Relic'd Guitars....

[SacredCow]

I have to admit that the Fender Custom shop relics are kind of cool- but I just can't see dropping THAT kind of cash on such a thing. And I'm not likely to come by guitar with a worn look honestly- I don't play in a band anymore, and all of my axes are cared for in my obsessive-compulsive manner.

But in browsing on eBay the other day, I found www.voodoochildsguitars.com. Apparently, some fella puts together relic'd Fender-clones and sells them for $500-ish. Such as this Telecaster-esque axe:



The distressing doesn't appear to be quite as authentic as Fender's custom shop, but... For the price? Maybe it wouldn't matter. The only thing that really disturbs me is the finish removal on the neck near the body- WHY is it cut off in a straight line like that?!?!?! It looks funny!

[MilesColtrane]

1. I don't understand the fake wear thing in either guitars or jeans.

If it's a matter of a simple aesthetic preference, why isn't there a market for brand new Corvettes that look like faded and dented '83 models?

A bit of ad copy for a distressed Fender I saw said, in effect, "go ahead and make up stories about how you got these dings. We won't tell!".

Apparently, there is a significant market for those who want to simply pretend that they have been playing and practicing for 15-20 years. (I guess the Guitar Hero game phenomenon should have tipped me off to that.)

[SacredCow]

2. It's more akin to the jeans analogy than cars...

many people feel that jeans look and feel better aged- whether or not they come about the aged look honestly may or may not matter, depending on one's point of view.

I've been playing for about 20 years now, but none of my guitars look like that (of course, I wasn't able to buy fine quality instruments for 10 of those years, so the ones I got weren't worth keeping).