LeftyBassist.com

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ws/eBayISAPI ... 500wt_1118

I know it's a geetah n not a bass but why do people spend major $ getting a custom axe built & then paying to have the absolute shit kicked out of it; aka, reliced. Take a look at this, it's idiotic to me & to open another can o' worms, why not have the luthier just stick an old Fender decal on it, as that's what the buyer really wants it to be, instead of leaving it blank as in this example. Nash usually decals his produce so leaving it blank is a mystery. I get it if someone has a genuinely vintage axe & they need to replace the bridge, pups, whatever & they want to maintain the look of the vintage, even if they aren't original parts but to have a luthier go apeshit like a Bonobo on acid with an awl, penknife, teeth, battery acid etc is just unfathomable. If you bought it second hand like this because it's a great axe, fine, but to have it done from the get-go?? Oh, the humanity! PS, I know the dude said he wanted a real Fender CS & they wouldn't do a Beck lefty but I just don't get it unless you're trying to copy an exact instrument a la Jaco, etc & his wasn't beaten up like this cosmetically. Ok, I've taken my meds now!

Man, that is one UGLY relic job! I've never seen natural wear that even comes Close to looking like this.. Ugh!

I have fought with the people talk bass until they warn me about trolling on the bonus or benefit of paying more to have someone take a mint guitar/bass and destroying it.

I just don't argue anymore and let the idiots do what they want. they paid for it so who am I to say they are fuc***g retarded for taking a 1500 unit and turning it into scrap.

My guess.... vainly trying to "recapture" a touchstone of adolescence that never existed.

Market research would probably reveal middle age white professional who never played in his younger years. Somehow wants that elusive "vibe" via discretionary spending rather than playing ability.
see also:Blues Lawyers, Blues Dentists, Blues Accountants..

(Noticed the same trend years ago with Schwinn Stingrays & Krate bikes going for insane-crazy prices)

Here's another lefty Tele Esquire (factory relic'd) for a disposable $5000 spending amount:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FENDER-CUSTOM-S ... 2a28199aae

On top of the mutilation, the Esquire doesn't even have a truss rod & the fool paid for it to be that way for the sake of authenticity!! Guess he never anticipated the presence of precipitation or humidity outside Vegas? Nimrod!

Oh boy. Where to I start. I usually try to refrain from posting anything argumentative on any forum whatsoever but stuff like this really gets me.

Why are there rules to owning an instrument? Why do people feel the need to comment on things that others - foolishly or not - spend their money on. I believe some introspection needs to be applied before making some of these comments.

Everyone has that thing that they spend money on. For instance, when I'm not on the road or making money playing music, I do technical services for a VERY high end bicycle company. Every day at that job I talk to someone who is a dentist, lawyer, factory worker, etc. who owns - or wants to own - one of our $3,000 - $12,000 bicycles. Does a dentist from upstate NY need the same bike that the pros use? No. Is it going to make him as fast as them? No. Will he smile from ear to ear when he rides it. YES. (Will it make all of his other riding buddies jealous? Most certainly!) Should we judge this man for spending his money on something foolish? Not at all. Because foolish is strictly subjective. He can afford it. He's an adult. It's his business what he does with his money.

Getting back to guitars... Many guitar enthusiasts - I use the term enthusiast because that encompasses those of us who get paid to use our instruments AND those who simply jam in the basement - never got to own that dream guitar when they were kids. Or, maybe they did but they lost it or sold it or gave it away in a moment of weakness and have always regretted it. Now that they're middle aged and have earned some disposable income they can go out and get that CS Strat to relive a lost part of their youth. We ALL do it in some way. And, if he wants to have that CS Strat relic'd because it allows him to fantasize about having owned it for all those years, playing in dirty blues dives along the Delta, why can't we let him have that fantasy? It isn't hurting anyone and it makes him feel good.

A few years ago I spent a ton of money having someone build me a Thunderbird replica - well before Gibson started making them again - and yes, I had it relic'd. Mostly because I've wanted one ever since I started playing bass almost 30 years ago and I imagined if I got to buy one back then and still had it today it would look that way. It would look that way because I play my basses. I don't hang them on the wall for my house guests to view. I don't horde them away hoping they'll appreciate with value as some kind of fiscal investment. Also, I play in a band that derives all of it's image from the early to mid seventies, that incorporates fire, chainsaws, sparks and general mayhem into our live shows. (You know, image. Some of you who's photos I've seen posted with $5000 Roscoes/Alembics/Sadowskys/Laklands/etc, playing at the local blues jam wearing shorts, Hawaiian shirt, sandles and a backwards baseball cap might put a little thought in that concept if you're so quick to judge others motives and choices.) A pristine Modulus Genesis 5 string with a fancy flamed maple top would not only look silly up on stage in that setting, it would get destroyed. My T-Bird is probably the best playing and sounding bass I own AND it looks super cool. Not to mention, when it falls over because some stagehand in Gijon, Spain knocks it off the stand I don't get upset. I can't tell where the relic'ing ends and my own dings and dents begin. That's good. It gives me one less thing to worry about. It's a stunning player that I make regular adjustments on and maintain in all other ways besides the finish.

In closing, I'll throw this out there. There are members on this forum who own VERY large collections of basses. Some of these collectors don't often leave the jam room in their basement or garage to go out and play live, nor do they make any real money playing music. One might ask, why do you need such a large collection of instruments if you couldn't possibly play them all and they don't make you any money? You know what the answer is? IT MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD TO OWN ALL THOSE BASSES. Some would call it foolish. I don't. It's your money and your hobby is your hobby. Just because music is more than a hobby to me - I make roughly half of my yearly income playing music and spent 3 months on the road in no less than 10 countries last year - I don't think less of the hobbiest collector. On the contrary, I respect him. Whatever puts a smile on your face!

I'm not a religious man but I I'm firmly in the "judge not, lest ye be judged" camp. That's my rant. Feel free to berate me in any way you want. I promise. I won't care. But, I will still respect you.

Jayce, thanks for saving me the time to craft such an eloquent response- not much to add to what you've said, other than I can't agree more. Gotta live and let live, guys.... the various asthetic quirks and preferences of individual taste are what make guitars (and the folks on this board) so interesting to me--otherwise we all might as well be playing black Precisions with white pickguards-- anything else is really unnecessary, right? I've done a few vintage finishes and a bit of "mild" aging on various retro projects, and while extreme relics aren't my personal cup of tea, how can you draw the line for anyone else and what they want to do?

Well said Jayce.

I don't own any relic'ed basses but personally I dig them. Key for me is I tend to be protective and worrisome over new basses but I really like the idea of a bass that if you give it a chip,scratch or ding it doesn't matter. To a guy with my personality about preserving the newness of a bass, a relic'ed bass comes with a freedom of enjoyment a regular bass doesn't.

The world is full of really expensive basses I think are hideous and wouldn't spend my money on. But that's just me. To each their own.

Jace, very well said. I agree with everything you pointed out. And you're absolutely right that people can do whatever they want with their hard-earned cash - all of us here are "guilty" of spending our bucks and strange ways... Relic'd instruments don't bother me, unless they've been done badly, but, to each his own. My feeling is that the bass we're talking about here, to me, is just a very unnatural looking job. But who am I to judge? The owner obviously got what he wanted... it will be interesting to see if anyone else agrees with him, and bus this bass.

You have, however, opened my tolerance levels a bit more, so I appreciate your well thought out reply, so thanks for taking the time to type it out!

Geez, guys, so many emotions just talking about a stupid instrument's finish.

I do love a good relic'd finish, real or not. It just feels good in my hands, regardless of how it looks, and I do prefer to play used instruments. Really, nothing worst than worrying about scratching the back of a brand-new $5000 Smith with the buttons of a Hawaiian shirt.

And aminbari, man, you have some strong words and criticism coming from somebody who likes basses with pointy headstocks, in 2013.

boobies

although I fail to see what owning pointyheads has anything to do with relicing, I actually like them because they are 25 year old, superclean, perfectly polished neck backsides, and all the hardware is spotless.

AND they have pointy headstocks.

Who has never owned relic'ed pair of jeans? Same thing

I would never relic an instrument myself, but I've picked up some of the CS Fender relics and they FEEL GREAT!

(and I'm NOT ashamed to admit it)

Also, some pro players play guitars that have authentic wear, and they want a backup that looks and feels the same as their main player.

That guitar in the link is overdone and looks bad, but I like some relic'd looks. I'd do it to this Squier P Bass I just got if I knew how how to do it right.

Well, here's the original guitar it was modeled after...



After seeing that, they actually didn't do that bad of a job trying to recreate it, IMO.

Personally, I think relics are cool. They feel friggin' great to play, and, when they're done right, it's as close as I'm ever going to get to playing or owning a "real deal" Pre-CBS Fender bass.

There's also a fair amount of people who do own the real thing, who don't want to drag it out to stinky bars and gig with it. A quality relic would be the next best thing.

I dunno... to each their own, I guess. Personally, I think Ritter basses are goddamn hideous, but I don't judge other people for liking them.

Well said Matt.

Matt's always on target, isn't he? lol

Addison, how did you find the original? just curious ...

and see, that's where we differ on Ritter basses. I couldn't stand the look of them until I got to examine them up close and personal. I was converted within 5 seconds of holding one.

D'oh. I meant to just think that, not type it.