Relicing, observation.

[NancyJohnson]

Whether or not the original instrument is finished in nitro or poly, why is it that relicing seem almost exclusively based on Fender basses?

I know there's a handful of companies like Sandberg that do reliced guitars, but you never see Stingrays, Thunderbirds etc. and even then it's pretty much always Jazz-style basses.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Probably Fenders have been around longer than most 🤷‍♂️

[JapanAxe]

 

[Cato]

I'm sure that they exist but I can't really picture a 'modern' bass like an Ibanez or a Yamaha looking good reliced, even though they've both been making electric basses for long enough for there to be some genuinely worn examples in circulation.

I think we may have reached 'peak' relicing a couple of years ago, it seems to be here to stay but it doesn't seem as prevalent as it was.

Roasted maple necks seem to be the new 'big thing' fashion wise.

[yorks5stringer]

I had an Ibanez Artcore like this for a while:

https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitars/retro-bass-guitars/ibanez-agbv200a-tcl-agb-artcore-vintage-4-string-bass

[NancyJohnson]

'That'll buff out.'

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I assume that was one of the really heavy Stingrays and he reduced the weight 🤷‍♂️

[Dan Dare]

I take it they used lead-based paints back in the day.

[thebigyin]

I worked at a Titanium Dioxide Pigment Company for many years it's a white powder used in Paint, Plastic, Toothpaste ect and i'm sure the embedded pigment on my skin and hands helped in Relic'ing my Norman Acoustic Guitar, all along the neck it's worn down to the wood and the shoulder of the body ect....looks great but i must say it's been with me for almost 20 years the only instrument i would never part with....looks great, sounds great and played regularly.

Edited September 16, 2020 by thebigyin

[Maude]

1 hour ago, thebigyin said:

looks great, sounds great and........ 

yet there's no accompanying picture to drool over. 

Hopes raised and dashed in one swift post. 

😉

[thebigyin]

12 hours ago, Maude said:

yet there's no accompanying picture to drool over. 

Hopes raised and dashed in one swift post. 

😉

Apologies Maude unable to upload any pics for some reason on my laptop.

[Doctor J]

If the the finish just wore away as the result of you playing it, that’s not relic’ing, that’s real and honest wear and tear 🙂

Relic’ing is fake wear intentionally applied to achieve the effect of looking aged when, in truth, it’s not old or worn at all.

[Nicko]

On 16/09/2020 at 17:02, thebigyin said:

I worked at a Titanium Dioxide Pigment Company for many years it's a white powder used in Paint, Plastic, Toothpaste ect and i'm sure the embedded pigment on my skin and hands helped in Relic'ing my Norman Acoustic Guitar, all along the neck it's worn down to the wood and the shoulder of the body ect....looks great but i must say it's been with me for almost 20 years the only instrument i would never part with....looks great, sounds great and played regularly.

Tioxide in Grimsby I assume.  I visited it a few times and the stuff used to get everywhere.  I'd be blowing it out of my nose for days.

[Woodinblack]

On 16/09/2020 at 08:36, NancyJohnson said:

I know there's a handful of companies like Sandberg that do reliced guitars, but you never see Stingrays, Thunderbirds etc. and even then it's pretty much always Jazz-style basses.

Gibson do a few relics but only on stupidly expensive custom shop. I doubt you would get a thunderbird though, gibson don't even bother making those every years, let alone coming out with a new finish. I suppose they don't really care about basses anyway.

Surprised that G&L don't though, they come out with every finish going.

[AndyTravis]

7 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Gibson do a few relics but only on stupidly expensive custom shop. I doubt you would get a thunderbird though, gibson don't even bother making those every years, let alone coming out with a new finish. I suppose they don't really care about basses anyway.

Surprised that G&L don't though, they come out with every finish going.

Relic Art in France recently did a black thunderbird 

[JapanAxe]

3 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Gibson do a few relics but only on stupidly expensive custom shop...

I have a Gibson CR8 (wasn’t stupidly expensive). I would describe it as lightly aged rather than relic’d.

[Cuzzie]

On 16/09/2020 at 08:36, NancyJohnson said:

Whether or not the original instrument is finished in nitro or poly, why is it that relicing seem almost exclusively based on Fender basses?

I know there's a handful of companies like Sandberg that do reliced guitars, but you never see Stingrays, Thunderbirds etc. and even then it's pretty much always Jazz-style basses.

I think probably if it’s your USP as a company you’ll do it.

Fender will do it as they have been around since the dawn of time.

Other people will use old looking wood purposefully for a similar effect.

For example these chaps in France use nowt but local wood, and there are some stunners

https://www.alpineguitar.fr

 

[Rich]

On 16/09/2020 at 08:47, yorks5stringer said:

I had an Ibanez Artcore like this for a while:

https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitars/retro-bass-guitars/ibanez-agbv200a-tcl-agb-artcore-vintage-4-string-bass

Gorgeous. I love those 'vintage' Ibbys.

[gjones]

On 16/09/2020 at 08:36, NancyJohnson said:

Whether or not the original instrument is finished in nitro or poly, why is it that relicing seem almost exclusively based on Fender basses?

I know there's a handful of companies like Sandberg that do reliced guitars, but you never see Stingrays, Thunderbirds etc. and even then it's pretty much always Jazz-style basses.

I suggest it's because Fender basses, from the 70's onwards, don't really show any wear. The 60s basses were coated in nitro and wore easily but the newer basses were coated in much harder wearing poly finish.

Brands that started being manufactured in later decades have no history of looking roadworn.

My 80's bass looks brand new (other than a couple of dents).

[gafbass02]

Interestingly, the poly finish on my 1990 jazz just sort of...fragmented and split. It’s really odd. There’s buckle marks on the back that are down to a particular belt I wore for years, but in other places, the finish just cracked into little jigsaw pieces and fell off. A recent crack has appeared by the control plate. No idea why but it looks cool and the bass is pretty dinged up anyway. 

[Nicko]

10 hours ago, gjones said:

I suggest it's because Fender basses, from the 70's onwards, don't really show any wear. The 60s basses were coated in nitro and wore easily but the newer basses were coated in much harder wearing poly finish.

Brands that started being manufactured in later decades have no history of looking roadworn.

My 80's bass looks brand new (other than a couple of dents).

Seems to me that Fender instruments are seen by players as utilitarian tools and a certain amount of wear is inevitable.  Old Fenders do tend to look a bit beaten up, whereas vintage Gibsons, Epiphones, Gretchs and others seem to look a bit more looked after.

[Woodinblack]

19 minutes ago, Nicko said:

Seems to me that Fender instruments are seen by players as utilitarian tools and a certain amount of wear is inevitable.  Old Fenders do tend to look a bit beaten up, whereas vintage Gibsons, Epiphones, Gretchs and others seem to look a bit more looked after.

Not sure about that, especially gibsons you get a lot that are very worn, and what proportion of gibsons from the 60s have their necks unbroken?! Most goldtops from the 50s/60s are woodtops and it seems that a lot of EB basses from the 60s and 70s are not only worn but have holes for other pickups, bridge replacements, various holes. In fact I think the SG shape in particular is designed to look tatty.

Its just they don't come like that unlike fenders.

[thebigyin]

15 hours ago, Nicko said:

Tioxide in Grimsby I assume.  I visited it a few times and the stuff used to get everywhere.  I'd be blowing it out of my nose for days.

Aye it's messy stuff worked there for 25 years until they closed it down in 2009.

[TheGreek]

On 16/09/2020 at 08:36, NancyJohnson said:

Whether or not the original instrument is finished in nitro or poly, why is it that relicing seem almost exclusively based on Fender basses?

I know there's a handful of companies like Sandberg that do reliced guitars, but you never see Stingrays, Thunderbirds etc. and even then it's pretty much always Jazz-style basses.

There's a relic'ed Ritter in the Basses for Sale thread.

[OliverBlackman]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Not sure about that, especially gibsons you get a lot that are very worn, and what proportion of gibsons from the 60s have their necks unbroken?! Most goldtops from the 50s/60s are woodtops and it seems that a lot of EB basses from the 60s and 70s are not only worn but have holes for other pickups, bridge replacements, various holes. In fact I think the SG shape in particular is designed to look tatty.

Its just they don't come like that unlike fenders.

I was going to say, if Gibson did relicing they would need to snap the headstock off and glue it back on. 
 

if Warwick did it then the input jack socket wouldn’t work.