibility.

 

[bolophonic]

Those scratches look awful. Nothing about that looks like a “relic” to me. It’s just scuffed with sandpaper. I use a very fine buffing procedure to take the sheen off of a high gloss finish. Patchy, parallel scuffing across the face does not mimic natural wear in any way.

 

[SulzerType2]

They didn't run the grits fine enough when wet polishing before buffing. That is why they are criss-crossing rather than randomly distributed.

I think the proliferation of nitro in cans created a cottage industry of charlatan refinishers. Some charged more for a pristine finish than a relic'ed one, and even big name builders like Echo Park guitars could never master a dead level, high gloss finish.

 

[ColdEye]

I have a tele with a closet clean look (light relic). It does not look like that. Granted mine was directly from MJT, it does have a lot of finish checking, but those just look like lame scratches with sand paper.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Nonsense. Garbage in garbage out. I would send it back immediately if not sooner.

lol

 

[lark_z]

$350, yikes. I've done better than that with Krylon out in the garage.

If it had been much cheaper (say $50), I'd likely just sigh and either repaint it or try and buff it out. For me the buffing would be Beall buff (tripoli, white diamond, wax).

For $350, I'd eat the shipping and send it back. Or try and get some concession from the seller.

 

[BAG]

Maybe, relic it up a bit more to cover those areas exposed after pickguard

That's actually what I did with a Telecaster guitar I have. I had a local guy rout out a stack of wood from it to make it a sort of semi-hollow body as it was a real boat anchor and I wanted to lighten it. The paint job the guy did was really quite average but I figured you get what you pay for.
I'm a clutz at the best of times so I thought i'd just be deliberately careless with it. I'm not a fan of relic finishes but I think this is looking decent these days without looking too deliberate.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

looks like 220 grit and 5 minutes of elbow grease. If that's worth more than a brand new un-scratched body, I should get into relicing.