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I don't hate pre-aging/Relics...

#141
ultra60 said:
I have a Vintage 4. Based on pics I've seen, I'd say they were all done by computer as well. The relic jobs are identical. The only thing I found strange was they applied the poly over all the wear spots. Does not matter to me. These are great basses.
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I'm a poly fan, so I kind of like the compromise of getting a relic look, but having the durability of poly. And as far as computer/automated patterns for the relic job? meh, i couldn't care less.

I am very pleased with my current stable of basses, but I have to admit, I'm gassing for a vintage 4. I hardly ever see them for sale. I hope you enjoy yours.
 
#142
sailri said:
Nope - I'm not upset. No worries there.
Thanks for sharing your Levi model - it makes my point. If you bought Levi 505's and they are blue here are all the shades of blue.

For your clarification - Levi's even tells you what "relicking" they do to each shade by the name (except for the one named after Dave Navarro)

If you have what you "think" is dark blue - it will be one of the top two.
I kid you not on the names...
Tumbled Rigid (so they didn't prewash the finished denim Jeans, they only heated them up in a dryer to fade only a little bit)
Rinse (they DID prewash the finished denim jeans, and then dried them, but in a way to minimize color loss.
Navarro
Kalsomine
Light stonewash
Dark stonewash
Medium stonewash

Your jeans were relicked.
source:
Invalid Link Removed
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Great.

Relicing guitars, to me, is silly.
 
#146
Never been much of a relic fan but I bought this bass a few months back. It's a shell pick relic MIM Flea sig that the previous owner had oversprayed in black nitro and re-reliced. I wasn't at all keen on the look but the neck feels soooo good (really nice rolled edges) I bought it anyway. The wear in the arm rest area was way way overdone IMO and nearly stopped me from buying it.
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So the local tech offered a dirt cheap nitro spray just to cover that particular area. Might get a proper black nitro refin one day. For now I'm just enjoying the freedom of not having to worry about at all about dings and scratches, like wearing an old pair of jeans rather than suit, just dig in and play the sucker.
Did I mention the neck? I luuuuv this neck :)

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#147
flatwound62p said:
Never been much of a relic fan but I bought this bass a few months back. It's a shell pick relic MIM Flea sig that the previous owner had oversprayed in black nitro and re-reliced. I wasn't at all keen on the look but the neck feels soooo good (really nice rolled edges) I bought it anyway. The wear in the arm rest area was way way overdone IMO and nearly stopped me from buying it.
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So the local tech offered a dirt cheap nitro spray just to cover that particular area. Might get a proper black nitro refin one day. For now I'm just enjoying the freedom of not having to worry about at all about dings and scratches, like wearing an old pair of jeans rather than suit, just dig in and play the sucker.
Did I mention the neck? I luuuuv this neck :)

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That looks great.
It’s not silly.
As you wear in the respray you should post it back here to see if anti relic folks can either hear and see the stories of the new dings or validate that now that the relicking is genuine it really is a good 1962 bass.
Unless you have it completely refinished but also re- relicked again at which point they would again say it was silly regardless of how it looked.

I traded away a burst Roadworn that I liked a lot and you are right that the necks are very comfy. And the worry that you might nick the paint goes away with one of these.
The cool thing with yours is since it was over sprayed you’ll eventually get some of the pink coming back up over time and that could be a sick looking bass (in a good way).
Thanks for sharing.
 
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#149
packhowitzer said:
I'm a poly fan, so I kind of like the compromise of getting a relic look, but having the durability of poly. And as far as computer/automated patterns for the relic job? meh, i couldn't care less.

I am very pleased with my current stable of basses, but I have to admit, I'm gassing for a vintage 4. I hardly ever see them for sale. I hope you enjoy yours.
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I was also looking for one of those, but found a roadworn for a good price so grabbed it. I had a precision with the nitro (american special), and liked the feel of the nitro, and the wood was light and resonant. The roadworn feels real similar. It's an 8lb. jazz bass, and you're not going to find a lot of those in any finish. I didn't realize the finish was so controversial, but I couldn't care much less, honestly.
 
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#150
fretno said:
2 finisher / builder cats that do it well that I know of is Paul Slagle a TB'er & MJT , here is one of each :) and yeah I think Nitro will have the better appearance .

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subtle but normal not overdone Paul is a master relic man and him and his buddies hang out here on TB and can often be seen talking code :D

ok up next is MJT , killer stuff , easy to get off ebay and do refins right .
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And some legit age
ma '72
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and '68
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MJT (Mark Jenny Telecaster) did my telecaster back when it was just a sideline in his garage...he's an artist. While I'd never sell it, I've had it in shops here and there for work and someone always tries to buy it if it's hanging on a wall.
 
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#151
KJMO said:
I was also looking for one of those, but found a roadworn for a good price so grabbed it. I had a precision with the nitro (american special), and liked the feel of the nitro, and the wood was light and resonant. The roadworn feels real similar. It's an 8lb. jazz bass, and you're not going to find a lot of those in any finish. I didn't realize the finish was so controversial, but I couldn't care much less, honestly.
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I have sort of the precursor the American Special p bass - a Highway 1 p bass. Also with a nitro finish. I don't mind the nitro, but if i could change something about it, it would be that it had a glossy poly finish. It's in no way a deal breaker, but since we're on the topic of relics - my H1's nitro finish is starting to age. It's the flat black finish that fender offered. the area of the body where my forarm rests has been worn to a sort of glossy finish, and there are a couple of spots on the back where the paint has chipped a bit. I completely understand that the nitro finish was applied so that this very effect would happen - that the bass would start to show wear the same way that the fenders of the 50s and 60s did. I take really good care of my instruments, and I'm not thrilled with the results of this premeditated wear. but it doesn't stop me from loving that bass. It sounds great and plays great.
 
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#154
Cuzzie said:
It’s that weird dichotomy on this. Some people love a relic IF it had been done by playing it for years.

So if you took 2 basses side by side with no knowledge on how they got their worn look, but they looked pretty much identical give or take, and they both sounded and played great as well.

1 was a relic finish, 1 was a years of playing finish, and it was really difficult to tell apart.
Would you turn your like into dislike once you found out which one was a relic finish?

I have to say, personally I like a wide range of finishes from solid colours, to relics to exotic woods.
I just like wood and basses I guess.
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Great points. I'm in the camp of "whatever floats your boat".
 
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#157
Gravedigger Dav said:
I know many people like "reliced" look. That's okay with me. But to me, every time I see one, I think, "he should have taken better care of that instrument."
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Yeah, ^^this^^, pretty much. I don't really understand why people would pay extra $$'s to have that done to a new instrument, but... as I've gotten older, I realize that there's lots of things I don't understand. And, as I've said before - I don't hate stuff. Hate takes a lot of emotional energy, and I'm much too lazy for things like that...:whistle:
 
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#158
GIBrat51 said:
Yeah, ^^this^^, pretty much. I don't really understand why people would pay extra $$'s to have that done to a new instrument, but... as I've gotten older, I realize that there's lots of things I don't understand. And, as I've said before - I don't hate stuff. Hate takes a lot of emotional energy, and I'm much too lazy for things like that...:whistle:
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So you’re standing in a music shop with a wealthy friend whose life you just saved. There’s only one bass in there. He offers to treat you.

Fender Precision Bass Blonde 1955 (s832)

1. Do you like it’s looks? Y or N
2. He loves it. Can you understand why he likes it? Y or N
3. If you said No to both then there’s no need to say more.
4. If you said yes to both... it turns out it’s the shop owner’s bass and it’s not for sale but he paid Fender Custom Shop to make him an exact relicked duplicate and your buddy is going to buy it for you for saving his life. Do you turn him down? Y or N
5. It turns out the bass on the wall IS the duplicate. But you couldn’t tell. He tells you. Still interested? Y or N
 
#159
sailri said:
So you’re standing in a music shop with a wealthy friend whose life you just saved. There’s only one bass in there. He offers to treat you.

Fender Precision Bass Blonde 1955 (s832)

1. Do you like it’s looks? Y or N
2. He loves it. Can you understand why he likes it? Y or N
3. If you said No to both then there’s no need to say more.
4. If you said yes to both... it turns out it’s the shop owner’s bass and it’s not for sale but he paid Fender Custom Shop to make him an exact relicked duplicate and your buddy is going to buy it for you for saving his life. Do you turn him down? Y or N
5. It turns out the bass on the wall IS the duplicate. But you couldn’t tell. He tells you. Still interested? Y or N
Click to expand...

In this case, I'd tell said friend, "I appreciate the gesture, but $12,000 for a bass is just crazy...any bass. You don't owe me anything. I saved your life because I'm a decent human being and didn't want to see my friend die. YOU are my reward. Not attending your funeral and comforting your grieving wife and kids is my reward. But if you are feeling generous, and you want to buy me a $12,000 bass, here is the number for Vinny Fodera...I'm sure you two can work something out".
 

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