skankdelvar

The volume of response to this thread suggests that relic-ing is still very much a thing for generating opinions about whether relic-ing is a good thing. It is a matter of conjecture whether the actual practice of relic-ing is still a thing.

My old poly-coated 3TSB '71 P (which reappeared in the Marketplace recently) had some very rough flaking around the upper bout. So your Maya is technically correct. Smoothing the cracked lacquer would technically make it less 'authentic' and more 'improved'. Anyway, nice Maya

I must have missed some of the more recent relic threads. Just idly wondering if the phenomenon might be waning in popularity. Perhaps not...

Not even particularly the cack-handed belt-sander approach. Like I say, maybe it's just me but relic-ing (even high end expert stuff) seems to be less visible and talked about than in recent history.

Is it my imagination or am I seeing fewer reliced instruments out there? Fewer manufacturers offering 'road worn' options? A shortage of eBay chancers with belt sanders? Just wondering. Eek.

There's a tried and tested way to find out. Look in your sock drawer: if you discover a bombastic moustachioed chap waving a bogus lawsuit at you then it's John Hall. If it's a bare-chested, weasel-featured little f*ck smelling of cabbage and saying 'Ni-ertch ni-ertch ni-ertch' it's Putin.

Coming soon to NAMM 2020

DNS attack out of Murmansk, obvs.

It's the Russians. The Guardian says so.

It bears repetition.

Nee-Ner Nee-Ner! We're the Shill Police and you're f**king nicked, me old beauty.

I'll bite. The UB40 versions of so many Reggae classics were not an improvement. But UB40 brought the original versions to the notice of a wider public so there's that to be thankful for.

Any reasonable man would concur with Mr Hackenbacker's position.

A 12-bar blues pattern in A from the Jim Gregory / Harvey Vinson bass book, played on an unplugged Commodore semi-acoustic in 1975

Mr Tambourine Man All Along The Watchtower Hanging On The Telephone Because The Night He’s Gonna Step on You Again (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding

Thank you so much for posting that link I just read this list of hoaxes and PMSL at the hoaxers' ingenuity. A few examples: Mr Bennett Goes to Town Nonexistent Nazi propaganda film set in Manchester, supposedly produced in 1937 but never released because of production complaints by Joseph Goebbels. Milton Bradley Playmate Supposed 600-cubic-foot computer prototype designed in late 1960s to play various board games using a giant robotic claw arm. Gideon Planke Fictitious 17th-century witch-finder active in Shropshire, supposedly the subject of a 19th-century poem used to "enforce good behaviour on unruly children before bedtime." Digital Lady Nonexistent San Francisco rock band that supposedly included the brother of the White House press secretary and used acoustic guitars and kitchen utensils to simulate the Moog synthesizer.

I used to stick a Mag 300 2x10 on top of a Hartke 4x10. It sounded nice as a 'sort of' 6x10. Some of the push switch plastic buttons had split and Ashdown sent me a full set of replacements even though I told them I'd bought it secondhand. Top blokes.

Obituary: Mickey Shitenbacker (1923-2012) Early Life Viewed by many as the 'Father of The Electric Guitar' Michael Norvus Shitenbacker was born in Anaheim CA. on Aug 10 1923 to Monty and Jezebel Shitenbacker, owners of an avocado farm. Educated in nearby Fullerton, the 18 year-old Shitenbacker joined the US Navy on the outbreak of war, serving in the Pacific theatre as a sanitary technician (grade 3). Wounded by cistern shrapnel at Guadalcanal when a Kamikaze aircraft struck his ship the USS Dumpling, Shitenbacker was honorably discharged from the service in 1945, returning to California where he struck up a partnership with local radio repairman Cletus Mahoney. Observing the success of his rivals Leo Fender and Clayton (Doc) Kaufman, Shitenbacker persuaded Mahoney to embark upon the construction and sale of accordion amplifiers. Business was slow and Mahoney backed out, leaving Shitenbacker as sole proprietor of S&M Accessories (a name which had provoked repeated visits from local law enforcement). Shitenbacker renamed the company after himself and re-focused on the burgeoning electric guitar market. Success and Failure In 1949 Shitenbacker debuted his first solid body guitar known initially as the Shitocaster until litigation brought by Fender forced a change to (first) the Backenshitter (then) the Shittenupper and (finally) the Solidbacker. This innovative guitar formed the foundation of Shitenbacker's early success, being adopted by country and western stars including Merle Pickens, Buck Arrew and Spade Cooley. Through the 1950's and into the early sixties Shitenbacker evolved his products, offering a range of guitars including the futuristic Stratoshitter, the 13-string Jazzbacker, the Bananaboat Gaylord bass guitar and the Inviso-Backer, a body-less instrument comprising only a neck, tuners and four ceramic pickups mounted in the headstock. In 1964 Shitenbacker became convinced that he was being stalked by the ghost of the Kamikaze pilot who had nearly brought about his death 20 years earlier and quickly sold his business to CBS for $1.2m. In the wake of Shitenbacker's departure guitar fans became convinced that quality had dropped. This gave rise to the peri-Shitenbacker vs post-Shitenbacker controversy which in part spurred a growth in vintage instrument values. Later Life Following a course of psychiatric therapy Shitenbacker returned to guitar manufacturing with his Melody Man company, re-hashing and improving his earlier designs, including the Gaylord bass which appeared in a number of versions with a range of sometimes inexplicable accessories including the TotalMute, a dual-end string-clamping system which rendered the strings inert and the instrument completely silent. After a vicious falling-out with financial backer Ernest Testicle, Shitenbacker left Melody Man and reunited with his former associate Cletus Mahoney to set up a boutique luthiery, a partnership which lasted until Shitenbacker's death in fall 2012. Shitenbacker was regarded in the industry as a generally bonhominous man, though in later years he acquired an unsavoury reputation as a vexatious litigant, remorselessly pursuing and suing private individuals who possessed unauthorised copies of Shitenbacker guitars. In 2009 Shitenbacker was convicted of gross stupidity and vehicular assault following a spat with the administrator of a British bass guitar web forum. Shitenbacker leaves his wife of 74 years Magnolia and his son Sterling who continues the family business at M&S Guitars.

You know who else used to sport a Zig bass? Bernie Sanders, when he was backing Joan Baez in '65. He was one of Ralph Zig's first endorsees. Sanders: Zig bass? That f**ker would sustain for days. Vote for me.

I had a Fender Goggle back in the day. Hung nicely on the strap; fast neck; the deep belly cut was particularly comfortable. The problem was that whichever way you switched the pick-ups they were always out of phase with each other; also, the cap values were wildly inappropriate. As a result, the output was about 75% less than a stock P. In the end I traded it for a re-fin George Formby Strat and never regretted it.

I saw Mr Goggle with his sig model on the Slack Mattress re-union tour a few years back when they played Devizes Corn Exchange. The Gaylord sounded absolutely thunderous through Tony's vintage Acoustic rig - heft for days and bags of growl. When he hit the E 12th fret harmonic at the end of Hollywood Hooker a crack appeared in the floor of the venue that went right out the front door, across the square and up the front of WH Smiths.

Also a 1938 Hollywood crime movie with Edward G Robinson and Humphrey Bogart

Well, that's the album cover sorted ^^

When I was 18, totally not a problem. Deal me in. But I'm not 18 anymore. Mind you, I wouldn't draw the line at someone having a bottle of beer at half-time.

Can rehearse Tuesday nights, available to play out most weekends. Have Telecaster and a Princeton, can brush up my harp skills, vocals no probs. Reliable and easy-going. Send set list with keys, paid gigs only.