Is anybody getting bored of "reliced" instruments?

[stingrayPete1977]

It's like having a face lift but asking the surgeon to try and get you looking as close Keith Richards as possible.

[Jazzjames]

If you find an instrument that plays really well and it happens to be reliced- go for it, that's cool. But to buy one because it's had that done to it? I think you need to think carefully about why you want the instrument. Is it to look cool or to make music on?

[Japhet]

My Tokai Hardpuncher has aged a lot better than I have since 84. I really couldn't care less what a guitar looks like as long as it's not fake, and relics are fake.

[Lw.]

You play a Tokai Hardpuncher but don't like fakes? Hmm... [insertnotsureifseriousfrymemehere]

[Sparky Mark]

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1487253439' post='3238396']
You play a Tokai Hardpuncher but don't like fakes? Hmm... [insertnotsureifseriousfrymemehere]
[/quote]

Brilliant! 😃

[therealting]

[quote name='Jazzjames' timestamp='1487250090' post='3238354']
I think you need to think carefully about why you want the instrument. Is it to look cool or to make music on?
[/quote]

Why not both? Most of us have bought instruments because they look cool for one reason or another, and most of us have decided not to buy otherwise fantastic instruments because they didn't like the way they looked. What's wrong with getting a bass because you like the way it looks? Is getting a newer bass that has been reliced to look old any less honest than buying an older bass that has been refinished to look new?

[EliasMooseblaster]

[quote name='therealting' timestamp='1487256384' post='3238422']
Why not both? Most of us have bought instruments because they look cool for one reason or another, and most of us have decided not to buy otherwise fantastic instruments because they didn't like the way they looked. What's wrong with getting a bass because you like the way it looks? Is getting a newer bass that has been reliced to look old any less honest than buying an older bass that has been refinished to look new?
[/quote]

I could understand it one way 'round; less so the other. That is to say, I could understand turning down an instrument which sounded good and was a delight to play because you couldn't get on with the appearance. Conversely, investing in an instrument for its looks, even if you knew it sounded terrible, seems like a daft use of money to me. And I speak as someone who is really very shallow when it comes to the appearance of guitars and basses!

[therealting]

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1487265132' post='3238505']


I could understand it one way 'round; less so the other. That is to say, I could understand turning down an instrument which sounded good and was a delight to play because you couldn't get on with the appearance. Conversely, investing in an instrument for its looks, even if you knew it sounded terrible, seems like a daft use of money to me. And I speak as someone who is really very shallow when it comes to the appearance of guitars and basses!
[/quote]

But who says it has to sound terrible (I didn't)? We live in an age where basses are generally pretty well made, set up services are widespread, and pickups and electronics are easily available and replaced. Modern instruments (eg Fender types) are reasonably consistent these days, and if someone wants a reliced one vs a pristine one because they like how it looks then what's the big deal? And that's assuming they sound and play equally well - some people prefer how the aged ones feel and play.

[Geek99]

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1487179333' post='3237826']
Personally I don't like relicing but I think a naturally worn bass increases a players credibility no end.

[attachment=238255:Adam Clayton.jpg]


[/quote]
That's one bass that I really like the look of.

[fftc]

I'm not a fan but obviously plenty of folk are. No problem if that's what folk are into.

But when folk are asking why the ubiquitous nature of reliced instruments might bother someone who doesn't like them it's this.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1487152673' post='3237477']
I popped into the new GuitarGuitar in Camden last week and as expected they have a reasonable range of mostly Fender instruments. However I reckon well over half were reliced... almost all the custom shop basses had a light relic.

.. Not a lot of options at the higher end for someone who likes their basses to look new.
[/quote]

The number of times you browse through the custom shop stuff and find something that ticks nearly all the boxes but for the relic effect. They do a NOS and a closet classic in the Fender custom shop, but hardly any shops seem to carry them. Those are the ones I would be interested in but you can't find any for the damned relics!

[Cato]

Fender Custom shop relicing just seems like an excuse to slap another couple of grand on the price tag.

I mean are the Dusty Hill signature or the Jaco Custom relics really £4k+ basses?

As far as I can tell there's no fancy woods or electronics in either bass and the relicing must be done via some sort of template to get them all looking identical, so unless both models are being hand whittled from a single tree trunk I just can't see how they justify their price tags.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Cato

[Machines]

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1487353936' post='3239283']
Fender Custom shop relicing just seems like an excuse to slap another couple of grand on the price tag.

I mean are the Dusty Hill signature or the Jaco Custom relics really £4k+ basses?

As far as I can tell there's no fancy woods or electronics in either bass and the relicing must be done via some sort of template to get them all looking identical, so unless both models are being hand whittled from a single tree trunk I just can't see how they justify their price tags.
[/quote]

Simple. Because people are buying them at those prices.

[Jazzjames]

[quote name='therealting' timestamp='1487256384' post='3238422']
Why not both? Most of us have bought instruments because they look cool for one reason or another, and most of us have decided not to buy otherwise fantastic instruments because they didn't like the way they looked. What's wrong with getting a bass because you like the way it looks? Is getting a newer bass that has been reliced to look old any less honest than buying an older bass that has been refinished to look new?
[/quote]

True. It is nice when the instrument is visually pleasing, but the priority has to be sound and playability. The clue is in the name, it's an [i]instrument.[/i]

Is getting a newer bass that has been reliced to look old less honest than an old bass that has been refinished? Simply, yes.

I played a Fender custom shop Jazz relic for a couple of years and I really liked it. I bought it because it was the best Jazz in the shop, and the neck was so nice to play. The relicing didn't look fake like a lot of the non-Fender knock-offs that you see about, and the used price made the bass quite good value.

But something like a reliced Sandberg, an instrument that didn't even exist 20 years ago, is stupid in my opinion.

[bassmonk]

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1487022259' post='3236379']
I don't see the point. It's like buying a mediocre priced car then ran sand paper and wire brush through it and knock the bonnet and wheels here and there!
[/quote]
This made me laugh out loud! Well said!

[Saved]

Relic is ridiculous.
My bass tracher has a warwick thumb bubinga with few sings because of heavy use and didnt like them.
I like the basses looking new more than looking old.But at most i like them be and looking DIY

[Beer of the Bass]

Why do Fender nitro finishes age so heavily? I have a well-played archtop guitar made in 1936 with nitro lacquer; it has some light checking, pick scratches and a bare spot on the back of the neck, but still looks nothing like the way many 60s Fenders already looked in the 70s and 80s.

[dmccombe7]

I just don't get it at all. If i want a new bass i want it to look like a new bass and as you say few yrs down the line i don't want to have to take to luthier to have it resprayed properly.

Complete waste of some very nice basses in my opinion.
Dave

[Kev]

Each to their own. I don't like it, largely because i have very seldom seen a reliced bass that looks natural (some of the wear points are bizzare,what on earth is the relicing on the inside of the top horn about?) but also I would rather create the wear myself, or buy an old bass with genuine wear, than pay for a battered brand new bass. Or, buy a bass with a decent finish in the first place!

I swear though, if I see another classifieds ad stating that all dings and wear are "original" and its otherwise in mint condition...

[Cuzzie]

I think we get the picture on relic'd finishes now from the masses, but some manufacturers 'artificially' age the wood. Obviously this happens also in furniture etc.

If the wood for the bass is 'aged' but the finish is not relic'd does this count as a relic'd bass and is this acceptable knowing that of course the tone of wood changes with time and you can achieve an 'older' tone earlier in a bass guitars journey

[Defo]

This may seem sad, but I find the look of a bass very important to how I play it, always have. Never been one for relics but I can totally understand why someone in, say, a dedicated blues outfit, would feel they can fit their playing in more authentically with a battered looking relic.

[Hobbayne]

There is a lot of love for the Nate Mendel P Bass, but think the fake relicing lets it down. I still think its a fantastic guitar though.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 28, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Harryburke14]

Actual wear from actual playing I quite like, even more so over pristine finishes on older basses. To me it shows that the instrument is of high enough quality to have been played a lot for a long time.

I don't particularly have time for anything made to look old. PMT Birmingham very nearly made me take out finance on a Sandberg last year, the only thing putting me off being the very fake reliced look.

But that's just me.

[Guest MoJo]

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1487022259' post='3236379']
I don't see the point. It's like buying a mediocre priced car then ran sand paper and wire brush through it and knock the bonnet and wheels here and there!
[/quote]

Imagine the likes of BMW offering a sandpapered and dented 'relic' base model Series 1 for £50,000 claiming that it gives 'driven in' feel.

[LewisK1975]

I think the cars analogy is way off guys. Please stop with that one. Battered looking cars have never been and never will be desirable. Put quite simply a Cars performance does not (usually) get better with age. A guitar's (usually) does. YMMV!