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Why the Road Worn hate?
- Thread starter sohamorrohit
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hilarious.Agreed, and I don't think Ed Friedland is a poser either - Invalid Link Removed
I'll start by sayin', I've got a REAL "64" Jazz. Had it since 1972
I've also a one year old R.W. Jazz.
I much prefer the R.W.
It's neck is stable, the 64's has never been.
I've had countless compliments at jobs about the sound/tone of my R.W. Jazz, nobody has yet mentioned the way it's been finished.
Judge a instrument with your ears and hands.......not your eyes.
I've also a one year old R.W. Jazz.
I much prefer the R.W.
It's neck is stable, the 64's has never been.
I've had countless compliments at jobs about the sound/tone of my R.W. Jazz, nobody has yet mentioned the way it's been finished.
Judge a instrument with your ears and hands.......not your eyes.
+1. I just dont like the idea of a worn bass either. Id rather a 62 bass look like it just came off of the wall of the showroom floor. I mean, if i buy say a 57 chevy thats beat up. im going to restore to factory fresh condition. The way it should look. Dont get the whole relic think either.
Wow that thing is beautiful.....is it a Nash?......
B.S. ....who do we play for? Other bassists to judge us or to please fans? When our fans come ask me "omg that bass is so cool how old is it?" Well, apparently the "image" thing worked if they cant tell the difference. Thats all that matters. If the look of my bass added to the coolness in their perception of our show then it did its job while also serving me by playing, sounding, and feeling great.
I dare some other bassist to come up to me after a show and tell me i shouldnt be playing a RW or Nash or whatever cause I didnt earn it.
......+1,000,000
Um, they do.
In both the CS and MIM RI, you can buy them untouched new, or reliced.
The MIM Classic is *not* the same thing... it has a poly finish, and I believe different pickups. But it's also a great bass for the price.
The RWs, IMO: Love the ones I have played! I've tried several specimens, Fiesta Red and 2TSB. Awesome tone and awesome feel. Some variety from unit to unit. I really don't care if they're beat up but would prefer they weren't. However, in the over $500, sub-$1000 street price segment in Fender's line up, I don't know if a Nitro finished Classic 50s would have caught on, honestly. It'd be around the same price as the RW, and then people would be saying "Aw man, you can get a used AVRI for just a little more!"
The truth is, there will always be people hating on Fender... and it don't matter.
I own a used AV '57 RI, trans blonde/ash. Beautiful bass, steal of a deal. Almost bought a RW but was not and am not a fan of the pink... er I mean, Fiesta Red.
The 2TSB ones are very nice, however they need to sell a Black one, beat up if they insist but with no finish sanded off or wood showing through, and I'd buy one in a heartbeat if it sounded and felt like a certain Fiesta Red unit that I tried. That's what I *would* own today if it had been available.
I didn't get it either--till I played one. My Roadworn Ps are hands-down the finest playing/feeling/sounding P basses that I have ever had my grubby mitts on. Whether they are the best "looking" is subjective, but truthfully, it became the least of my concerns. They are THAT good.
On the real deal, you have a instrument that has been used and abused, soaked in years of sweat and baked under the stage lights. Sorry you can't duplicate that. That IS the mojo people talk about.
And here is the real deal (my '72):
Just curious, are you the original owner of that bass? Did all of that wear and tear come from you?
If so, then I could definitely see some sort of emotional or sentimental attachment to the bass.
If not, then I don't see how that's any different than picking up a roadworn instrument.
If a bass sounds and plays good, it sounds and plays good.
Attaching some sort of worth or value to an instrument because of it's age or "mojo" to me is just a different version of the same fallacy. Maybe it's the attribution of such worth to a worn instrument that is the main culprit behind the divided opinions, I personally couldn't care less if an instrument looks worn or does not look worn. Some guys have been chasing after a vintage instrument for years and may feel like getting a Roadworn is "cheating" in some sense.
(I will say though, that Fender you have is definitely a keeper. I love that combo and the weight is perfect
)
As everyone has said, getting a brand new preworn instrument just doesn't have the same mojo as one that's been worn due to being played. I have a sunburst Carvin LB75 that, while nowhere near the point of being roadworn, has some dings on the front, scratches on its headstock from restringings, and scratches on its back from my beltbuckles and shirt buttons. The bass has literally ended gigs with salt deposits on its body due to me sweating in hot rooms under hot par cans. The mojo of its character dings comes from the fact that the bass has been on stage so many times.
But I have bought new jeans with preworn holes in them, so maybe I'm being a hypocrite. I'm not ready to start doing the raw denim thing.
While I haven't checked out the Fender Roadworn series in person, I've seen factory reliced instruments that just looked horrible. I remember a guitar shop I frequent had a reliced LTD guitar that could have fooled someone 20 feet away. However, upon standing next to the guitar, the cheesy factory relic job was extremely obvious...even to someone unfamiliar with guitars or wood finishing.
But I have bought new jeans with preworn holes in them, so maybe I'm being a hypocrite.
I'm not ready to start doing the raw denim thing. While I haven't checked out the Fender Roadworn series in person, I've seen factory reliced instruments that just looked horrible. I remember a guitar shop I frequent had a reliced LTD guitar that could have fooled someone 20 feet away. However, upon standing next to the guitar, the cheesy factory relic job was extremely obvious...even to someone unfamiliar with guitars or wood finishing.
As others have pointed out I don't think there is so much hate for RW's as there is some dislike for a product that has been purposefully disfigured to make it look old. It would also appear that many RW owners feel the need to justify their purchase by saying they are the best basses they have ever played. I don't care for beat up basses but if you love it and it feels and sounds great...more power to you. Play what you like and to hell with what other people think.
If I find a 7lb RW Jazz I'm all over it. Hard to get a better built jazz right now.. I'd love to put a set of Antiquity II's in it. Then I can sell my warmoth Jazz body as I had found the perfect Jazz bass in the Fender.
That's only if the mythical 7lb RW jazz (in burst of course) exists. If not, I'm cool.
That's only if the mythical 7lb RW jazz (in burst of course) exists. If not, I'm cool.
I think the whole Roadworn phenomenon captures a certain change in psyche that has happened recently.
A worn out guitar was traditionally viewed as being a band thing. Look at all those Fenders that were stripped or refinished from the '60s because the player didn't want to appear to have a dented guitar.
Perhaps its a Calvenist thing but working hard to get an instrument to look the way it is is to some a badge of honour, especially for older players who had to fight underhanded promoters, inadequate sound systems and smokey bars for years to get anywhere in the music business (or not and be perpetually bitter forum posters instead).
To suddenly turn around to players and say "congratulations, you have earned this respect-gathering battered instrument" without actually putting in the hard graft suggests a certain lack of truth. Infact people wish to buy their way into an experience instead of actually working hard for it.
Its similar to an experience I had at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. I found a few paintings I had loved since I first studied them in art class and looked at them for a while. However these Japanese tourists who came at the same time as me photographed each painting on their phone, looked at it for a second, ticked it off a list they had written down and moved on. To be able to say you saw the painting for them was more of the focus than actually seeing the painting.
This attitude is also reflected in the pop culture of the 'hipster' movement, a fashion trend focused purely on the aesthetics of a range of previous trends without any deeper social conscious attached and actually celebratory in this fact. I would call it anti-intellectualism but that is probably too harsh.
On the flipside, a nicely checked finish looks good, and some parts look good precisely because they have the day one shine knocked off them a bit. When I built a telecaster I removed the shine off the pickguard and metal parts to make the glossy maple neck and white body 'snap' a bit more.
Whatever you say it is a valid finish option and people buy them in droves, though at times an accurate reliced guitar is (to me) akin to wearing another man's dirty pants.
This.
Also, for the record, I don't hold anything against anybody who buys a reliced instrument. Get what makes you happy and lets you make music. I'm just not a fan of them for many of the reasons I stated earlier and the quote posted.
For the record, I also usually roll my eyes at people's obsession with vintage gear. I think it's cool to want a piece of history, but some of the prices that get charged on the vintage market for what are average playing and sounding instruments always seemed asinine to me. And I own a vintage Fender (handed down to me by my father). But then again, that's how percieved value can drive up prices.
I do love the sound of many vintage drum kits, especially the old jazz kits from the 60s, over a lot of modern kits...and I'm not a drummer. Just someone who really likes great drum sound.
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