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Guitar talk: acoustic, bass, classical, twelve string? You name it! Pt III

Tony L said:
Andertons very much into the ‘heavy relic’ thing. I’m sorry, but I don’t get it, they just look so obviously fake to me, more like a guitar that’s been left outside in the garage for years or even dug out of landfill than one that has natural play-wear etc. I do very much like the idea of a light relic, just to remove that paranoia about dinging a shiny new guitar, but these don’t look real to me at all.
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They do about three grades of light relicing with increasingly obtuse definitions. "Closet classic" is one that is old but has been played but kept in its case and looked after so wear but no dings. Then, bizarrely, there is one where it's been looked after "too well" and has wear associated with being polished every week for 20 years.

My other problem with the relicing is a lot of the real relicing is a function of a nitro finish. After the nuclear armageddon, all those cockroaches will still be playing their mint urethane finished strats :)
 
I agree on the heavy relics but I did like the pink tele from the previous batch for some reason

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Yeah Gordon Smith is the same in name only, it's owned by Auden now, but good value nevertheless. I don't see how they can be making money at £1k, even with cnc machines to do the spade work.
 
matthewr said:
My other problem with the relicing is a lot of the real relicing is a function of a nitro finish. After the nuclear armageddon, all those cockroaches will still be playing their mint urethane finished strats :)
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Yes, which assuming modern nitro finishes are accurate they’ll age really nicely on their own with just honest play-wear. The thing that gets me with the heavy relics on the Andertons video is the location of some of the worst wear is just bizarre, e.g. between the top curves of a Strat above the middle-pickup, and similar on the Tele. How the hell is that meant to have occurred unless the guitarist liked sanding or filing his guitar down between songs? You could throw a guitar out of a hotel window and that bit would be ok!

I know what you mean about the urethane finish though, my ‘82 Dan Smith is far from mint, ithas certainly been well played, gigged etc, but nothing got through that very thick finish (it has scratches, but nothing that broke the surface). That really is thick stuff, you could knock a fencepost in with that guitar (it’s heavy enough too!). The Yam is a similar type of finish, but just feels like a far lighter and thinner application. Texas Toast are interesting on this topic as they don’t think poly is bad, only really thick poly, i.e. it isn’t the material itself to blame, it is how it is used. I suspect there is much truth in this as as the very highly regarded ‘lawsuit’ Tokais etc would certainly have been a poly finish. One thing that makes me giggle somewhat is SRV played and endorsed Tokai for a fair chunk of his career, so I guess much of the tone TPS Mick craves (and achieves beautifully it has to be said) likely originated on a poly-finished Tokai! Evidence here (Tokaiforum).
 
Tony L said:
Yes, which assuming modern nitro finishes are accurate they’ll age really nicely on their own with just honest play-wear.
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I read somewhere that Fender’s current nitro finishes have a poly undercoat and won’t age anything like a vintage one. My own Tele is too young to show any significant playwear, but the finish does appear to be pretty thin, at least compared to my other guitars. Need to play more...
 
Nickargenta said:
I read somewhere that Fender’s current nitro finishes have a poly undercoat and won’t age anything like a vintage one. My own Tele is too young to show any significant playwear, but the finish does appear to be pretty thin, at least compared to my other guitars. Need to play more...
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Should get that lovely checking as well I think. FWIW my Strat has a chip down to the wood and I see no undercoat. Unless they were crafty and made it Alder coloured :)
 
Tony L said:
the location of some of the worst wear is just bizarre, e.g. between the top curves of a Strat above the middle-pickup, and similar on the Tele. How the hell is that meant to have occurred unless the guitarist liked sanding or filing his guitar down between songs?
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I think is from forearm wear for people who play quite forward (less common on a strat where your arm tends to gravitate to the contoured relief). Or possibly where buckle rash has extended so far up the back it's come over the top? But mostly I think the problem with relics are what they are basically recreating is not ageing and wear but actual damage.

See here for example : https://www.tdpri.com/threads/real-road-worn-guitars.398960/

I don't think poly is bad sonically. Not least as most of this seems to be based on woo about allowing the wood to "breathe" and "resonate".
 
matthewr said:
Should get that lovely checking as well I think. FWIW my Strat has a chip down to the wood and I see no undercoat. Unless they were crafty and made it Alder coloured :)
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Amazingly, the headstock on my 75 tele custom has finish checking. I thought those 70s poly finishes were indestructible. Nothing on the body mind you.
 
Nickargenta said:
I read somewhere that Fender’s current nitro finishes have a poly undercoat and won’t age anything like a vintage one. My own Tele is too young to show any significant playwear, but the finish does appear to be pretty thin, at least compared to my other guitars. Need to play more...
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They've had some variety of poly undercoat since the late 1950s.
 

Some neat new transparent tone-wood going on here! Actually a very interesting video as the guy seems serious and has a business (Morningstar Glass Guitars), unlike most ‘lets build a guitar out of weird shit’ YouTube videos, and the techniques involved are fascinating.

PS 12 lbs+!
 
I regard relic/duffed over finishes as part of performance attire. It’s why I like my pink Relic p-bass, I don’t need to fret over it’s condition (I’m not obsessive about performance basses) It’s just another finish and I can sling it about and generally ‘go nuts’

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I do have a self-built fretless PJ I like to keep nice: ash body, flamed maple neck, neck bolt inserts, rosewood flat fingerboard, Seymour Duncan quarter pounders, badass bridge and Schaller tuners. Brass nut. 4.7kg — so not light: a 77-era soundalike fretless with huge tone but it never leaves the house/studio. It’s not part of performance attire or stagecraft.

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claire.foxx said:
I do have a self-built fretless PJ I like to keep nice: ash body, flamed maple neck, neck bolt inserts, rosewood flat fingerboard, Seymour Duncan quarter pounders, badass bridge and Schaller tuners. Brass nut. 4.7kg — so not light: a 77-era soundalike fretless with huge tone but it never leaves the house/studio. It’s not part of performance attire or stagecraft.

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I struggle to appreciate Ash bodied guitars as they remind me of hurley sticks as used in the national sport here - but the flamed maple /skunk stripe neck on that thing is gorgeous :)
 
^ Hehe.

One of those would be useful for 'settling musical differences' too if the need arose..

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(Obviously one with a blue neck would be the one to go for ..)
 
-alan- said:
I struggle to appreciate Ash bodied guitars as they remind me of hurley sticks as used in the national sport here - but the flamed maple /skunk stripe neck on that thing is gorgeous :)
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I love natural wood bodies on guitars, pure form dictated by function and absolutely nowhere to hide poor materials. My Strat and Jazz Bass are very similar. It is well recognised that the best wood ends up in the clear-coated instruments, the worst in the solids, and the in-between stuff in the bursts! I do like a good burst though.

The neck on Claire’s bass has to be the nicest I’ve seen on any Fender, it really looks beautiful.
 
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