I'm a new guitar player, took lessons with my son prior to back surgery this summer. Cann't really play anything yet but i already own 3 guitars, a MIM candy apple red strat, a squire vintage mod strat with a cherry burst finish and a jasmine acoustic. My older son has a ibenez and my younger son has a dean bass.
I enjoy looking at and studying all the different guitars, my question is why would anyone want a new guitar with a worn finish, if you wear the finish off is one thing, i hope i get good enough to wear a finish off but to buy a new guitar with a worn finish seems silly.
Like the Limited Edition Heavy Relic Jazzmaster Sonic Blue for $5600 with almost no finish.(http://www.gtrstore.com/store/guitars/f ... sonic-blue)
Any opinions????

Ray

It all has to do with P. T. Barnum. Personally I like to wear my own finish off.

While I would never buy a relic'd guitar, who ever did that Jazzmaster, did a pretty good job. It actually looks like it might be old. Keep practicing, you'll be playing all kinds of songs before too long.

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RM...I like to wear the finish off mine all by myself! Welcome to the forum and guitar playing! Enjoy it and never worry about how good you are or aren't, if you enjoy it, that is all that matters. By the way, we love pics here, so if you get the chance post your guitars, sounds like you got a couple winners there!

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

+1

Welcome to the forum and......

RAWK ON!



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I tried a roadworn strat in a shop and it felt great. And at my age, I won't have time to wear one in.

i agree Ray

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08 Fender Highway One Tele-Sunburst
09 Squier Custom Tele II-Blonde
04 Squier Standard Strat Antiqueburst
07 Washburn D10SCE natural with Rosewood backing
Fender Mustang II amp


Experience is the best teacher

Because it looks cool.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

This has all the makings of a long thread debate......To encapsulate as to why...

Relics, or road worn guitars are a result of necessity from musicians. Being out on the road in clubs or halls or wherever was never a good idea/place to have a prized personal vintage guitar with you.
Not only from the value but more so from the perspective of an irreplaceable guitar if lost, stolen or destroyed.... So a replacement or an identical twin was the answer...Except the fresh out of the box look also didn't fit the image. So a little mangling here and there and the replacement looked like it was on the road as long as the musician...

This initially started as a custom order by just a couple musicians....Legend has it that Keith Richards started the trend but that is just an exaggeration. He was one of the first handful of musicians to do this or have Fender replicate some of his Strat's and Tele's.
The Fender Custom Shop first did this on a couple prototypes and to make a long story short,
the feedback was a demand far exceeding the available supply.....Which brings us to today's offerings of road worn, slightly scuffed, well played in look of guitars.
I'm not a fan of the " Look What The Cat Dragged In " but I have played a couple lightly worn Custom Shop's and they are amazing, although I prefer to wear my guitars in, one or two slightly scuffed guitars may just pop up in the quiver some day....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I probably repeat myself by saying that I absolutely don't understand the relic mania at all!

I also don't agree, that fake relics look cool because once you're closer than 10m you instantly see that it's fake in most cases! Really good and well made relics are rare, even from the Fender Custom Shop.

A real(!!) vintage relic strat has its charme though.

I personally would NEVER pay a couple of hundred dollars more for getting my brand new guitar destroyed right at the factory.

To me it feels like a sin to purposely damage a valuable musical instrument and to me it is a matter of NOT APPRECIATING THE VALUE or just not taking care of the guitar. But that's just me ...

I also don't bump in every tree with my car just because stock cars look cool!

In the end, this is a neverending debate amongst guitarists. I guess, taste cannot be discussed and if there was no demand, manufacturers wouldn't build any relics.

Some people like'em, some don't.
I've seen much worse things done to guitars than "just" relicing!

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Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

I personally take very good care of my instruments and would rather that the wear and tear come from personal use. And then too, each scratch and ding will invoke a memory of a particular place,time, chick sort of like the "Travel decals" that people used to put all over their luggage.

Then too, I don't take my CS out too much so I use a different color (much less expensive) production model if I am out.

But if that is the kind of thing you like, I could fix you up with a "Road Worn" Corvette and I'll only charge you $25,000 over list for it. Plus shipping of course.

Art

Well, this is -strictly- my own personal opinion but personally...I never got it either. If someone goes out and buys a vintage instrument that's been well played and naturally worn, I guess it goes with the turf, but I just don't get this whole relic/road worn thing at all. In my mind it's like going out and buying a brand new car where someone's smashed out one of the headlights, cracked the windshield, key'd the doors and put a big sledge hammer dent in the rear quarter...why would -anyone- buy a brand new car in this condition, let alone pay extra for these "features"????? Even in the case of something like antiques...do you really want that ugly piece of furniture that's been beat and stripped sitting in your living room or do you want something that's been properly cared for over the years...or at least properly restored? Again, I just don't get any of this (and I hope I -NEVER- do!).

Personally I like to keep my instruments looking as nice and fresh as possible, for as long as possible. Quite frankly, even I were to purchase a vintage instrument where the finish was that worn, chances are I'd probably refinish it myself...but then I'm a bit strange in that to me the "value" of something like a guitar comes from how it feels and sounds in my hands and how it looks to -my- eyes...not what some idiot collector thinks it should be worth.

Obviously as with so much stuff "guitar" it's a matter of personal choice. I guess some people just seem to think that ratty somehow looks cool...oh well.

Again, just my own personal opinion,
Jim

Yeah right. I'm sure that you all would refuse SRVs Strat because a) it was artificially worn because he beat the crap out of it, and it was not a "natural relic", and b) you didn't wear it yourselves.

The car analogies are too much really, the worn guitars still function 100%. A better analogy would be a piece of antique furniture that has a worn finish. Yes, very cool.

My question is; why does it bother some people so much that they have to rant about it?

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I think you misunderstand Shimmi. If it was Stevie's or Eric's or even Chuck's, I would be happy to have it. Think of the stories it could tell. But a brand new Strat is just going to tell me that some guy with a key chain beat the crap out of it and it was lucky to get out of the factory in one piece, sort of.

There are those that love the road worn and relic'd and love it. More power to them. I just don't get it. Not ranting about it. The player has to make his or her own "mojo."

Art

I personally have several some I did, some I did not do and some that still look new. Each one has its own character and feel. There is just something about a well worn guitar that just feels good. One of my favorites is a custom shop relic not because its worn but because it just feels and plays great. I have one of the new 59 rosewood and the finish is perfect not a mark on it yet, and it feels and plays great. So it depends on you the player and not someone else who says it should or should not be. Buy it worn or wear it out yourself does not matter. Who here would not take Roys or SRV's strat if given the opportunity what are you going to say "O I did not wear it out myself so NO THANKS" Right. Enjoy Playing
My thoughts.