To be worn or not to be worn

[Dynacord]

Such a tired topic - like fingers vs pick, flats vs rounds, et al. All good choices.

If someone like Sting wants a duplicate of his main bass for road use is he wrong?

My favorite is when people make the 'stolen valor' assertion that often comes up. Does that also apply if one buys a pre-CBS original with 50+ years of other people's play wear?

Where I do get more, umm... "discriminating" is that some finishers/refinishers look much more authentic than others.

i.e.

'Relic' refin by Bravewood:

Granted, that's a refin of an original rather than a new instrument. I'm grateful that there are good refinishers now who can bring back poorly refinished instruments to looking (and feeling) authentic. A brand new finish would not have matched the wear on the hardware and plastic parts, original back of neck finish, etc.

 

[Cool Bass]

I prefer to own the Journeyman Relic that the Fender Custom Shop puts out rather than their Heavy Relic. When I bought my Pino, I chose one with a slightly less relic job.

 

[J-Bassomatic]

So I can't help but notice the past decade that Fender specifically tends to push these signature series instruments that get a "roadworn" finish and charge a premium for them, even going so far as to charge more for it in a custom or master build. So as far as I can tell that would be cool for collectors that want art, especially when the time is taken to replicate the original instruments wear for the signatures. What about the players? I want to put wear on that instrument myself through time, you know? I just feel like the roadworn finish is the same as getting new jeans with the knees already blown out, a rip off. That is just my opinion maybe some people can jump in there and tell me why it's cool or assure me that it doesn't effect the sound or prematurely end a bass' life.

I guess it depends on how you define 'authentic', right? No 'roadworn' I have seen looks authentic. "What grit did you use on the buffing pad?" "How long before you got the body hammer from your kid?" Etc. This will probably get deleted

 

[7dollarbologna]

What if you’ve been playing for 30-40 years on one instrument and now you want to retire that instrument from playing out, you want a new one that looks like the old one, wear and all- does that make you a poseur that didn’t “earn” it? Many players on this thread have stated they hate relics but have no problem with those who do - why comment?

 

[Dynacord]

No 'roadworn' I have seen looks authentic. "What grit did you use on the buffing pad?" "How long before you got the body hammer from your kid?" Etc. This will probably get deleted

Depends who did it. A lot of them look like a late night in the garage with a 6 pack, some Scotch-Brite and an orbital sander. Then there are people who are real artists like Tom Murphy, Joe Riggio, Carson Hess, Clive Brown and a handful of others who's detail work and artist's eyes make their work look like the real thing.

 

[J-Bassomatic]

Depends who did it. A lot of them look like a late night in the garage with a 6 pack, some Scotch-Brite and an orbital sander. Then there are people who are real artists like Tom Murphy, Joe Riggio, Carson Hess, Clive Brown and a handful of others who's detail work and artist's eyes make their work look like the real thing.

Thanks, I will look that up. Personally, I would want it to look like an idiot like me owned it for a couple of years.

 

[Dynacord]

Thanks, I will look that up.

Lay's in Ohio does good work, too.

 

[TTA]

I will say a short story that will end my contribution to this thread:

when i was young and in a band (mid 2000’s) i had a ric 4003. Was sent to an older bass player with a ric for setup help. He had a bunch of beat up cases in his basement. He would buy old uncool 50’s and 60’s basses from people that beat them up and did not want them. 100-300$ bases.

He had x2 50’s precisions (gold pick-guard), 60’s jazzes, a few other things and a 71ric 4001. They were all rough… but cool as hell. Why cool? Cause they all had stories to tell.

had i been dishonest, and had money i would have scooped them all up mega cheap. But i told him the true modern value of his bases. Sadly he sold them all to a collector in the usa. Except the ric which he sold to a poor student at a fair but reduced price. I still have that bass!

 

[MynameisMe]

I love old instruments.
Naturally wore has some appeal to me.
If I ended up with a heavily worn bass I would probably refinish it. That's just my preference.
The first time I saw a heavily reliced instrument I thought how hideous.
Who am I to tell someone else how to spend their money?
You do you.
Thankfully there are many different options. Something for everyone.

 

[chris_b]

Roadworn is kinda cheating. So it's a no from me.

 

[Cloudspine]

I bought my roadworn because of the nitro finish (and that it was a good deal on a good bass), which i would have had to spend 2-3 times as much to get otherwise. Turns out i really like having it predinged- it takes the worry away about nicking it.

it will also take on its own wear, as opposed to my other basses that have bullet proof finishes and never will.

last but not least, it is hardly noticeable from more than 10 feet away, especially in darker lighting.

caring about it being fake seems very highschool to me. Lifes short, who cares?

 

[Hankenstein]

Well, being a relic myself....

 

[Altitude]

I just feel like the roadworn finish is the same as getting new jeans with the knees already blown out

Unless you went out of your way to buy raw denim jeans, the pair you’re wearing now got an acid wash or some kind of artificial wear before you bought them. It’s all a matter of what you see as normal.

 

[Durham52]

That's me as well. I've had (and have) nitro-finished basses, and they never seem to age. I DO take care of my basses, but I'm not fanatical about it.

It might have something to do with body chemistry. Remember Rory Gallagher's Strat? He had a rare blood type and some say because of that his sweat was unusually acidic, which contributed to the finish-loss on his Strat. So maybe some people's sweat "ages" an instrument more quickly than others. I sweat a lot; but oddly enough, my hands almost never sweat.

Yeah, it being stolen and found later in a waterlogged ditch didn't help it's finish much either.

 

[Planespotter]

It depends. I’ve stood on the anti-relic soap box A LOT over the years. Now my number one is a custom shop relic go figure. In a perfect world it would’ve been a non relic, but everything else about the bass is so good that I had to eat my own words haha.
I’ve also stood on the anti matte/stealth
/faded/low gloss finish soapbox and my #2 is a matte black Ric 4003, but that’s a story for another thread.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

ugh, this topic again?

Road worn or relic is just another finish option like sunburst, or natural, or a flame maple top. If you're not into it, don't buy it. If you're into it, buy it. I would pose this question: if given the choice between two basses, all things being equal, but the road worn one sounds and plays better, which one you gonna choose?

 

[lfmn16]

So because they actually use good finishes now that last forever and don’t wear out that’s why you have to buy a road worn so it looks worn out like the old ones did even though it’s not an actual authentic vintage bass?

I could explain it to you but I can’t understand it for you.

 

[eldoryder]

Well....I hate to be the contrarian in the room, but I actually LIKE the relic-job of my Fender JMJ Mustang! It sports what I guess would be called "light relic". I have to admit that I didn't buy it because of the relic job, but in spite of it. I bought it for the short scale, the color of the body, the original-style pickups (NOT P/J!), the lollipop tuners, etc. It's a fun bass that works for much of what I want. As others have posted before, the best aspect of this "pre-worn" bass finish is that there is NO paranoia about being responsible for the "first chip" in the paint. IMHO, YMMV, etc.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

No.

 

[Durham52]

I tended towards the anti relic camp too when they first came out. Having spent years building guitars and trying to make them look faultless, relics sort of aggravated my slight (I say slight, others may disagree...) OCD. Maybe it's age, but I've softened. I really can't see any reason to object, let alone judge anyone, over whether their bass is a relic or not. I mean I dislike heavy flake sparkly finishes, but I don't judge people who love them, just as I don't expect everyone to like my preference for natural wood, oiled finish basses, or my love of Surf Green Telecaster guitars.

I've even thought about having a go at doing a relic finish, just to see if I could do one that really looked authentic, a sort of challenge, but so far I haven't taken the challenge.

In the end, all I want out of a guitar or bass, is an instrument that feels good and helps me make the sounds I want to make, if that happened to be something I made myself, a coffee table bass, something made from carbon fiber, or a relic, the way it looked would be secondary.