Relic work?

[Eagle]

I like it but originally I was doing it to try and restore vintage Fenders that were basically destroyed by horrible refinishing in the 70s .
My only rule is ;
It must look credible and the wear should relate to real use. The worst culprit for not doing this is Suhr.

This is just a paint stripper accident and looks horrible. (IMO).
I get it that it’s just a look for them but it just a get out for a quick job. Nash represents the other end of shit imo. Pathetic belt sander garbage.

Where do you even start with this embarrassing shit?
But in spite I still like relic work and continue to do it myself
These days it is for restoration purposes on vintage and replicas only from me .
The most difficult is replicating an existing instrument with the same marks . This is an art form in itself and not one that many do because you can easily put pictures against the work and see the shortcomings.

I spent more time on this body than anything before or since.
This is the kind I like doing

Light credible copying the look of actual vintage instruments. The difficulty comes with the hardware for me though.

Anything beyond this starts to loose its played look and just starts to look like rust but not focused on play wear.

 

[Eagle]

This is a 58 and the wear is related to the user but on Fender master built it’s;

Not bad but wrong.
Then you have the obvious difference ( to me ) in the metal parts. The one I use is better but I haven’t reliced it on my Strat .

The relative difference between the three may be difficult to spot in these pictures though.
What do you guys think about relics and show what you have?

 

[Eagle]

Duncan Antiquity;

Real paf;

I could spot that difference from the other side of the room.
Relic knobs;

Real;

Not even the same size fonts on the numbers.
In my other guises (authentication of vintage guitars) this is a gift but really!
Put a whole bunch of small errors together and it starts to change the overall look . I could go on ;
Relic Jacksons painted in nitro when the originals are 2k and didn’t ever look like this. I go on,
I was prompted by a 52 Tele I am making at the moment for a pair of original knobs I came by

 

[Eagle]

Here’s a master built Strat to kick off.
Post your relics!

 

[Eagle]

Another one.

 

[Chocol8]

I personally hate relic jobs other than what you are talking about where you put in the effort to match a real vintage guitar that has naturally aged.

The other stuff just looks fake to me. Suhr, Fender CS, Murphy Lab, pretty much all of them. I would MUCH rather have a NOS copy where it will naturally relic on its own if it gets used. Of course most of these high dollar guitars end up as part of a collection and don't get played much if at all. They might get the effects of age, but not the wear that comes from use.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

View attachment 61220
Another one.

I really don't like the way they strip off all the nitro on customshop necks and leave that grey section in middle. Admittedly I've not played many old fenders but I've never seen one with a neck that looks like that. I like the feel of old nitro with little areas where it's naturally worn away from player wear.

I'd also love to try one of your replica guitars.

 

[newholland]

i dont disrespect any craft, but i just buy normal guitars and play them. they get relicked soon enough with my own grossness, even though i clean and care for them. some ive had thirty years and they dont look like even 'light relics'.. and tbh, heavy relics just look trashed and nobody ever does that if they actually care for an instrument like a non troglodyte- so it just heightens the sense that theyre kinda jus overly precious fakes.

natch not talkin about your stuff eagle- that seems tasteful enough!

 

[Eagle]

I really don't like the way they strip off all the nitro on customshop necks and leave that grey section in middle. Admittedly I've not played many old fenders but I've never seen one with a neck that looks like that. I like the feel of old nitro with little areas where it's naturally worn away from player wear.

I'd also love to try one of your replica guitars.

No that didn’t happen like that on many.

 

[EOengineer]

I’ve seen a lot of chatter about Fender custom shop using what can only be described as relicing templates. Nothing says custom finish work like…using a template.

 

[Eagle]

I’ve seen a lot of chatter about Fender custom shop using what can only be described as relicing templates. Nothing says custom finish work like…using a template.

That is on the team guitars. I’m ok with that if it achieves the look you want. If you’re coping a guitar that half the paint is off it’s probably the best way to go. It will still take longer than any other finish.

 

[Chocol8]

if it achieves the look you want.

The "I dragged the guitar behind a car to make it look like I play" look? I will never understand why anyone wants that look unless they have never seen what vintage guitars look like.

 

[FuzzyAce]

It seems like a lot of relics go too far? "Let's make this look like the most abused guitar you've ever seen."
The finish checking can be cool if done in a subtle way, but some of the neck wear out there just looks ridiculous and unnatural. Normal vintage wear doesn't always jump out at you at first glance until you hold it and start to see everything close up, how it feels in the hands, etc. You can tell it's been played and loved, yet not mistreated and dragged behind the truck. There are exceptions of course.

With that said, I've done a few of my own. My thing is to not overthink it and make it as DIY as possible. Modification instead of "let's make this look like a vintage instrument." Main goal is it needs to play well though! But it has to be personal. Buying a relic'd guitar is not personal imo, unless you're hiring someone to replicate a valuable instrument you don't want to take on the road.


My first one is a parts body I got around '99, and I guess about 2002 I decided to strip it all down and paint it. I wasn't heavy into woodworking back then, so I didn't have all the right tools and knowledge to approach it differently. I just used an off the counter finish stripper and went for it. I got to a point after some scraping that I saw it and thought, "this is kinda cool?" lol. So I left it and just hand buffed it with some paste wax and called it a day. It wasn't til years later that I got this particular neck for it, and went with the pickups and pickguard configuration. Everything is naturally aged, even the body has more natural wear and dings on it now.

The second is an obvious hat tip to Eddie, I wanted a modded look regardless of relic, but I decided to relic it like it was never cleaned.

 

[Eagle]

It seems like a lot of relics go too far? "Let's make this look like the most abused guitar you've ever seen."
The finish checking can be cool if done in a subtle way, but some of the neck wear out there just looks ridiculous and unnatural. Normal vintage wear doesn't always jump out at you at first glance until you hold it and start to see everything close up, how it feels in the hands, etc. You can tell it's been played and loved, yet not mistreated and dragged behind the truck. There are exceptions of course.

With that said, I've done a few of my own. My thing is to not overthink it and make it as DIY as possible. Modification instead of "let's make this look like a vintage instrument." Main goal is it needs to play well though! But it has to be personal. Buying a relic'd guitar is not personal imo, unless you're hiring someone to replicate a valuable instrument you don't want to take on the road.


My first one is a parts body I got around '99, and I guess about 2002 I decided to strip it all down and paint it. I wasn't heavy into woodworking back then, so I didn't have all the right tools and knowledge to approach it differently. I just used an off the counter finish stripper and went for it. I got to a point after some scraping that I saw it and thought, "this is kinda cool?" lol. So I left it and just hand buffed it with some paste wax and called it a day. It wasn't til years later that I got this particular neck for it, and went with the pickups and pickguard configuration. Everything is naturally aged, even the body has more natural wear and dings on it now.

View attachment 61225



The second is an obvious hat tip to Eddie, I wanted a modded look regardless of relic, but I decided to relic it like it was never cleaned.

View attachment 61226

Ed reliced his guitars too .

 

[FuzzyAce]

Ed reliced his guitars too .

Yep. Didn't he use graphite powder or something? I have some but didn't use any for mine. Dark wax is what I used mainly. Most of it is sealed in after the fact though, which can be a good or bad thing depending on how you want it to wear over time.

 

[LCW]

I like relics. I have a couple Murphy Lab Gibson’s and have had a few Fender Custom Shops. It’s more the feel and look of them (I think it looks cool if well done).

Here my last FCS but I got rid of it - as I just don’t click with Fenders so I don’t hang on to them long. This one was a “Super Heavy Relic” so about as extreme as FCS does aside from artist models like the Rory Gallagher.

 

[LCW]

Murphy Lab Light Aged 57 Custom

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Murphy Lab Light Aged 57 Custom

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That Murphy lab is much more interesting to me than the heavy relic Fender.

 

[LCW]

R0 Murphy Light Aged… this one is on the lighter side of “Light” that I’ve seen… Hard to capture the checking…

 

[SillyOctpuss]

R0 Murphy Light Aged… this one is on the lighter side of “Light” that I’ve seen… Hard to capture the checking…

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Do you still have that LP with the HB in the bridge and P90 in the neck?