What's with this 'Relic' shit?

[lesfunk]

Magic...

No, really you give it a special Tone Rub™ in a certain sweet spot only known by select masterelicbators...

You can even have your custom relic job and rub tailored to make you play more like your favorite artist...

Or you can just put in pickups wound to vintage specs Like Duncan Antiquity, Lollar, or Fralin. But If Elvis is offering rubs... Count me in!

[ELVIS]

I have Lollar and Fralin and all sorts of pickups both in and out of guitars...

They all make a difference, swapping a neck makes a difference, the bridge, the nut, the block on the whammy...all change the tone...

Also a painted body sounds maybe a tiny bit warmer than the same body unpainted, but it still sounds like the same body, I've tried this and I'm sure jhale has as well...

Removing some of the paint or having Nitrocellulose lacquer as opposed to some other type of finish is nonsense...

There are many variables that affect tone, the type of finish is not one of them...

Too much paint could be a problem and hinder tone somewhat, but I highly doubt too much Poly or too much Epoxy sounds worse than too much Nitrocellulose...

The same people that trick themselves into believing this kind of stuff believe that vintage cloth wire sounds better than cheap wire...

You hear that same kind of make-it-up-as-you-go-along logic with car stereo nuts...

[jhale667]

Remember it takes 5 years for a guitar to figure out IT'S NOT A TREE ANYMORE...

I have Lollar and Fralin and all sorts of pickups both in and out of guitars...

They all make a difference, swapping a neck makes a difference, the bridge, the nut, the block on the whammy...all change the tone...

Also a painted body sounds maybe a tiny bit warmer than the same body unpainted, but it still sounds like the same body, I've tried this and I'm sure jhale has as well...

Removing some of the paint or having Nitrocellulose lacquer as opposed to some other type of finish is nonsense...

There are many variables that affect tone, the type of finish is not one of them...

Too much paint could be a problem and hinder tone somewhat, but I highly doubt too much Poly or too much Epoxy sounds worse than too much Nitrocellulose...

The same people that trick themselves into believing this kind of stuff believe that vintage cloth wire sounds better than cheap wire...

You hear that same kind of make-it-up-as-you-go-along logic with car stereo nuts...

I tend to agree with this... vintage spec, even "aged" pickups will get you in the ballpark...less finish of any sort is going to "breathe" better and be more resonant than one with a pound glopped on. But NOTHING sounds like old wood, period.

Don't believe me? Go find a vintage Strat and A/B it with a "relic" spec'd to the same era. No contest.

[lesfunk]

You are absolutely correct. You are never going to be able to duplicate "played in" old wood. It think it is impressive how close you can get in every other aspect though.

[jhale667]

Sure, the well-done ones look COOL, no denying that... I've seen a few that look like they were done by toddlers, but the really good ones are nearly indistinguishable from an actual beat-up vintage piece visually.

[lesfunk]

I'll add one thing..... I'll bet a weeks pay that although my Nash bass may not be as nice as a real Pre CBS Fender bass, It comes pretty damn close and it's better than 75% of the real ones because as we all know, for every sweet old instrument, there are 6 of them that are junk.

[jhale667]

I'll add one thing..... I'll bet a weeks pay that although my Nash bass may not be as nice as a real Pre CBS Fender bass, It comes pretty damn close and it's better than 75% of the real ones because as we all know, for every sweet old instrument, there are 6 of them that are junk.

Oh sure, and unless your bass is fully "vintage-correct", it's probably got a better truss-rod and whatnot than its true vintage counterpart...

[lesfunk]

In my opinion, what's sillier than the relic trend is people paying 20K or more for an old Fender which was designed and manufactured to be a "disposable" guitar. Leo's genius was creating the sound of an entire [i]industry[/] with a cheap, little, well designed plank. Amazing when you think about it really.

[lesfunk]

Oh sure, and unless your bass is fully "vintage-correct", it's probably got a better truss-rod and whatnot than its true vintage counterpart...

Absolutely. I don't do fully vintage correct. Fuck that noise. Mine has a Badass II bridge (as do all my Fender style basses) and Schaller tuners. Those are big improvements on each end of the string and you CAN hear the difference.

[jhale667]

Absolutely. I don't do fully vintage correct. Fuck that noise. Mine has a Badass II bridge (as do all my Fender style basses) and Schaller tuners. Those are big improvements on each end of the string and you CAN hear the difference.

Yep, all day long...especially with the added mass of the Badass II.


Personally, you couldn't get the super-wide necks I use on a vintage instrument, so they hold little interest to me overall... and it'd be kinda dumb to plop down a few grand on a guitar you were gonna swap the neck out on...

Closest I've gotten to that was my purple Strat whose body I found in a pawnshop. I tracked down the original builder and he indicated he'd made the body in the mid 80s. So a couple of my guitar bodies and necks technically are or are nearly "vintage".

[Kristy]

What is this shit all about?

I wasn't going to weigh in on this thread but what this shit is all about is being a failed musician with $4,000 to spend. Sometimes the questions answer themselves, Sesh.

[Matt White]

I wasn't going to weigh in on this thread but....[/I]

yeah...right....its called SPAM, Troll

as if you could have kept away....................

[Matt White]

I still laugh when people get so excited aboot 1970's Fenders.....

they were considered JUNK when I started playing in the mid-80's

hysterical...................

[ELVIS]

They're not that bad at all...

[lesfunk]

No, Matt is correct. Although many nice instruments came from the Fender factory during the '70s, The era is widely known for generally lower quality control throughout the entire line of products.
I happen to be fond of the 70's era basses as my first Fender bass was a 78 Jazz with a bound and blocked maple neck. (it also weighed about 13lbs....ugh)
The 70's Fenders were known for heavy woods, loose neck pockets and overly thick Poly finishes