Who likes the relic look?

[bobyoung53]

Worn in: Good
Deliberately reliced: Bad

This is real wear, and I've seen very very few fake relics that come close

This is what i get when i click your link


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[Stevorebob]

Don't care one way of the other about actual used instruments. Would I ever buy one made to look like a "relic" from the factory? Absolutely not. Just my opinion, but name one other thing you'd buy in life "new" that looks like it had been beaten to hell and not cared for...

I don't and won't understand the relic thing.

I respect that faux relicing may not be to one's liking, but it exists almost everywhere. Pre-washed jeans, aged T-shirts, roughed up trucker hats. Aged concrete, "used" brick, distressed wood floors, "hand hewn" beams. Faux-aged silver flatware, jewelry, bowls, candelabras. Aged-iron curtain rods and grating. Faux-antique home decor. Furniture. Verdigris anything. And for basses: the less extreme age-tinted clear-coat and aged-white paint, rolled fingerboards and sanded necks, yellowed plastic knobs and pick guards. It's a thing. Heck, I've seen faux-aged "stoneware" Melamine plates at Williams Sonoma.

 

[thabassmon]

I think it's silly, a new instrument with pretend wear like it's been used for many years and been through a lot is but is new is fake.
If an instrument has wear through use that's fine.
The fact that there is a market for it is incredible. I wonder how this trend started, was it replicate a known player's instrument or making use of B grade painted bodies?

 

[ejaggers]

OP Welcome to TalkBass,
I've been GASN' for a relic for quite some time, but I have so many basses that the only time I buy another one is when it's a steal.
Like the Downchild Blues Band said – "I've Got Everything I Need (Almost)".
But I don't have a relic.

The relic job on a bass should be earned through time not given at manufacture.

How often do you see "earned through time" basses on YOUR CL?
I never see them on mine unless they are so expensive they are out of reach.

Good luck getting a brand new bass down to a well worn aged look. Especially if it has a thick poly coating like most basses have these days . Probably won't happen in your lifetime unless you abuse the crap out of the instrument.

I totally agree with you!!!

I have a good looking 53-year-old 1967 Coronado II bass, and the only abuse it has suffered is buckle rash,
And one night some bourbon talked me into filing the frets, and I scratched the top by the neck pocket (on both sides!!!).
It has seen many, many gigs w/o signs of abuse or relic.

I wouldn't pay someone else to crash my car.

You say that now because the car crashing market is up, but when the price is right, you'll pay!!!

I like them, I have a Roadworn Jazz and I had 2 of the P basses fiesta red and burst, I'm very careful with my basses and I really doubt they will get any major blemishes, so it would take 100 years to get any so called mojo, My lakland Skyline D Dunn came to me in mint condition a few years ago, it's my main player and it's still mint, so is my G&L Tribute LB100, I like my Roadworn Jazz and my Nate Mendel even if its reliced at the factory..to each his own...

It's been 53 years, how long must I wait?

057912

 

[light blue bass]

The relic job on a bass should be earned through time not given at manufacture.

Agreed.

 

[light blue bass]

Good luck getting a brand new bass down to a well worn aged look. Especially if it has a thick poly coating like most basses have these days . Probably won't happen in your lifetime unless you abuse the crap out of the instrument.

Well yes I know.

 

[alembicguy]

Stopping in before the lockdown.

 

[FunkHead]

I didn't really get the Whole Road worn thing at first. But then I got my hands on a Fender Road Worn P-Bass and It's pure custom Shop all the way. These basses feel like I have played them for 30 years right out of the box. The real kicker is how they weigh about 8Lbs. Very sweet basses indeed!

 

[bobyoung53]

Well yes I know.

Fender has some new nitro basses, I have two of them, a black American Vintage Hot Rod Precision and a TF fretless sunburst. Having had a nitro bass years ago they are aging the same way my original one did. The first part to go is where your right arm rests against the top of the bass while you play.

 

[Pilgrim]

Not fan of the relic look. My goal is to keep all my basses as nice as they came from the factory. I recognize legitimate wear, but at a certain point I just think instruments should be refinished to take care of them. I associate extreme wear with lack of care.

 

[ElMon]

I love it. Full support. Why?

• My generation doesn't have the music scene to support the frequency of gigs required to 'relic' out an instrument the 'natural way'
• In addition to your 6 gigs a week, you boomers/Gen X'ers smoked more than a BBQ grill, which added to the 'fonk'
• There was asbestos fibers everywhere.
• no emissions standards
• Lead in your gasoline
• The Russians were actually up to some #$%^ back then, which increased relic'ing.

In this Nerf'ed up, sanitized world, it'd take me longer than I have years left on the planet to wear a bass enough to look that cool.


Also ...




Do not own a SINGLE relic'd instrument

 

[ruju]

Agreed.

I'm confused. In youre OP you said you love the look of relic basses, and link to a manufactured relic d bass?;
I don't care which you prefer. Just confused

 

[micguy]

What does an "earned relic" mean? That you're clumsy and don't take care of your stuff?

The audience that didn't like your last tune threw your bass out the window, and you had to wade through all of them to go retrieve it. That's earned wear. Or the headstock burn from the time you stood too close to the pyro. Stuff like that - there should be a story for every gouge or scratch.

 

[light blue bass]

It was supposed to be a picture. But came out as link.

 

[Gorn]

I get it now. Those who are against it are against people pretending their bass has been through more than it has. As if they're lying about it's it's history. But what if someone buys a used 50 year old bass? Should they put a disclaimer on it? Or what if they buy it because they like how it looks, and not because they want others to think it's been through more than it has?

 

[Gorn]

The audience that didn't like your last tune threw your bass out the window, and you had to wade through all of them to go retrieve it. That's earned wear.

What if I bought the bass from a guy that that happened to?

 

[micguy]

What if I bought the bass from a guy that that happened to?

He earned it, not you. You do have a story you can tell, but it's not one you personally experienced. If it was your Dad or something, you can get a bit of cred for it, but buying it, I'm guessing most of the anti-faux wear folks will say no. But this might be a point of contention.

 

[jdwinva]

Done right I like it. A relic bass bass is an original (not exactly like other basses) and you don't feel bad if you ding it. Some makers (Nash) are going for the look and feel of vintage Fender instruments without the issues that can come with vintage instruments that can result in costly repairs.

 

[Gorn]

He earned it, not you. You do have a story you can tell, but it's not one you personally experienced. If it was your Dad or something, you can get a bit of cred for it, but buying it, I'm guessing most of the anti-faux wear folks will say no. But this might be a point of contention.

So I'm on stage playing my dad's 61 Fender jazz that went around the world with him, do I owe the audience an explanation lest they make assumptions about the cause of the wear?

 

[bobyoung53]

I'm so old I can remember if you were looking at the stage and saw someone with a beat old P bass, you KNEW it was a beat old Fender and also knew it was made here in the USA.