Relic'ing

Last updated
Custom 70s Stratocaster, Dakota Red - Hard Relic.jpg
Custom 70s Stratocaster, Dakota Red - Hard Relic - 49332042308.jpg
A Fender Stratocaster with relic'ing.

Relic'ing (also written as relicing) is the process of distressing a guitar to mimic the worn appearance and broken-in feel of older, vintage guitars. [1] Relic'ing is done to both new guitars by their manufacturer, typically as "aged" replicas of models from sought-after years, and to used guitars by their owners as a popular DIY project. [2] [3] Types of wear emulated can include faded or worn finishes, tarnished hardware, and scrapes, dents, and stains. There is no established methodology to intentionally aging a guitar. The process can include tools as varied as sandpaper, steel wool, bathroom cleaner, coffee, razor blades, hair dryers, and car keys, among other things. [1]

Contents

Purpose

Relic'ing is performed with the goal of creating a worn, aged appearance and feel in newer guitars. Over time, guitars change due to various factors, such as exposure to the elements, temperature changes, and sweat, resulting in paint colors fading, cellulose finishes taking on a patina, and hardware becoming tarnished. [4] Friction from contact with a player's body can also wear away paint, sometimes exposing the underlying wood, while the player's hands traveling up and down the neck can thin the finish and "roll" the fretboard edges, resulting in a smoother feel. [5] Relic'ing seeks to replicate many of these effects.

Tom Murphy of Gibson's Custom Shop theorized the popularity of relic'd guitars is due to the increasing scarcity and high prices of vintage guitars, while Guitar World wrote that they are an attractive alternative to getting the look and feel of vintage guitars without the risk of being sold an expensive guitar of questionable authenticity. [1]

Criticism

For many vintage guitar enthusiasts, the visible wear-and-tear of a guitar having been played for decades creates in it a prestige that relic'ing cannot capture, as the process is inherently aesthetic—akin to buying pre-ripped jeans. [6] Premier Guitar likewise noted that there is a "sincerity" to a guitar naturally coming by its blemishes and highlighted the irony of guitarists going to great lengths to fake that sincerity through relic'ing. [7] One luthier in a Guitar World article said purchasing relic'd guitars was an example of players "hear[ing] with their eyes." [6] Music Radar , however, noted that while the aged appearance of relic'd guitars is what detractors of the practice typically focus on, the "broken-in" feel of these guitars is often their primary attraction for buyers. [5] [8]

History

Adrian Belew suggested he owned the first relic'd guitar, a brown sunburst Fender Stratocaster, while in Frank Zappa's band in the 1970s. Dismayed by its unsightly finish, Belew turned the guitar over to his friend Seymour Duncan, who proceeded to "age" the guitar through methods such as rubbing motor oil into the neck, dragging it across a lawn, and lighting it on fire. [9] Similarly, Julian Lage recalled aging a Telecaster when he was younger—"before relic'ing was a thing"—via means like working nail polish remover into the frets and throwing the guitar against a curb. [10]

Fender began developing the idea of relic'ing guitars as part of the production process in 1989 after JW Black, a builder in the company's Custom Shop, saw an aged Strat a friend had made and showed it to his boss, John Page. [1] Black suggested producing a "Relic" line of guitars from the Custom Shop and Page agreed. One of the first relic'd instruments the Custom Shop produced was a "beat up" bass for Keith Richards, who gifted it to Don Was after Was had mused over why armoires could be antiqued but guitars could not. [6] For the 1995 NAMM show, Fender made two 1950s-era relic'd models, a "Nocaster" and a blonde-bodied "Mary Kaye" Strat, initially fooling attendees who thought the guitars were original. Enthusiasm over the concept led to high demand from the Custom Shop, which began producing their "Relic" line with a Nocaster and '50s and '60s-era Strat models, and then later a '60s Jazz Bass. [1] Fender has since expanded their relic'ing into multiple guitar lines with each varying the amount of simulated wear. [2]

In 1999, Gibson released an aged version of the Les Paul '59 Reissue with the help of Tom Murphy, who had earlier left Gibson to set up a vintage guitar restoration company. Murphy altered each guitar by hand so that its painted colors appeared faded, the lacquer dulled, and hardware tarnished, among other changes. Gibson's Custom Shop later took over the aging process under Murphy, with its first in-house aged model being Eric Clapton's signature ES-335, released in 2005. Since 2006, Gibson has marketed their aged finishes as "Vintage Original Spec" (VOS). [1] Gibson uses VOS finishes for other signature models based on older guitars, such as Billy Gibbons' "Pearly Gates" 1959 Les Paul [11] and Chuck Berry's 1955 ES-350T. [1]

Many luthiers offer relicing guitars as a service. [1]

Techniques

There is no single established method for relic'ing or aging a guitar, and many luthiers maintain their methods as a trade secret. Most relic'ing is done by hand, resulting in each guitar being unique. Luthiers use tools as varied as sandpaper, steel wool, bathroom cleaner, coffee, razor blades, and hair dryers, among other things. [1] Tom Murphy of Gibson's Custom Shop often relies on atypical items, such as old car keys and even a railroad spike, the latter for altering the texture on the back of guitar necks. [11] Common techniques include extensive exposure to sunlight to fade paint colors and subjecting the guitar to sharp temperature changes to create cracks in the cellulose finish, which can also be mimicked with razor blades. [3] Aging hardware like the bridge and pickup covers can be accomplished by brushing them with steel wool or placing them in boxes with hard items like nails and shaking the box. [2]

Relic'ing is considered a difficult process to do convincingly. In a multi-part DIY guide, Premier Guitar noted that many guitarists "overdo" relic'ing, in large part because they often have little to no experience with actual vintage guitars and are thus not familiar with the nuances of an older guitar's condition. [2]

Related Research Articles

The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster since 1954. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate the Stratocaster by other manufacturers are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars. Many prominent rock musicians have been associated with the Stratocaster for use in studio recording and live performances, most notably Eric Clapton, Buddy Holly, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Frusciante, Jeff Beck, George Harrison, and Tom Petty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Precision Bass</span> Model of electric bass

The Fender Precision Bass is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument usually equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PRS Guitars</span> American guitar and amplifier manufacturer

Paul Reed Smith Guitars, also known as PRS Guitars or simply PRS, is an American guitar and amplifier manufacturer located in Stevensville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1985 in Annapolis, Maryland by Paul Reed Smith. Products manufactured by PRS include electric and acoustic guitars, basses, and amplifiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superstrat</span> Electric guitar design

Superstrat is a name for an electric guitar design that resembles a Fender Stratocaster but with differences that clearly distinguish it from a standard Stratocaster, usually to cater to a different playing style. Differences typically include more pointed, aggressive-looking body and neck shapes with increased cutaways to facilitate access to the higher frets, an increased number of frets on the fingerboard, a contoured heel at the neck joint facilitating easier higher fret access, the usage of humbucking pickups, and locking vibrato systems, most commonly the Floyd Rose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Cyclone</span> Series of electric guitars manufactured by Fender

The Fender Cyclone denotes a series of electric guitars made by Fender. Introduced in late 1997, the Cyclone body is similarly styled to the Mustang, but it is a quarter of an inch thicker than the body of a Mustang and is made of poplar, whereas contemporary Mustang reissues were made of basswood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Mustang</span> US solid body electric guitar

The Fender Mustang is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced until 1982 and reissued in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster</span>

The Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster is the signature model electric guitar of English guitarist Eric Clapton. It was the first signature model guitar released by Fender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charvel</span> American electric guitar brand

Charvel is a brand of electric guitars founded in the 1970s by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and originally headquartered in Glendora, California. Since 2002, Charvel has been under the ownership of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

The Fender Mustang Bass is a shortscale electric bass guitar model produced by Fender and Squier. Two variants, the Musicmaster Bass and the Bronco Bass, have also been produced from time to time, using the same body and neck shape. Originally marketed as a student bass, the Mustang Bass is notable for its usage in alternative and indie genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Telecaster Custom</span> Variation of the Fender Telecaster

Fender Telecaster Custom is a model of electric guitar made by Fender.

Fender California Series electric guitars included both a Stratocaster and Telecaster models produced by Fender in 1997 and 1998. In 1997 Fender described the California Series guitars as "a combined effort by our guitar makers in Corona, California, and Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. All California series are produced along the Pacific Coast Highway. First the bodies and necks are cut and shaped in Corona. Then, they're sent to Ensenada where they're sanded, painted and buffed. Final assembly is then performed in Corona using genuine Fender hardware and electronics."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Noiseless Pickups</span> Fender Noiseless electric guitar pickups cancel noise yet retain single coil sound.

The Fender Noiseless series is a line of electric guitar pickups made by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation designed to cancel 60 cycle (Hz) hum noise while retaining the characteristic sound of single coil pickups. Introduced in 1998, these pickups consist of a pair of single coils stacked one on top of the other, compacted so as to match the shape and width space as a traditional Fender single coil guitar pickup, while being only slightly taller. The upper coil is actually the sound source, while the lower coil is responsible for the mains hum attenuation. Alnico 5 magnetic bars span from one coil to the other, crossing a soft ferrous steel spacer plate that isolates them, without touching it. The spacer plate has mainly two functions: to isolate the lower coil from the vibrations of the string, making sure that the sound is picked up only from the upper one, and to increase the magnetic flux that passed through both coils, increasing the output of the pickup. This is to be contrasted with the original noise canceling pickup, the humbucker, which is a double-wide, horizontally adjacent pair of single coil pickups with opposing phase.

The Fender Elite Stratocaster is an electric solid body guitar that was manufactured by Fender in 1983 and 1984. The name was revived from 2016 to 2019 with the Fender American Elite Stratocaster Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vintage guitar</span>

A vintage guitar is an older guitar usually sought after and maintained by avid collectors or musicians. The term may indicate either that an instrument is merely old, or that is sought after for its tonal quality, cosmetic appearance, or historical significance.

The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the tele, is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music. Many prominent rock musicians have been associated with the Telecaster for use in studio recording and live performances, most notably Bruce Springsteen, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Keith Richards and George Harrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Murray (musician)</span> English guitarist

David Michael Murray is an English guitarist, best known as a member of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He joined Iron Maiden early in its history, and is the second-longest serving member of the band after founder Steve Harris. He and Harris are the only members of Iron Maiden to have appeared on every album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cruz (luthier)</span> American guitar builder

John Cruz is an American luthier who worked for Fender from 1987 to 2020. After his career at Fender, he launched his own guitar brand, John Cruz Custom Guitars.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bacon, Tony. "How guitar relic'ing took over the world". guitarworld.com. Guitar World. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Wacker, Dirk. "The DIY Relic Job—Fantasy or Reality?". premierguitar.com. Premier Guitar.
  3. 1 2 Wacker, Dirk. "DIY Relic'ing: Break the Shine". premierguitar.com. Premier Guitar. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  4. ↑ "Gibson 59 Les Paul Standard VOS review". musicradar.com. Music Radar. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  5. 1 2 Laing, Rob. ""It's not just about having the ripped jean look": The one crucial thing that relic guitar haters might be missing out on". musicradar.com. Music Radar. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 Clifford, Hall. "To Relic or Not to Relic? The Age-Old Debate Has Finally Reached the World of Acoustic Guitars". guitarworld.com. Guitar World. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  7. ↑ Bohlinger, John. "Last Call: Someday You'll Regret That Relic Job". premierguitar.com. Premier Guitar. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  8. ↑ Laing, Rob. "Fender Mike McCready Stratocaster review". musicradar.com. Music Radar. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  9. ↑ Reed, Ryan. ""Seymour Duncan went to work. He dragged it through the grass. Put motor oil on it. Chipped it. Frank Zappa said, 'If you wanted to ruin your guitar, Adrian, why didn't you loan it to a friend?'" Adrian Belew's number one Stratocaster has lived a life". guitarworld.com. Guitar World. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  10. ↑ Owen, Matt. ""He said, 'We should make it look older.' We'd hit it against curbs, use sandpaper, and put polish remover on the frets": Julian Lage radically DIY aged his father's prized Telecaster "before relic'ing was a thing"". guitarworld.com. Guitar World. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  11. 1 2 Laing, Rob. "Tom Murphy reveals his guitar relic'ing toolkit: including a bunch of keys". musicradar.com. Music Radar. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.