relic or not ?

rick2 said:
Alex, that is an interersting perspective. 

Day job is research at a university and I occasionally teach our new engineers. Our millennials are awesome.

I think exactly once I ran across an example. Not completely unlike your video and curiously, was the kid of a professor.  We also have our share of entitled, certain are going to be millionaires as soon as they leave school. Fortunately, so far most of those outgrow that by their junior year.
 
"Millennials" range from 25-41, many are mid-career and have families, and now fill the majority of corporate C-level and senior leadership positions. There are two generations younger than them, the "Zoomer Generation" (1997-2012, formerly Gen Z), and Gen Alpha (2013 and later).

Plus, I'm pretty sure Fender's target audience when they rolled out CS Relics was Boomers, and now Gen X, who actually listen to the 50-60 year old golden oldies by Rory Gallagher, SRV, Neil Young, the Stones, etc. Those acts are as relevant to my kid as Al Jolson was to me.

I never understood the concept of "earned wear", someone can wear the finish off a guitar over 5 decades and they aren't getting any additional respect or f***s from me. All that BS is just fiction, like the magical concept of "mojo". If  all the practice helps you break the Billboard Hot 100, or something  else to show something for the effort, then call me.
 
alexreinhold said:
As so often, BroccoliRob, Logrinn and Stratamania have said it - albeit in slightly different styles of communication.

You know, good musicianship requires relentless practice and execution. Building guitars requires relentless practice and execution. And the very same should go for any worn guitars. It should be a testament of your sacrifice for the craft. But millenials - who are the target group of relic guitars i suppose - tend to think that they are entitled to things without putting in the effort. Ok, I'm getting carried away now but you get the point...

i dunno my friend, when I'm at the local GC the relic fenders and stuff are always seem to be played by clearly midlife crisis havin Gen Xers, strumming the same tired #Clapton licks over and over and over. i dont know why i still go there twice a week anymore lol.  get some new licks, bro
 
To be certain everyone is of course entitled to their own tastes for relics or wear and tear whatever their age or generation.

Buying a relic has not really been something that has appealed to me personally, although making a good one may be an interesting project to do.

I posted a picture of an older guitar of mine that has genuine wear and tear but by no means do I say that it is superior just that it is genuine  (although it is an extremely good Hamer USA guitar). Neither does it mean for me that an owner of an older instrument with wear and tear is looking for praise or claiming extra mojo.

If I were to buy or make an aged looking or relic instrument I would simply prefer the wear and tear to look actually close to genuine rather than being a caricature. But that is personal preference and in the end each to their own.

Some examples of FCS or Gibson recreating artist instruments in real detail or creations similar to real world wear and tear can certainly be impressive works of craft or art.
 
Sadie-f said:
rick2 said:
Alex, that is an interersting perspective. 

Day job is research at a university and I occasionally teach our new engineers. Our millennials are awesome.

I think exactly once I ran across an example. Not completely unlike your video and curiously, was the kid of a professor.  We also have our share of entitled, certain are going to be millionaires as soon as they leave school. Fortunately, so far most of those outgrow that by their junior year.

Every time someone around me complains about 'kids these days!' I end up responding with 'well, I really don't think the kids have changed too much since we were young'.  They seem just like the folks I knew back in the day...
 
Two things on the original post:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nvudxqX_LA[/youtube]

But if you're on the fence enough to be asking the opinion of internet strangers on how to spend your money, I might err on the side of caution. 

What gets me about relicing is this:
What condition is this guitar in if I take it out of the case and immediately sell it?
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Strat11ASBL--fender-custom-shop-gt11-heavy-relic-stratocaster-sweetwater-exclusive-sonic-blue
 
swarfrat said:
Two things on the original post:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nvudxqX_LA[/youtube]

But if you're on the fence enough to be asking the opinion of internet strangers on how to spend your money, I might err on the side of caution. 

What gets me about relicing is this:
What condition is this guitar in if I take it out of the case and immediately sell it?
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Strat11ASBL--fender-custom-shop-gt11-heavy-relic-stratocaster-sweetwater-exclusive-sonic-blue
Well, to be honest, the Oly White/Three Tone Sunburst looks more like a genuine relic. However, none of the metal or the pickguard have been relic'd so that's a big minus.

As far as condition, if you show the sales receipt from a few days prior when selling it, it's new. past that, I don't know what to tell you.
 
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