Worst Relic Job

[Jamvan]

Maybe he played for years using sandpaper as sweat bands?

 

[bluesblaster]

I still want one. not a bass but the telecowster, bet I would be the first kid on my block to have one

 

[cheapbasslovin]

Maybe he played for years using sandpaper as sweat bands?

View attachment 576931

The only explanation I can come up with:

SO PUNK!

 

[SasquatchDude]

How cute... someone found a 1 1/2" paint scraper in his daddy's tool box.

 

[cayman_shen]

I just googled "how to relic a guitar." Looks like there were lots of tutorials that could've pointed this lad in the right direction...He probably should've practiced on scrap

 

[BOOZEROCKET]

In my opinion there is no such thing as a GOOD relic job. Years of sweat, spilled beer and cigarette smoke from a thousand gigs can not be duplicated.

 

[Skeptismo]

IMHO, any instrument that makes the player *feel* like a better player, probably is making the player better. Beer, of course, is not an instrument.
That said, I'm not a fan of that relic job, it just looks unnatural.


BTW SteveV74, "rat rods".

 

[BadJazz]

That paintjob is udderly useless, well at least you can make some good moosic out of it.

Way to milk the puns.

 

[lavmonga]

I live in New York City, my car gets relic'd at least once a week while I'm at work. I guess I can use the relicing to increase the value when I get rid of it.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I never understood the whole "relic" thing...if you want a 30 year old instrument,buy one....or buy a new one and play the hell out of it for 30 years. Why the hell would somebody buy one brand new that looks old and beat up?

Because they like the way it looks. Just like with any other finish. Lots of people like the way an old, worn Fender looks. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool boo-teek guy, and even I love the look of a well-worn nitro Jazz. Finding one that looks the way you want is a crapshoot and a half. And for anyone that knows about vintage Fender prices, even a worn one is going to cost you an arm and a leg.

The "play it until it looks that way" comments (that I often have to delete) are some of the most obtuse posts we get in this forum. There is a very good chance you will either die, go blind, or quit/be unable to play bass before your bass gets that heavily road worn look. And you will likely have to be willfully uncareful with your bass to get it to look that way. I couldn't bring myself to be unsafe with my basses even if I wanted them to have that look, so there's no way I would ever end up with a heavily reliced bass on my own.

If you wanted a bass that was red, would you apply little flecks of red paint at every gig until finally after 30 years your bass was fully colored red? Or would you just buy a bass that is already red? Would you want to hear endless crap from people saying you should have made your bass red over time? I don't think so.

Wait 30 years just to maybe get a finish you like the look of when you could have it now? That's a gamble with no payoff.

And for the post or two I've had to delete that called relic players posers, Keith Richards was one of if not the first person to order a relic from the Fender custom shop, and Oteil Burbridge plays Fender road worn basses with that little-known band the Allman Brothers. I somehow doubt you'd call these guys posers to their face.

And to everyone-I will reiterate that we don't allow relic/relic owner bashing here, so please stay focused on discussing why the instruments shown are bad examples of relics. I don't have time to babysit this thread, so it will just have to be closed if I keep having to take comments down.

Thank you

 

[FA108208usat2]

Cheap way to relic your guitar.

 

[SteveV74]

Because they like the way it looks. Just like with any other finish. Lots of people like the way an old, worn Fender looks. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool boo-teek guy, and even I love the look of a well-worn nitro Jazz. Finding one that looks the way you want is a crapshoot and a half. And for anyone that knows about vintage Fender prices, even a worn one is going to cost you an arm and a leg.

The "play it until it looks that way" comments (that I often have to delete) are some of the most obtuse posts we get in this forum. There is a very good chance you will either die, go blind, or quit/be unable to play bass before your bass gets that heavily road worn look. And you will likely have to be willfully uncareful with your bass to get it to look that way. I couldn't bring myself to be unsafe with my basses even if I wanted them to have that look, so there's no way I would ever end up with a heavily reliced bass on my own.

If you wanted a bass that was red, would you apply little flecks of red paint at every gig until finally after 30 years your bass was fully colored red? Or would you just buy a bass that is already red? Would you want to hear endless crap from people saying you should have made your bass red over time? I don't think so.

Wait 30 years just to maybe get a finish you like the look of when you could have it now? That's a gamble with no payoff.

And for the post or two I've had to delete that called relic players posers, Keith Richards was one of if not the first person to order a relic from the Fender custom shop, and Oteil Burbridge plays Fender road worn basses with that little-known band the Allman Brothers. I somehow doubt you'd call these guys posers to their face.

And to everyone-I will reiterate that we don't allow relic/relic owner bashing here, so please stay focused on discussing why the instruments shown are bad examples of relics. I don't have time to babysit this thread, so it will just have to be closed if I keep having to take comments down.

Thank you

Hey man its cool, I didnt mean to offend on an issue you obviously feel very strong about, whats really important is the music right? You see I just dont understand, your right, if I want a red bass I will just buy one, whats confusing to me is that people actually want this option, red is a finish,black is a finish,etc., relic is a finish that has been made to look like something it IS NOT! It is a beautiful brand new guitar that has been made to look OLD and USED! It has been sanded and whatever to make the finish look damaged and old,when in fact it is BRAND NEW! So I really have to disagree with you on it being a finish,it really isnt, its a finish that has been Ruined! Now I will agree that older guitars and basses, especially Fenders, look great with a bit of distress to them, it gives them character, but these relics are a fake of that, and honestly with all of these brand new relics floating around it kind of takes away from what actually makes an old Fender special, and probably( unless you really know what to look for) makes it harder to identify real vintage gear.........this is just my opinion, you dont have to agree, were just talkin bass, no big deal.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

... if I want a red bass I will just buy one, whats confusing to me is that people actually want this option, red is a finish,black is a finish,etc., relic is a finish that has been made to look like something it IS NOT! It is a beautiful brand new guitar that has been made to look OLD and USED! It has been sanded and whatever to make the finish look damaged and old,when in fact it is BRAND NEW! So I really have to disagree with you on it being a finish,it really isnt, its a finish that has been Ruined!

There's no difference between the two. A bass with a red painted finish only looks red because it was painted to look that way. I've had redwood basses that were actually red and buckeye burl basses that were actually green. That doesn't make basses painted red or green "fake." Red painted basses certainly don't take away from my "actually" red bass either. How the finish ended up there is irrelevant. A bass with a reliced finish is not a fake. It's not faking the look of a worn and beat up bass- it is a worn and beat up bass; the process was just massively sped up by the builders to give it that appearance. The finish cracks and nicks aren't painted on- they are actually there. A nick is a nick, a paint chip is a paint chip- aesthetically they are the same, and if you want your bass to have the appearance of a well-worn bass, a relic is often the best way to go if you don't have a ton of cash and a lot of time to search.

 

[Cowboy in Latvia]

This is, by far, not the worst relic job I have ever seen. That said, it is pretty bad. There is more to a relic than just sanding off bits of finish. Also, the fake stickers are a terrible idea as they make it more of a counterfeit than a real attempt at selling your own work. I don't care what words you use after the fact, putting fake logos on indicates you are trying to pass it off as real. The same thing has been going on in the classic car community (fake GTOs anybody) for a long time and even though the scale is different here, it is no less despicable.

As to relics in general, play what you like and like what you play...period. I really don't care either way. Will I buy one? Probably not. Do I care if you do? See the statement at the beginning of this paragraph. Some of us have gotten so sensitive to "relic bashing" that we see it where it does not exist. That is a side effect of years of constant actual bashing (as a teacher, I have experienced constant bashing to the point I sometimes see it when it is not present) and has made for an extremely sensitive subject. To that I say...Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Translation? Haters gonna hate.

 

[gln1955]

[QUOTE="Bryan R. Tyler, post: 17085603, member: 23251" A bass with a reliced finish is not a fake. It's not faking the look of a worn and beat up bass- it is a worn and beat up bass; the process was just massively sped up by the builders to give it that appearance. [/QUOTE]

Really, if you like relics that's totally cool, but no need to pretend it's the real thing. It just sounds silly.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Really, if you like relics that's totally cool, but no need to pretend it's the real thing. It just sounds silly.

"The real thing" implies that there's something magical about the wear on old basses; people romanticize it as if every ding came from a bar fight while on tour with Eric Clapton and every scratch came from a groupie at CBGBs. As if they all have a story to tell. The reality is most wear comes from klutzes or people who just aren't very careful with their instruments or from boredly playing Mustang Sally 5000 times. A ding is a ding. Appearance-wise, there's no difference between the two. The only difference that would matter is if you are into the whole vintage/"mojo" thing, in which case you would not be looking at relics.

 

[SteveV74]

"The real thing" implies that there's something magical about the wear on old basses; people romanticize it as if every ding came from a bar fight while on tour with Eric Clapton and every scratch came from a groupie at CBGBs. As if they all have a story to tell. The reality is most wear comes from klutzes or people who just aren't very careful with their instruments or from boredly playing Mustang Sally 5000 times. A ding is a ding. Appearance-wise, there's no difference between the two. The only difference that would matter is if you are into the whole vintage/"mojo" thing, in which case you would not be looking at relics.

So you dont want to be a klutz, you just want to look like one, lol Im just messing with you, this is a very silly thing to have arguments about.......groupie at CBGBs,hehe.

 

[SteveV74]

I will say this, I played one of those relic Jaco basses, it played sweet, solid like a tank, I think even Geddy Lee is using a couple and I KNOW no one is gonna fault Geddy Lee!