Specifically, forgeries of would-be vintage examples, complete with scratches, chips, wear, burn marks, and general signs of abuse.

I know a guy who has several vintage guitars, but when he plays gigs he uses his "custom shop" Strat - a new model that has been 'pre-worn' so it looks vintage. I'm starting to get the feeling that a lot of guitarists are doing this.

A quick Google search turned up these fine examples (both are brand new guitars, the additional "treatment" adds $500-1k to the final cost):





Does this really impress anyone?

fender made some super expensive replica of a worn "blackie" clapton's stratocaster. I think they sold for like $30k. I think any mexican made strat will definitely have a much more productive rock and roll life than those replicas.

i'm voting crap because it's fraudulent, but a wf of 5 because relic'd guitars look cool.

I love the way a well used guitar looks, but I like it because it means it's been loved, hated, and seen the world. Every ding tells a story, and that story is not "we dragged it across the parking lot in Fullerton, then set it up on the roof for a month."

My old strat belonged to my friend Leslie and I know why it looks the way it does. I feel pretty honored to own it and look forward to wearing it in further (even though I rarely play strats).

I say CRAP, no waffles, even if they look great, because it's the lamest way you can buy "cool" that I can think of. This isn't like beating up your jeans to break them in, this is aimed at the Blues Lawyers who want to buy some sort of cred.

Great poll, by the way.

-A

I've seen a few of these, and the wear is not at all convincing. No belt-buckle hacks, for example, and no pick wear above the pick-guard.

Made by hacks to fleece fools. Crap.

alex maiolo wrote:This isn't like beating up your jeans to break them in, this is aimed at the Blues Lawyers who want to buy some sort of cred..

-A

Well said!

I love the look of old, beat the shit guitars, too, but I'm not paying anyone to do that.

alex maiolo wrote:Every ding tells a story, and that story is not "we dragged it across the parking lot in Fullerton, then set it up on the roof for a month."

Yep. A guitar wearing its actual history is fine. Fakery...not so much.

Total Crap. I can wear my guitars out by myself just fine, thank you very much. Aged plastic, pitted hardware, and buffed-in arm wear on a new guitar can kiss my ass.

Folks that know what they're doing are already in the business of authenticating genuine vintage guitars due to the Relic paranoia.

alex maiolo wrote: Blues Lawyers -A

This Rock Lawyer agrees with you. But now I feel dumb for being a Rock Lawyer. But not as dumb as a Blues Lawyer should feel.

Relic guitars = new "kit" muscle cars

I don't see how the type of person who'd whine about these guitars is in any way superior to the type of person who'd buy one.

Both consider there to be some sort of voodoo-mojo about guitar-wear. One considers that it can be faked, the other considers that it must not be faked.

Both are CRAP.

The guitars look no worse or better than their un-aged alternatives.