Beautiful nitro wear

[LucyTheSpud]

Im not exactly kind to my guitars...



Nitro finish, and i use heavy pointy picks for strumming. This finish is only like 6 months old. I love it. Looks so abused and loved and played. Mmm.

Any of you guys like natural wear to guitars? Or prefer clean look

[sirvill]

Natural wear is awesome.

[Bg]

mojo > fauxjo

[JHorner]

I like the clean look but not more than I like being relaxed with the guitar and not stressing about adding any new scratches and dents.

[Molly]

It was Keef who said: "Bash it up a bit an' I'll play it" so that's all the licence anyone could need. And I love a nice relic.

The relic blah blah has been done to death on every guitar forum. You either like it or you don't. It doesn't follow that devotees are hoping it'll reflect something cool upon them; some suggestion that they've paid their dues over hundreds of gigs in dingy dives yada yada. It's just a look and if you like it more power to ya.

I've only had negative experiences of genuinely old guitars (and not particularly old at that). A rotted fretboard that needed a lot of work for a refret. A sunken truss rod nut that'd lost its ability to correct relief. Non-original parts. It's just a minefield. Would much rather buy a new guitar that looks like an old guitar. That's my jam, man.

So, let's see those relics!

[NippleWrestler]

is that a highway 1 strat? They came with super thin nitro finishes.

[Molly]

is that a highway 1 strat? They came with super thin nitro finishes.

Lord, no... The very notion.

[NippleWrestler]

is that a highway 1 strat? They came with super thin nitro finishes.

Lord, no... The very notion.

No, not yours. The OP's strat.

[Molly]

is that a highway 1 strat? They came with super thin nitro finishes.

Lord, no... The very notion.

No, not yours. The OP's strat.

Oh. LOL. Sorry.

That one of mine was a 1960 RI.

[tubeswell]

I bought a couple of new AVRIs just so I could wear them out eventually, with my magic palm grease.

[KNNZ]

Natural wear all the way!

[JHorner]

1) Relic technician appears to have failed to install the 57 years of dead skin cells in the grooves
2) Volume does not appear to be on 10. Clearly not your guitar!

[Aquila Rossa]

Some of the massed produced relic stuff looks silly to me. However, the careful aging and checking etc done by experts can look quite realistic. I used to be against relicing because i thought it was about image and posing, but now I think if it makes the owner more comfortable with the guitar, then it's cool. I know every guitar I play makes me approach how I play it a different way, so if the look helps to get into a certain musical zone and it works for you, then it's a good thing.

[Molly]

And it's important to keep stuff in perspective. If somebody's getting upset about another bloke's guitar then they really need a reality check. Should check myself for even commenting an' that...

[Aquila Rossa]

And it's important to keep stuff in perspective. If somebody's getting upset about another bloke's guitar then they really need a reality check. Should check myself for even commenting an' that...

Depends. If it is just a fad or fashion, then it is not just 'the other blokes guitar' people would be getting annoyed over. It is the trend and the dedicated followers of those fashions who like things because other people say it is good. Pointy gats and big hair were fashionable, but I am sure people who got into that scene will now admit they were influenced by the trend and fashion. Relic guitars are a trend now. However, that is separate from the issue of whether a nicely aged instrument makes you approach it a different way and has artistic value due to that.