Relic'd Guitars are for Posers

[PelliX]

I really dig the gibson VOS thing, basically ageing it lightly by buffing down the finish a little and tarnishing the hardware, making it look like a mint condition but still 60 year old instrument. I dig this on vintage reissues to make the guitar not feel shiny and brand new and like you are playing a real vintage instrument.

I dont personally see the point in most new (non vintage spec like murphy lab) aged guitars, especially like the fender road worn series which is very fake and not what real wear would look like

I plan on building a LP junior in the near future and want to relic that, but do it in a more legitimate way. Basically recreate all the standard ways i ding up my guitars but do 40 years worth in a couple days/ weeks ad just generally not care/ try to ding it on things

A couple of days of those funny sanding gloves should do the trick....

 

[playloud]

Only 18 pages, guys? Surely there's more to be said!

Since we're all just jabbering into the breeze, does anyone else find the interest in "authenticity" totally alien when it comes to rock music?

I mean, the genre's been toying enthusiastically with artifice from the very start. Recordings from the 60s are full of guitar overdubs, punched-in vocals, elaborate/unreproducible tape effects, hard-panned drums and uncredited session musicians. 'Exile on Main Street' - arguably the high watermark of the genre - has several tracks of pastiche ('Rip this joint', 'Torn and frayed', 'Sweet Virginia'). It even has a song called 'Turd on the run' for crying out loud! But it's exactly this willingness to merge the folk traditions of the blues with camp English drama which makes the album so triumphant.

And that's not to mention the (many!) aspects of rock culture beyond the music itself...

I like and respect George Jones; I even have time (albeit a lot less!) for Wynton Marsalis. But at heart, I guess I'm more of a VinAlice Cooper fan - makeup and all!

I don't like opera, and I don't like ballet...

 

[10kDA]

Only 18 pages, guys? Surely there's more to be said!

Since we're all just jabbering into the breeze, does anyone else find the interest in "authenticity" totally alien when it comes to rock music?

I mean, the genre's been toying enthusiastically with artifice from the very start.

Depends on the genre within Rock. My preferences run to artists like the J Geils Band who rarely, if ever, recorded anything they could not reproduce on stage with the instruments played with their own hands.

But I agree, artifice (polite way of saying phoniness) abounds. I have nearly zero patience for acts like Bowie etc which are aptly called "acts".

YMMV

 

[playloud]

Depends on the genre within Rock. My preferences run to artists like the J Geils Band who rarely, if ever, recorded anything they could not reproduce on stage with the instruments played with their own hands.

But I agree, artifice (polite way of saying phoniness) abounds. I have nearly zero patience for acts like Bowie etc which are aptly called "acts".

YMMV

Fair enough - I suspect we might occupy different ends of the "rock spectrum".

Have you heard the '72 Bowie performance at the Santa Monica Civic? Excellent performances from everyone involved. I would think there would be something there for even the most diehard rock and roll traditionalist!

 

[10kDA]

Have you heard the '72 Bowie performance at the Santa Monica Civic? Excellent performances from everyone involved. I would think there would be something there for even the most diehard rock and roll traditionalist!

That may be, but I'm not a rock and roll traditionalist so I think I'll pass.

 

[HelwigToneFab]

What say you?

Any blemishes or finish faults on my guitars were earned honestly... by me !

If you buy it to look like you have more experience on stage then . If you buy it because you want the exact specs a guitar had… ie: Duane Allman signature Les Paul, Van Halen sig, then .

 

[ricksdisconnected]

If you buy it to look like you have more experience on stage then .

is that even a thing?

 

[Derrick111]

is that even a thing?

Nope, definitely not a thing. Nope nope nope.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Nope, definitely not a thing. Nope nope nope.

well none of that makes you look like you have more experience in my book.
stage fillers were ok back in the day. just not impressive these days to me.

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

Nope, definitely not a thing. Nope nope nope.

These pics are decades old by now (and ironically enough probably pre-date the whole relic thing by quite a bit). And when you draw the kind of crowds shown here, you're pretty much entitled to use whatever stage props (aka windows dressing) you like.

 

[El Gringo]

CS '56 Relic Tomatillo Aged Tahitian Coral w/ Josefina's
View attachment 110400

CS '56 Heavy Relic Aged Candy Apple Red over 2 Tone Sunburst w/ Fat 50's


View attachment 110401

Smoking hot !!!!!!!!!!

 

[playloud]

is that even a thing?

You guys don't torch your gear with a Bic on the way to the gig, for good measure?

 

[HelwigToneFab]

is that even a thing?

They call it a “road worn guitar”… not because it was found on the road. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so expensive. It makes it “look like you’ve been on tour” (road experience). That is “the” thing…

 

[Derrick111]

These pics are decades old by now (and ironically enough probably pre-date the whole relic thing by quite a bit). And when you draw the kind of crowds shown here, you're pretty much entitled to use whatever stage props (aka windows dressing) you like.

OK I don't defend music that requires stage props to carry the performance, but whatever you're into I guess... You can't assume that these cheese balls drew any crowds, unless maybe you were there rockin' out with their moms... Were you at this one with the Marshall tapestry prop? The ladies already look board waiting for the support band to get it over with.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

They call it a “road worn guitar”… not because it was found on the road. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so expensive. It makes it “look like you’ve been on tour” (road experience). That is “the” thing…

you didnt read the whole thread? im all for relic guitars. i know why the call them as such lol.

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

OK I don't defend music that requires stage props to carry the performance, but whatever you're into I guess... You can't assume that these cheese balls drew any crowds, unless maybe you were there rockin' out with their moms... Were you at this one with the Marshall tapestry prop? The ladies already look board waiting for the support band to get it over with.

The 2nd pic in your other post was Immortal at Wacken Open Air, and yeah, I've been there (iirc this was from the 2002 edition, where I actually was). About as big and legit as can be.
1st pic looks an awful lot like Mötley Crüe. So, yeah, quite obscure band, doesn't draw any significant crowd, never has, never will.

But hey, as far as I'm concerned, badmouthing fellow artists is bad form, and if you don't have anything positive to contribute the best/smartest/most gracious course of action is to STFU. And definitely not go out of one's way to diss others. To each his own

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

Funnily enough, I was watching videos from this year's Hellfest, Megadeth's set just popped up, and, surely enough...wall of (partly) fake Marshall cabs !



So ? "act as if they're more experienced than they actually are" much ?

 

[Derrick111]

The 2nd pic in your other post was Immortal at Wacken Open Air, and yeah, I've been there (iirc this was from the 2002 edition, where I actually was). About as big and legit as can be.
1st pic looks an awful lot like Mötley Crüe. So, yeah, quite obscure band, doesn't draw any significant crowd, never has, never will.

But hey, as far as I'm concerned, badmouthing fellow artists is bad form, and if you don't have anything positive to contribute the best/smartest/most gracious course of action is to STFU. And definitely not go out of one's way to diss others. To each his own

The photo examples I posted are simply proof that these cheese balls really exist, and was meant to humorously insinuate the existence of poseurs "who buy a relic to look like they have more experience on stage". I don't really give a flying F who the poor sobs really are in the photos. Sorry if they hurt your feelings, but it's not your job to tell me about form. Since you love Mötley Crüe so much:

 

[PelliX]

They call it a “road worn guitar”… not because it was found on the road. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so expensive. It makes it “look like you’ve been on tour” (road experience). That is “the” thing…

Thing is, they make a guitar look more like you've got a lot of experience *falling off* a stage, rather than playing on one....

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

The photo examples I posted are simply proof that these cheese balls really exist, and was meant to humorously insinuate the existence of poseurs "who buy a relic to look like they have more experience on stage". I don't really give a flying F who the poor sobs really are in the photos. Sorry if they hurt your feelings, but it's not your job to tell me about form. Since you love Mötley Crüe so much:

Again, IMHO as an artist going out of one's way to badmouth fellow artists is bad form and says more about the one criticising than the target of said criticism, like it or not. (in my experience the ones that have time to waste to criticise usually are mediocre at best, and actually massive poseurs and tryhards...better focus on others' shortcomings than one's own, eh ?)
And I hope 1) you have such a brilliant career in music you achieved 1% of what they did; 2) God forbid people get old and have bad performances, I guess you're oh so good and oh so perfect you're immune to that.
Gotta love the Internet. Sums up this whole, sad thread.