[tonewoods]

Ear wax mixed with motor oil....

[lennyedwards]

@tonewoods

Can we see more pics of your antiqued 6120?
Cheers.

Which model is it? did you strip & refinish in nitro to get the checking, or shoot a top coat over the existing finish?

[Michiel]

Originally Posted by LATS

In addition to the 3% they extort from the seller, PayPal likes to hold the other 97% for a week or more, before letting it go to its rightful owner. After doing nasty things with the exchange rate, of course. Given the number of transactions, and the dollar amounts, that adds up to a pretty penny.

I've had payments that were supposedly instant transfers not reach the seller for several days. Where a weekend is involved, that seems like a good excuse for them to delay even more.

I've had PP refund me 70 euros after I could prove that the exchange rate they used was different from what they advertised on their website (pretty hard to find btw). That's NOT funny, I tell ya!
I'm glad they refunded right away after I sent them the screenshot of their listed ratings at the time of the transfer (and I'm glad I MADE that screenshot btw).
Nevertheless, they still took close to two weeks (no less!) to clear the payment to streetsounds.

For small amounts the payment is usually instantaneous, but larger sums they seem to like to hold back for while. Officially "to check every step of the process against possible froud", but imho it's like LATS said.


BTW, for the record, I'm no fan of relicing either, but I'm in awe (positively) of what tonewoods did to that 6120.
But...

Originally Posted by tonewoods

Ear wax mixed with motor oil....

... THAT's just NASTY.

[Lottie]

I agree totally with you! Why should I buy a new guitar looking like an old one for a much higher prize the a fresh new?? Sorry, I'm blond and I don't see the point or use with it..

[6stings]

Originally Posted by Lottie

Why should I buy a new guitar looking like an old one for a much higher prize the a fresh new?? Sorry, I'm blond and I don't see the point or use with it..

Natural blond?

[JBennett]

I could never bring myself to buy a reliced guitar, but I think they look amazing.

The funny thing is, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a genuine vintage guitar that is well worn and dented and bruised. BUT, isn't that just as phony? Buying an old guitar that is worn by nature and carefully babying it since it looks perfect, vs. buying one carefully "aged". Either way you didn't "earn the wear and tear the old fashioned way", right?

I really don't care much either way and I think they are all beautiful. I feel the same way about pre-ripped jeans. Just something I can't get over, but I still admire a good "relic".

I think it is clearly a genius move by Fender. They obviously sell a ton of them, and since they can't get a second paycheck for their vintage, used gear, they figured out the next best thing. Really smart.

[Michiel]

The whole relicing discussion reminds me of when I was a kid.

As a kid I hated wearing new shoes and new jeans. They just looked so... shiny and new.
I tended to stomp on them, kick them around and make sure they got really wet and dirty a couple of times.
That really helped take the newish shine off real quickly and made me less self-concious about wearing that new stuff...
... to the great misery of my mum. She always scoffed at me for not proper taking care of my new clothes.

Lucky for my wife I grew over that.

I wonder what is it that makes (some of) us dislike shiny new stuff and prefer the mojo of older, worn out things?
Is it the beauty of decay?

[Strummerson]

Originally Posted by Michiel

The whole relicing discussion reminds me of when I was a kid.

As a kid I hated wearing new shoes and new jeans. They just looked so... shiny and new.
I tended to stomp on them, kick them around and make sure they got really wet and dirty a couple of times.
That really helped take the newish shine off real quickly and made me less self-concious about wearing that new stuff...
... to the great misery of my mum. She always scoffed at me for not proper taking care of my new clothes.

Lucky for my wife I grew over that.

I wonder what is it that makes (some of) us dislike shiny new stuff and prefer the mojo of older, worn out things?
Is it the beauty of decay?

Me too. But when I saw jeans with pre-ripped knees being sold in a department store, I nearly gagged.

[Stingker]

Originally Posted by snoglobe

+ 1,000,000

We all know that old quote, attributed to Abraham Lincoln,

"You can fool some of the people all of the time,
and you can fool all of the people some of the time,
but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

You've gotta admit you never heard my additional, Quite True, and appropriate line, "... and some of the people can fool themselves, ALL of the Time!"

Indeed, that's about the biggest problem in life.

I get some Points for that (even if you don't admit it).

Hey, We can take it 'Lite' ('Light'). - I do.

PEACE!

Stingker

[Stingker]

Originally Posted by Strummerson

Me too. But when I saw jeans with pre-ripped knees being sold in a department store, I nearly gagged.

Oh sure! - I thoroughly agree! - Whenever my brothers and I got a new pair of those stiff jeans (before Levi's came out with their ultra-cool stretsch jeans - before your time), we'd take them out back and stomp and kick and roll 'em around to soften 'em up.

It's called, 'Breaking-Them-In.'

Of course, I still wash'n'dry my jeans before I wear 'em.

Tom - 'Stingker'

[tonewoods]

Originally Posted by lennyedwards

@tonewoods

Can we see more pics of your antiqued 6120?
Which model is it? did you strip & refinish in nitro to get the checking, or shoot a top coat over the existing finish?

Here's a thread on one of the 6120's I've done, with pics....

No need to refinish, as the Terada lacquered Gretsches just love to check after 3-5 years or so, and dull beautifully...

Originally Posted by lennyedwards

Is it the beauty of decay?

Ya know, antiqued Fenders, 'Bursts, and fiddles are one thing, but Gretsches just beg to be reliced...

I've never laid eyes on a vintage Gretsch that looked anything remotely like what the new Terada guitars looks like out-of-the-box...
Even mint ones are dulled, with "that" look that we all know and love...

OK, take a tour through the new 6120 book.
There's not one single example of a guitar in there--even in the vintage pics--of a guitar whose finish looks at all like a new Terada lacquered Gretsch...
Compare that to the Blackguard Book or the Beauty of the Burst books, which show numerous mint and shiny examples--the way that those guitars came out of the factory....

Which all leads me to believe that the vintage Gretsches might have left the factory with dulled finishes, and never did look shiny....
Or certainly not as shiny as what we're seeing today....

So-ooo, here we are wanting every minute detail of a vintage 6120 or White Falcon in our modern builds....
And yet if we try to make them look like the originals might have looked when new, we're "posers"...

[Stingker]

Originally Posted by araT

My problem with relics is not the wear, it's how they get the wear...
I believe a guitar earns it's mojo as it ages & wears.. you can't fake that with acid & sandpaper.
I keep my guitars as nicely as I can & let them earn their mojo naturally..

Oh Yeah!

THAT's what I'm talkin' about! - And 'patrickjcrum,' - no doubt.

PEACE!

Stingker

[lennyedwards]

Originally Posted by Lottie

I agree totally with you! Why should I buy a new guitar looking like an old one for a much higher prize the a fresh new?? Sorry, I'm blond and I don't see the point or use with it..

I suppose because each relic guitar must be pristinely finished, like each *new* guitar, then a huge amount of artistry goes into making them look genuinely worn as opposed to the "dragging behind my truck" the everyone seems to mention. As was mentioned in the 1st page of the topic, it's typically a violin technique. It really is that old....

So, we can easily assume the time/labour factor involved is considerably more. We can safely assume there is far more to this *finish option* than a spray & buff, finish in poly. As relics tend to be Nitro, there is a greater curing time involved, again this raises costs. Is it really so different to a set artist on TV/Films, they have to artistically recreate different scenarios and looks everyday, much like a relic artist would have to recreate 40+ years of love/misuse etc... Their skills are most likely more expensive to *buy* then a regular guitar assembler on the production line. I can't see what's so difficult to understand really.

And anybody thinking it's easy to relic a guitar that looks as tastefully done as what the professionals do, then I would like to see these guitars that were dragged behind trucks beside some custom shop work.

best regards

[Stingker]

By the way, I'd just LOVE to have an easy 12 'grand' to drop on an Eddie Cochran Tribute Replica! -

And I'd play it too, - a lot! - It would slowly 'Earn' some more 'Mojo' with me, too.

I'd Love it!

Wish me luck on the Lottery! - Please!

Tom - 'Stingker'

[tonewoods]

Originally Posted by lennyedwards

....a huge amount of artistry goes into making them look genuinely worn....

It ain't that hard to do....

Anyone here who can change their own spark plugs can nicely relic their lacquered GreTsch....

Originally Posted by Stingker

By the way, I'd just LOVE to have an easy 12 'grand' to drop on an Eddie Cochran Tribute Replica! -

You could make one for 2.5K...

Or, at least, I think you can...
How hard is it to fit a P90?

[Strummerson]

Originally Posted by tonewoods

It ain't that hard to do....

Anyone here who can change their own spark plugs can nicely relic their lacquered GreTsch....

Can one de-gloss the poly, both body and neck to accomplish a more satin look and feel without altering the integrity of the finish?

[tonewoods]

Originally Posted by Strummerson

Can one de-gloss the poly, both body and neck to accomplish a more satin look and feel without altering the integrity of the finish?

I don't think you can alter the integrity of a poly finish...

I just wouldn't go there, 'cause it'll never have "the" look....

[Strummerson]

Originally Posted by tonewoods

I don't think you can alter the integrity of a poly finish...

I just wouldn't go there, 'cause it'll never have "the" look....

Nah. I bet sandpaper would do it. I'm not really interested in a reliced look. Just more of a satin feel, like those burgundy Godin Kingpin IIs. And a more satin feel on the neck.

[Strummerson]

Originally Posted by caeman

Meh. To each their own. The fact is, there is a market for equipment that looks old and worn. Enough of a market for Fender et al to have line-ups. The prices seem wonkier to me than the existence of the products. They are NEW guitars, and to me hold no more value than one that hasn't had a luthier toss the body across a parking lot a few times.

Yeah, but if that market helps keep GreTscH and Fender solvent, I'm all for it. Just not my particular thing...

[tonewoods]

Originally Posted by Strummerson

Nah. I bet sandpaper would do it. I'm not really interested in a reliced look. Just more of a satin feel, like those burgundy Godin Kingpin IIs. And a more satin feel on the neck.

400 grit paper, lubed with water and a tad of dishwashing detergent works well...

As do those Magic Erasers...