How many of you are happy you bought a relic'd guitar?

I do not currently own any factory/builder relic’d guitars. But I have. And I would again, if they were the right guitar. Doesn’t bother the one way or the other. I have more pressing concerns when buying/playing guitars than the paint style. I’ll even buy a black or butterscotch guitar if it’s really the right one, and I have an almost irrational dislike of those colors.

 

I only have one, my MJT Tele/Gib thing.
My Les Paul has the VOS finish, but it’s not considered a relic.
To confuse matters, it’s two previous owners and I relic-ed it a little, by playing it.
The MJT is lightly relic-ed.
I really like the guitar.
I once had a really nice 2007 CS 1960 reluc Strat, black with matching headstock.
That was a great one!
My friend Luke, guitarist for Midland is rocking it now.
I like/tolerate relics.
I don’t like the “drug behind a truck” super relics much.

 

Guy wants to trade a 330 for a custom shop Tele. THe Tele? I was drooling over it, then realise. It is mint. I am not in the muesum business. I will never enjoy the guitar, casue I can't play it full blown. I have had folks tel me I play hard. But still, I am carefull.I don't want to have the need to be careful.Relics are a blessing to the cocked up notion that a guitar needs to be pristine to perfom. IT has to be pristine for two reasons, #1 anal people and #2 to keep value,

 

Depends on how it plays

 

I bought a Nash T63 in 2008. I very much like it for two reasons:

1. Easy player that sounds great.
2. Never, ever concern over scratches, dents etc. It was liberating.

 

Love mine! A heavy relic CS 53 tele! I've had it for 6 years now and play it at every gig and it's my go to at home as well.

 

If I ran across a relic/Road Worn guitar that floated my boat, and I had the money, I’d gladly grab one up.

All of them that I’ve ever played felt great...there was a specific Road Worn Telecaster that I wish I’d had the money when I found—that one was special.

In the words of the late, great Peter Green, “Oh Well.”

 

To me, it's to each his own.

I like minty looking stuff. I've built hot rods and always make them look nice. Not the quarter million dollar trailer queen look, but clean looking. There are those that build rat rods and want them to look as crappy as possible. Whatever, just not for me.

So guitars? I like mine clean and well taken care of. You want one that looks like 50 years of wear, go for it. To each his own, make the world go round...

 

Mixed.

I had a real "musician" (acoustic player) ask me and I had to tell him my '62 Tele was a relic....he didn't know what a relic was.

I put Gib logos on my asian 335 and regret that. Will sand off this winter.

I love my MJT white Strat....in all honesty though, mainly love the Warmoth, non-reliced, flamed neck with SS frets.

 

I bought a relic telecaster just because of the Nocaster U neck. No laquer on a neck is great. Apart from that I always wished the guitar would be NOS.
I did begin to like the wear after a few years of owning it. If I were to buy another custom shop guitar, I would probably go for an NOS, but I'm not sure.

 

Funny that I would see this thread this morning. Yesterday, I sold the only guitar I ever had with a factory reliced finish. It was a Slick SL60, 2 P90s in a double cutaway body.

I have no problem buying some model guitar intended to look like it's been worn in, but it's not a feature I specifically look for.

 

I'm very happy I have one (56 CS Stratocaster). It reminds me of the real one I had back in the day. Having owned an original, it allowed me to choose one that was well done and pretty close to the one I had.
Also, I was able to pick the "perfect" neck profile. That wasn't possible with originals. In fact, the overall quality, feel and sound varied greatly from guitar to guitar. Some were great, some were awful. I can assure you, those who are haters of relics, (1) probably never owned an original and (2) would never do enough night after night gigging to actually create one anyway.
The original finishes were so thin and the quality of the nitro so delicate, it wore out in no time. With the thickness and plasticizers in today's guitar lacquers, even on the best CS guitars, you would have to play them really hard for decades. No one does that anymore. BTW... none of this info was obtained scouring websites and forums. It's first hand from an actual human relic.

 

I’m very happy with my « Journeyman relic » esquire: lacquer checking and a few tiny dings.
It’s great for the vintage look and feel, and I do not have to worry about dings.

I had a heavy relic strat that I sold, partly because it was over the top. I quickly got fed up with having to explain the whole relic concept to people each time I was playing out.
With my esquire, nobody ever suspects it’s been aged because it just looks like a used guitar.

 

For years I said I would never buy a relic. Then one day I saw a CS Journeyman ‘56 Tele relic’d and I had to have . It was beautiful, a great relic job, fiesta red and light weight. In a moment of weakness I sold it and immediately regretted it.

 

I wonder if it would be feasible to sell a guitar with the rusty bridge and aged pickups - the stuff that affects the sound, but the rest pristine? Maybe you’d have to sand the neck down?

what do you think?

 

Not a fan of relic guitars. Both of my Warmoth teles need the frets REPLACED as the wear on many of the frets are so deep they can’t be filed down any longer. I suppose that comes with actual playing. As far as the distress on relic bodies, again, a Warmoth body never ages so I wouldn’t know what distress looks like. They also make excellent defensive weapons when some clown charges the stage and you have to knock his teeth out with it. STAYED IN TUNE. LOL