Who likes the relic look?

[ThinCrappyTone]

I love the natural wear that indicates the instrument has had some sort of adventures outside of its case. Makes me happy when I see natural wear occurring on my own instruments, especially.

But for me, it's not about the look, it's about the story it tells.

 

[bobyoung53]

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?

I think some of you guys are overthinking this thing.

 

[Gorn]

I think some of you guys are overthinking this thing.

Would it be better to under think?

 

[Tommy V]

i don't mind it, if i did it.. but damn buying something that looks like it fell out of the van, without the heavily discounted price that comes with an instrument that fell out of the van.

 

[Dominic D]

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

And yet there exists a trend of intentionally rusting (real and faux) cars.

 

[ruju]

I love the look of relic d basses. Any one got a problem with that, they can buy me a new bass.

 

[JZQuantum]

Tastefully done, I like it. I like a light relic on a Nash, for example.

I don't like heavy relicing as much, and I hate when manufacturers try to do the exact same relic job on their basses, like cigarette burns in the same shape and same place in the headstock.

 

[Spupilup]

But would you send one back that had damage to it's finish?

Or, how does a shop determine what makes a blemish on a relic. I see shops selling Road Worn basses at a discount because they're "blemished." What does that really mean??? How does one tell??? Why is one ding part of the "relic" and another a "blemish???"

 

[maxschrek]

I like it fine enough if it's done correctly and not overboard. That being said, honest wear is best.

 

[dkelley]

I've seen some I really liked.

But I've seen some that I disliked, looked fake... and oddly, the pricier the instrument that was reliced, the more artificial or completely weird I find that it looks. My guitarist has a very expensive hand made guitar (Well, he has a bunch...) that had the relic look done by the builder himself... it has a floyd rose (USA original) that was damaged by the relicing process..... it has some finish wearing on it that makes no sense at all for the location.

Real wear happens in certain places and ways, more or less.

Then there's a guy I'm aware of selling his very expensive custom shop bass that has had the relic process done, and it's probably someone on here, so I won't go into much detail or opinion other than to say that a relic instrument does not, imho, normally have a nearly entirely white basecoat on the front of the bass as the result of the relic look..... it's not what that looks like at all, and it looks more like someone painted it white badly over top of the existing finish. To me, relic looks like wear on the appropriate parts (where you touch, and paint chips and gouges. And for a VERY expensive instrument, a really good one, the relic look should at least look like a relic, not like an unfinished paint job base coat only on the front of the instrument, but pretty much uniformly covering the front of the body.

But it's very subjective, and my love is not someone else's, and vice versa!

I owned briefly a road worn strat (squier) that looked awesome, imho. played alright... looked awesome.

 

[bobyoung53]

Would it be better to under think?

Yes.

 

[dkelley]

And yet there exists a trend of intentionally rusting (real and faux) cars.
View attachment 3795367

There are a bunch of older model Jettas out there that actually have hoods looking like that.....

 

[Tommyc]

Or, how does a shop determine what makes a blemish on a relic. I see shops selling Road Worn basses at a discount because they're "blemished." What does that really mean??? How does one tell??? Why is one ding part of the "relic" and another a "blemish???"

Well, uh, I was being facetious.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

I prefer a bass that has what I call "honest play-wear"; it has earned its scars. Artificially induced, I'll pass. But I also have a distinct non-preference for basses that look brand-spankin' new. This is fairly recent, and I have no idea how it came about.

People like the aesthetic of ravages placed by the hands of time on certain musical instruments. The high valuation placed on vintage instruments in spite of, in many cases, advanced wear reinforced this aesthetic.

A player of sparse skills sporting a well worn instrument fools a few for but a short while: the wear on the instrument may be real, except was put there by someone(s) else. Just because s/he may be at the beginning of her/his bass journey a player should eschew the use of a vintage instrument fearing what people will say (even if s/he has spent hard earned $$s to own the instrument). This begs the question should a beginner feel self conscious playing a boutique instrument?

A player who paid his dues and built a formidable skill set and plays a masterfully relic-ed instrument would 'fool' more people.

Is fooling an audience the intent in each case or is it something else?

We tend to mix an conflate a few concepts like morality and artifice which leads to contention. I think if we replace the terms like 'honest-wear' and somehow use words like 'artificial wear' or 'wear-through-use', the morality circuit in some shallow thinkers will not be activated so readily.

This topic shouldn't be contentious at all since we are discussing merely an AESTHETIC / TASTE. I love artificially induced wear on certain instruments and I am not ashamed of it. What I am ashamed of is my skill level in spite of having been at it for so many years ;-)

 

[Charlzm]

I personally love the worn-in relic look of basses. Like the Bass of Doom. Or Fender custom shop heavy relic basses. But that's just me.
Fender 1960 Precision Bass Heavy Relic - Aged Black

Gotta chime in that I like shiny, beautiful, brand-new basses and I shed a tear when my basses get their first nick or ding. Have never dug the relic look myself.

 

[ejaggers]

I love the look of relic d basses. Any one got a problem with that, they can buy me a new bass.

I have a Serious Problem with that!!!
So I'll buy you a new bass, but you have to give me your old one.

057912

 

[SactoBass]

How do you know when you've got a "crappy relic job"?

LOL!

That reminds me of something the late George Carlin once said, which was: "I never eat yogurt. If it's gone bad, how could you tell?"

 

[lbbc]

It's not for me ...I prefer to let mine age gracefully

 

[bobyoung53]

OK, I'm old, started playing in 1966, I "reliced" a 68 nitro CAR P bass from 1977 to 1995, back then you didn't really like it, it was just a way of life, if you played a lot you wore out the bass. People respected that you had put all that wear on the bass and respected all the time that it took you but did not necessarily like the look which is why most REAL old looking POS basses got refinished, it has gotten backward somewhere along the line.

 

[Real Soon]

I haven't found anyone who does custom relic work in the Atlanta area yet or I'd probably have dropped my 50s Classic P off with them by now.

It's classy in its pristine honey blonde condition, but even if I put 200,000 hours in on that bass, it's going to look good as new thanks to the invincible poly finish. It's been gigged a ton and I still get ppl asking about my "brand new" purchase

 

[GIBrat51]

i don't mind it, if i did it.. but damn buying something that looks like it fell out of the van, without the heavily discounted price that comes with an instrument that fell out of the van.

^^THIS^^ Pretty much. I have no problem with it whatsoever - if it's YOUR bass. And I'm not paying for it. Cause, I'm for d....d sure not paying for it on mine...

And yet there exists a trend of intentionally rusting (real and faux) cars.
View attachment 3795366
View attachment 3795367
View attachment 3795368

And yet, why should that make any more sense than a "relic'd" bass or guitar? Besides; vehicles don't get that way because of years of use. They get that way - normally - from years of NEGLECT. Which, IMHO, is a whole 'nother thing...