To Relic or not to Relic

Here's a subject for you that seems to come up every now and again.  And even John Bolinger is talking about it again in his most recent vid on the Tube of You.  Reliced guitars.  I know these aren't the only opinions out there, but if you read the interwebs, there seem to be two prevailing schools of thought.  The first group says that reliced instruments are stupid, idiotic, and should all be burned, and those that buy them, play them, or otherwise look upon them any other way are nothing more than wannabes that can't tell a guitar string from a climbing rope and don't deserve to ever pick up a guitar.  The other prevailing thought is the group that seems pretty apathetic towards them and basically say "if you don't like them, then don't buy them."

As I recall, reliced instruments were started off primarily in the domain of custom shops.  They were making guitars that were replicas of famous instruments and NOS type for the collectors.  Then the manufacturers realized that they could make good money on heavily reliced instruments.  So they started making those too.  They eventually figured out how to do the relicing a lot more cheaply, so the reliced guitars left the domain of the custom shops and entered that of the affordable.  Disclaimer:  I don't know that this is exactly how it went down, but, from this consumer's perspective that appears to have been what it was.  So take this last paragraph with a grain of salt.  Or the whole shaker.  It may or may not be totally accurate, but that's what seemed to happen to me.

 Back around 2008-ish when Fender released their Road Worn line, all of the guitar forums I was on erupted with the most hate-filled, vitriolic commentary on them that you can imagine.  "Wear should be honest."  "Only posers will buy these guitars."  "These guitars are made for folks with more money than sense.  And kids that haven't put in the time to have worn in a guitar."  "Stupidest idea ever."  And a lot of really troll-ish things a lot worse than this by those that I know not to be trolls. 

Everyone had an opinion, and most of those sharing their opinions had less then complementary things to say about them.  Including me.  At that point and time, my thought was that wear should be honest wear, but I sometimes balanced that thought with the fact that other folks can spend their money on whatever makes them happy.  But that doesn't mean I wasn't parroting a lot of the things that some of the others were saying.

About 2010, I decided I needed to get myself a Tele.  I test drove Tele after Tele, and didn't like any of them.  They either didn't sound right or didn't feel right or something.  None of them were any good.  Didn't like them.  Every time I'd hit the local stores (the mom and pops and the big boys) I'd start pulling Teles off the wall, and not a single one of them spoke to me.  I tried to like them.  I really, really wanted to like them.  Squiers, MIM Fenders, MIA Fenders, even a G&L or two.  But not a single one of them was it.  Did this for a couple of years.   

I avoided the Road Worns just because they were...Road Worns.  FInally pulled a 50s Road Worn off the wall mostly to exercise my confirmation bias against them.  At that moment I think I heard that proverbial angelic choir, because there was absolutely no question that was the guitar for me.  It felt good.  It had the right weight to it, and the neck was the most incredible neck ever.  I once described it to a buddy as being like that pair of jeans that you've had for years that you just don't get rid of because they fit perfectly and were worn in all the right places.  I bought it.

Yes, it's a Road Worn.  Yes, it looks like every other Road Worn Tele that was being made at that time.  Yes, the neck has the same wear spots as every other maple necked Road Worn Tele (and Strat) since they started making them.  Call me a poser and wannabe if you like, but it's the best feeling poser guitar I've ever picked up.

That very much started changing my opinion on reliced guitars.  Then, in 2012, I got the chance to tour the Fender factory and they took us through the Custom Shop.  We passed the area where the Master Builders do their work.  I felt in the presence of royalty when John Cruz stepped out of his work area and watched as we awkwardly stared at him as we walked by.  Then they took us over to where the Journeyman builders were working on the more mass-produced custom shop stuff.  There was a line of 5 red Strats that he was working on that were all identically reliced. 

I figured that they would be sold to the masses just like most of the others that come off the line.  But then the one working on them told us that all 5 were going to the same individual (a famous player who we all know that is known for playing Strats).  The player had recently decided that he didn't want to carry his famous guitar out of his studio anymore, so he was having the guitars in front of us built so he could grab one and carry it where ever he was going and not have to worry about his old, beat-up one being lost, stolen, broken, etc, but everyone seeing him play would think it was still the old trusted #1 axe he'd always used.

That changed my mind for good.  If some of the famous players played guitars built as relics, then they're definitely not just for posers, and honest wear may not always be the best.  I've got my Road Worn, and I've recorded with it, but, honestly, I've never played it out.  It's a fun guitar.  It feels wonderful, and plays nicely.  And shouldn't that be what it's all about?  Does it fit you like you want it to and give you the sound that you hear in your head?  Then it shouldn't  matter if it got its scratches on the road or in the factory,

Honestly, what's the difference in a "poser" buying a Road Worn or other reliced guitar brand new and that same person going to Reverb (or the local Guitar Center) and buying a guitar that is just well used?  Either way, both of them look used.  One just happens to look like 1000 identical guitars because their wear patterns are the same.  Either way, they both look like a used guitar.  And who cares if it's a 15 year old in a high school garage band playing it.  Maybe that beat up '65 Strat they're playing was something they inherited from a relative that gave it all that wear "honestly."  Are they still a poser because they didn't give it that wear? 

I'm firmly in the "I don't care" camp.  You know what?  I also don't care if you salt and pepper your eggs more than I like because it's not me eating them.  If you like the look of reliced guitar, and that's what gets you to play it, then buy it.  If you like the look of a brand new, pristine axe then buy that one if it's what's going to get you to play it.  Be sure it feels good.  Be sure it sounds good.  Be sure that you can live it.  Just get whatever guitar makes you happy. 

Whether it's brand new with not a scratch on it or reliced so much it's bare wood, more power to you.  If it's the guitar that will get you to play more, then that's the one that you need.  Because when it all comes down to it, who cares whether you're playing rock or blues or country or dubstep or whatever, and who cares what you're playing it on.  Just be sure that you're playing it.  Too often we confuse ourselves and make it about who we're a disciple of or the tools of the trade, but it should be about the music.  If it wasn't for the music, then we wouldn't have a guitar to begin with.