I've never been a fan of these Relic and Road Worn guitars. I know I might catch flack for that, and that's okay. It's just never made any sense to me why you would shell out thousands of dollars for a guitar that has been beat up for you. Shouldn't patina develop out of your own "road wear" with a story to go along with it? If anybody would like to let me in on their take on the matter, I would love to hear it!! In all honesty, I have nothing against the craftsmanship or the people who buy the guitars. Everyone has their own taste, not to mention the build on the guitars is fantastic. I'm just curious as to the why?

The actual reason for this post has to do with the accelerated cosmetic aging on these guitars. If I were to go into an imaginary warehouse filled with Road Worn strats of a particular style, would I find them to be worn all the same way? Or is the aging process unique to each guitar? In other words, do they all have a cigarette burn one inch to the right next to the volume knob? (I don't know if they actually do, just using it as an example )

Anyway, I'd love to hear some opinions!

Cheers,
Chris

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Sitting in my car, smoking a cigar, the only time I'm happy is when I play my guitar.

Gear
Classic Series 50's Stratocaster
Custom Shop Eric Clapton Stratocaster
'62 Reissue Twin Reverb

Yes the Roadworns are done with similar patterns but there are differences between them. The CS models look different enough.

The neck sold it for me on the Roadworn - great playing strat.

I don't particularly care for the look either but....it seems that there is great demand for them.
On the other hand, anyone crazy enough to bring out an original 1950's, 60's or 70's out to a gig is either fearless, drowning in disposable income or has great Roadie security on staff.

I have to admit I played a lightly reliced 60's CS a while back and it was nice.

So to each their own I suppose.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

The staggering demand is what puzzles me. And what happens when you go to gig the guitar and someone comes up afterwards and inquires as to how long you've had that "beautifully worn guitar" and that it must have seen a lot in its day...

To which you respond, "oh it was actually built last year, it's only seen the inside of my case and two or three gigs"

Hi Chris,I can't stand this relicing fad either it makes as much sense as relicing a new car or house-which nobody in their right mind would ever do.I can see someone probably sanding down the neck a bit to give it a played-in feel but otherwise to scratch and dent a new guitar to make it appear to have been gigged for years is ludicrous.As I've said before many times-I'm glad that this relicing fad wasn't around when Stradivarius,Amati, Guarneri and the early Gibsons Martins and Fenders were made as there wouldn't be much left to enjoy now.I take great care of all my guitars and amps and even though I play and strum very hard and energetically there is not a scratch or ding on any of my guitars that I bought new even from the 60s.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Actually, relicing has been around as long as there has been valuable aged instruments.
Even back in Guarneri's or Stradivarius's time people attempted to pass off instruments as the real McCoy.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

It seems everyone's defense of these deliberately beat up, oxidized, overpriced instruments is that they love the necks. FWIW, the exact same feel can be achieved in less than 5 minutes on a pristine looking neck with a round shafted screwdriver, 0000 steel wool, 600 silicone carbide paper and a premium guitar polish. Further, after this 'treatment', the neck will still remain pristine looking yet play just like a nicely broken in one minus the abuse. YMMV.

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You dig?

It's interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on this trend! Martian, you make an interesting point about the necks being sought after and how easily the same effect can be replicated. Does anyone want to chime as to why they purchased a Relic or Road Worn. I promise I won't bite

_________________
Sitting in my car, smoking a cigar, the only time I'm happy is when I play my guitar.

Gear
Classic Series 50's Stratocaster
Custom Shop Eric Clapton Stratocaster
'62 Reissue Twin Reverb

I know the first thing I do when I buy a new car is slash the upholstery and kick the #@&! out of all the panels. I then regularly wash the car in seawater using course sandpaper. This gives the car a roadworn look and gives me credibilty as a driver. Wouldn't it be great if GM put out a series of reliced vehicles?

Seriously though, worn guitars do look cool, but personally I would feel like a complete tosser playing a deliberately reliced one. The younger you are, the sillier it looks (that includes J Mayer. Can I say that on this site? I do hope I haven't blasphemed )

for me, the reason i bought mine. it plays and sounds amazing.
i have an american standard and when i play that now im gutted i bought it, it feels like plastic and sounds nothing like the road worn. i didnt buy it for the looks i bought it because it sounded and felt great to me. so you dont like relic, so what, whats the point in bringing up yet another i hate relic thread,?dont be lazy and look through the group theres loads.

in conclusion. try one and see if it sounds/feels good to you. if not you havnt lost any money to the relic fad thats been going on for years.

oh and ive had mine for 5 month, and it looks diff from any other roadworn just from me playing it

The first mistake your making is judging roadworn and relic guitars as being similar things. Their about as similar as your freezer and TV. You plug em both in, but thats about all they have in common.
One is a factory run guitar, much the same as the American Standard/deluxe/AVRI/Standard/Highway. Or whatever. Their all pretty much the same, aside from minor differences in hardware and overall neck shape.
The other is a Fender built the way they were meant to be, by hand. The price is even the same.

What you will find about a relic, that you won't find on a factory guitar. Or even a new customshop for that matter. Is a guitar that is hand shaped to the wear on the neck. The wear on the body is executed by hand, rather than machine. So all in all that equates to more attention to detail to my mind. Go play a Shshkiov 58 relic and tell me theres anything at all wrong with it. Try picking up a Deluxe afterwards. The difference is quite apparent.

Trust me patina can happen in a second on a cellulose finish. It happened to me in the space of 15 seconds in December. Took my guitar from a warm car, outside for a couple of seconds whilst I walked up the drive. Got it in the house and took it out the case. Watched it crack before my eyes. Thats on a three year old guitar that has been babied by the way. Wear spots are already developing on it 4 weeks later.

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No no and no

Just shows how unfit for purpose nitro was, and why it was changed.
What puzzles me is if this was the paint used on US cars at the time, why didn't they develop a patina, and the paint wear off like the guitars.

I have 5 immaculate strats and 1 Roadworn.
The Roadworn is my favourite at the moment.

It's an entirely visual thing though isn't it? It doesn't render the guitar fit or unfit. I've personaly no prefrence other than for the softer sheen of cellulose. Which is entirely down to how whoever sprays it. You can shine it to similar gleam as urethane.

Personaly on a tool that's going to get bumped, I prefer to not have to deal with spiderweb cracks.

As for judging guitars by appearance, I wonder how many would balk at the idea of a prewar Martin? Damn ugly looking things in my opinion on the couple I've been in contact with. A heavenly sound non the less though.

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No no and no

I'm guessing not many people took their cars into their houses...

As I understand it the reason you get the patina on guitars with a nitro finish is due to thermal shock (ie taking it from a cold car into a warm house). This wouldn't be an issue with cars.

The way to try and avoid it with a guitar is not to open the case for a while after bringing it into the house as it will give the guitar a chance to warm up a little slower.

Also I suppose the finish on cars might have been applied a bit thicker!! Oh and cars aren't made out of wood...(it's the expansion/contraction of the wood that causes the cracks)...

Oh and I bought a Road Worn because the neck felt amazing and I also liked how it looked - but that's just me. On the other hand I can't understand people who buy a pair of jeans that are already torn (when I tear my jeans I usually throw them out if they can't be repaired!!)

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How did it sound to you?

I was at a master guitar class given by Jack Pearson and there were many talented guitarists there,(I wasn't one of them ) but there was a guy sitting in front of me who had a Strat that looked like it had been played heavily since the early '60s,I asked him how old it was and it was 6 years old......busted my interest in it.
If I still had my old '65 I would be selective in where I played it but it wouldn't sit at home locked away in a dark place only to be viewed when the moon was right,in the words of my BIL who owns a wonderful early '50s Martin,"they're meant to have the hell played out of 'em".
I will play my guitars,not leave them locked away till after I'm gone for somebody else,that way they get a natural relic job.