Lets talk about guitar wear, and why do we like it so much?

littlethoughts

More likely drop them on a dark stage...

Teetonetal said:

bluechargeboy said:

 

Teetonetal said:

None of my guitars show that kind of wear.. my takamine is from 1996 and apart from 1 scratch, a small amount of fretboard wear and a chip on the headstock it looks fairly new. Counted up and it's done 564 gigs in that time, so it's not like it doesn't get used.

I just don't understand how people get so much wear on a guitar!! 

Mine up there is 95 gigs in. I play with much vigour, single note lines with plenty of attack. I beat the guitar like it owes me money! I go through three plectrums in an hour set. I could change my technique but the music and the performance are more important than the tools used to create it IMO.

When I'm not playing it I baby my guitar; it gets all the TLC and kept clean. There are no dings on it other than what I have done to the top!

If you choose to define a guitar as a wearing part, then that is what it is. It's a tool, not an heirloom.

 

you break 3 plectrums per hour..? Do you have a video of you playing? I am intrigued. I don't think I've ever broken a plectrum..

xmrchi

Or made of balsa wood or rise paper :-D

guitarfishbay

This thing is quite cool.  http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Fender_1969_P_bass.html

frankus

Roland said:

Wear and tear happens.  As a player you accept it.  I can't see the point in artificial relicing, it's like buying stone-washed jeans 

fixed that for ya

Danny1969

I have a 31 year old Tokia and a 28 year old Ibanez and neither guitar has anything like the wear I see on relic'ed guitars despite the Ibanez having done over 2000 gigs !  ...... and I'm a careless bastard who doesn't care what guitars look like so the guitar is often just put down on stage with no stand and chucked in the van in a soft case

The wear isn't real in most cases, it's been exaggerated, that's the falseness I don't like

BenSirAmos

It's taken a few years, but once the poly goes on a maple neck, it doesn't take long to get a real 'worn' look.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/Ben_Sir_Amos/BenSirAmos teler_zps8itxylbg.jpg

bingefeller

I hate guitar wear.  I was changing strings and polishing up my Suhr on Sunday and I noticed I have a scratch near the bridge that's not from normal picking wear.  I tried to polish it out but it wouldn't come.    

Roland

BenSirAmos said:

It's taken a few years, but once the poly goes on a maple neck, it doesn't take long to get a real 'worn' look.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/Ben_Sir_Amos/BenSirAmos teler_zps8itxylbg.jpg

You can tell a lot about someone's playing from the fret board wear

BenSirAmos

Roland said:

You can tell a lot about someone's playing from the fret board wear

I'm first and foremost a singer rather than a soloist - and, yes, I play in A much more than in E. And when I do play in E, more often than not I'll play the root at the 4th fret and leave the bottom E string open - which is pretty much what the fret board wear shows although I hadn't noticed it before you pointed it out.

Panama_Jack666

jimmyguitar said:

I know what you mean, I can't stand new (especially poly) finishes as it just feels sticky and plasticky to me. My über worn '75 Les Paul is my fave guitar and the neck is worn down to just the smooth wood. It feels amazing to play and totally unique because of the wear, all naturally achieved over time.

Isn't this that famous dudes' Les Paul? Chicago blues dude?

bluechargeboy

Teetonetal said:

you break 3 plectrums per hour..? Do you have a video of you playing? I am intrigued. I don't think I've ever broken a plectrum..

@Teetonetal I don't break them so much as put notches in the edge, which catch on the string. Certain tunes require a nice smooth edge to play them properly. I have taken to sanding them down at home to try and cut down on my expenses!

It comes from trying to keep up with double bass and percussion in a non-amplified environment. I don't play electric like that. It's technically poor technique but it's the sound, innit.

Can't get vids as I am in work, there is a link to Pootube on our website.

Phil_aka_Pip

I'm not sure I do like it so much. Especially on frets, when the frets get so worn that you've lost the sustain at the high end of the neck.

Teetonetal

@bluechargeboy

checked the video on the website, nice sound, really liked it

makes more sense to me now if it's just a notched pick. in the ska section towards the end your RH is constantly over that worn area on the sound hole...... 

bluechargeboy

Teetonetal said:

@bluechargeboy

checked the video on the website, nice sound, really liked it

makes more sense to me now if it's just a notched pick. in the ska section towards the end your RH is constantly over that worn area on the sound hole...... 

Coolio, cheers! It's a little disconcerting under stage lights when you can see sawdust coming off the guitar...

Apologies @mrchi for the thread derailment!

To get back on topic, if you are an Ibanez RG fan then you'd better be OK with paint missing from those sharp edges, nearly all of them have it eventually.

RaymondLin

Philly_Q said:

I'm hesitant to comment here because I'm afraid it's just going to turn into another debate about relics, but....

I'm the sort of person who's very obsessive about new, perfect things.  I don't like to crease the spine or scuff the corners of a book. I don't like a scratched or cracked CD case.  And if I buy a new, shiny, pristine guitar I really, REALLY hate that moment when it gets its first scratch or ding.

When I play an aged, worn guitar (...whether it got that way naturally or artificially... oops, heading towards "R" territory again....) I'm completely freed from that obsessiveness. I'm not afraid to play the thing.  I like the way it looks and perhaps even more so I like the way it feels (unless it has big dents in the back of the neck or shitty knackered frets).

Recently I'm finding myself becoming increasingly "anti" poly-finished guitars.  I don't really believe all that stuff about nitro-finished guitars sounding better, but nitro feels so much better and the way it ages is infinitely more pleasing.

I can totally relate, it's weird as it's only a mental thing. Although making a ding on my brand new PRS on the first day did hurt, and still remember that feeling.

WezV

BenSirAmos said:

If only reliced cars became fashionable. I've put natural wear into many cars in my time.

Everytime we have the relic deabet someone mentions  that its only a phenomenon you see with guitars, then we get mentions of worn jeans, shabby chic furniture and rat rod cars

Purposely rusty cars have been around for a while now and if you go to any car show there will be a few of them

I guess the reason you don't see them all the time is that the proportion of people who own a car is much higher than the proprotion who own a guitar.   But if you focus on people whose hobby  is to do with cars then the proportions will be become more similar.

jimmyguitar

Panama_Jack666;751684" said:

jimmyguitar said:

I know what you mean, I can't stand new (especially poly) finishes as it just feels sticky and plasticky to me. My über worn '75 Les Paul is my fave guitar and the neck is worn down to just the smooth wood. It feels amazing to play and totally unique because of the wear, all naturally achieved over time.










Isn't this that famous dudes' Les Paul? Chicago blues dude?

Yeah, it's that one! This is me playing it

jimmyguitar

GavRichList

My old lady's got a lovely worn in backside....

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff193/guitarsforminnaars/Mobile Uploads/1925823E-C863-44E5-8956-55FE24FD293E.jpg

BenSirAmos

WezV said:

Purposely rusty cars have been around for a while now and if you go to any car show there will be a few of them

I've seen rat bikes but not rat cars. I shall watch out for them - I don't really like purposely reliced guitars but I'm interested in the car version now. In Cuba, some of the cars are so rusty you wonder how they hold together - but they do have a certain charm. I don't fancy a rusty Datsun in the UK but something older and rounder might be fun.