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I don't get it....why buy aged guitar???

gmann

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May 26, 2003
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I just bought a Gibson Les Paul True Historic and I'm happy to be the one who'll age it as time goes. I'm not sure I understand the idea of buying a guitar massacred by someone else though :hmm
You don’t need to understand it. Enjoy your new guitar.
 

S. Cane

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Dec 10, 2014
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656
It don't take 50 yrs to age one.

They look fake.

I won't pay more for fake age.

A fake aged guitar is not a vintage guitar, it is a phony vintage guitar.

Mojo can't be faked.

Fake is fake.

Pretending is pretence.

No one who knows is fooled by it.
Fake is fake.

Obviously I'm not a fan and my overstated opinion is more of a reaction to years of listening to silly justifications by fakers and pretenders and is only my opinion. Truth is they ain't forced on me and as long as there is a choice, what's the harm? It does feel good to poke the bear though.

Oh, I almost forgot, FAKE IS FAKE:hee:spabout


Precisely how I feel.

People trash new guitars so that they can look like 50s and 60s made ones. But I've never seen anyone use the same logic with cars or leather jackets. If they buy vintage stuff they want it to be as mint as possible. Go figure. Besides MOST of the real vintage instruments I've come across were nowhere near as ugly and distressed as the "heavy relic" monstrosities they make (and charge for).

I own a 1994 stratocaster that has always been a live band's underdog, I mean it is a cheap guitar that no one minded leaving onstage after soundcheck, leaning against a stack, spilling beer on, it's been dropped several times... It was already played in when I bought it used and I kept using it as a joker I'd take to less than respectable venues where I wouldn't take my standard guitars. Literally more than 20 years of abuse and counting.

Full of little dings, dents, chips and whatever else. 20+ years on the road made it deliciously "worn", but definitely nowhere near as trashed as a "relic" like they make them.
 

GastonG

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Jul 25, 2001
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1,397
pix of 9 0910 with 9 0848 when I first met the original owner of that "played" burst in 1979. 9 0910 was very clean then !Scan4Da_1_l.jpg
If you want to see 9 0848, how it looks today: p 46-47 in Burst Believers IV and 9 0910 on page 32-33

Some original burst are naturally "beat up" by being played and still sound amazing today.

The back of the neck was more "trashed" than the 2021 relic and this, in 1979 !!! (the owner was playin' 3-4 nights a week in the 60's and 70's).
Scan4Da_2_l.jpg
 
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C-4

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Jan 5, 2005
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1,776
While I am not a "relic" preferred person, and never had one, I have nothing bad to say about them.
Just within the last month, when the Murphy Lab was announced, I saw a watermelon red '59 355 that I fell in love with, and was looking for one last guitar, a 355. I had asked the custom shop if they could do one with no aging, but a rolled fret board edge to which they replied "No".

I therefore had no choice but to order an ultra-light aged version, not because I wanted the aging at all, but because I did want the rolled fret board edges. I'm really not worried about the aging, as it is very light, but I think the players who know me will be more surprised that I am playing an aged guitar. :)
 

S. Cane

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pix of 9 0910 with 9 0848 when I first met the original owner of that "played" burst in 1979. 9 0910 was very clean then !View attachment 13755
If you want to see 9 0848, how it looks today: p 46-47 in Burst Believers IV and 9 0910 on page 32-33

Some original burst are naturally "beat up" by being played and still sound amazing today.

The back of the neck was more "trashed" than the 2021 relic and this, in 1979 !!! (the owner was playin' 3-4 nights a week in the 60's and 70's).
View attachment 13756


Very nice patina. The ones I've seen were not as worn in, but still you can spot the difference between a heavily played oldie and a relic'ed one, except if the job is EXTREMELY well done, but still... in my head the question would still remain: the guitar isn't old and will probably never be collectible, so what's the point?

But to each his own.
 

GastonG

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Jul 25, 2001
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No point really ! I just got heaven's lucky to get a guitar with such a great tone ! This new Murphy Lab Les Paul of mine has a greater tone than my Pearly Gates that "was" my main guitar since 2009 ! (and that Pearly is quite something). So imagine my surprise !
 

FanoFan

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Apr 9, 2021
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5
Not debating the pro versus con on relic treatments, but when I bought my Fano and Nash there was no option for a non-relic finish. Not going to say I don't care what a guitar looks like, I certainly do. But tone and feel trumps looks for me. The Fano and Nash played and sounded so great I would have bought them no matter what they looked like. Same with my '59 RI, it is just aged obviously, no relic treatment. I played it in the shop and it was the best playing and sounding LP I had ever played, and again, looks become secondary at that point for me.
 

RocknRollShakeUp

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Jul 7, 2006
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766
I just bought a Gibson Les Paul True Historic and I'm happy to be the one who'll age it as time goes. I'm not sure I understand the idea of buying a guitar massacred by someone else though :hmm
I do think that some relic jobs make the guitars look like someone fished them out of a dumpster. Of course aesthetics, and how they are appreciated, differ, and to each his own.
I will tell you that I personally really like a closet classic, to light relic job, as the guitar feels more comfortable and "settled" to me, and on a major practical note, when/if I get a ding in the darn thing I don't have a fookin' conniption over it, it just adds to the mojo :D.
But really man, why worry about what others like or don't like, you do you bro!
 
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C-4

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I didn't get it either...till i fell for a Roadworn Mexican Telecaster. Its a great guitar and feels just right,so,i'm converted.

My R8's (2010 and 2011) aren't aged, and i like them as is.They are getting there,however.:)

My late 80's Lespauls are naturally aged,and feel great to me. That powerful bonding thing.

Still, with the right Lester,i could see how someone would fall for the aged thing, after my Tele experience.

An aged guitar can get you to that point that would normally take 20 - 30 years to get to,as i have with my older lesters.They are very nice players, and a joy to play.Some may not want to wait, or have another 20-30 years.:rofl

Different strokes.
While I agree with you, since I began playing in the mid 1950's, I have owned some new Gibsons bought early on that I played every day for 29 years and they had no signs of any aging until you would look at the frets. It's just how I take care of my gear, and I used them all playing out live.

I now have my last guitar I will most likely buy, a Murphy Lab '59 355 ultra light aged in watermelon red on order, with a wait time of 10-12 months. I loved the color but tried to order that color with no aging but with rolled fret board binding and the custom shop would not do it, so I had to go ultra lightly aged. It will be my first new aged guitar I have even played, as there are none around where I live.

I've played real aged guitars which were old, and liked them, but I could not bring myself to buy one, so this will be a unique experience for me. If I like it, I will be sorry I waited until I was 73!
 

Trans-Am

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Jul 15, 2001
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4,686
That is the whole reason of the LAB aged/relic guitars for the one who missed out on the 50's/60's vintage find. There are a lot of people who cant wait any longer depending on the demographic age they're in, so splurge for one and you may feel that you have a vintage 50's/60's style aged Gibson. Who says money can't buy years these days.
I just want to age mine the natural way that's all and so be it if it'd still mint after 50 years, coz that just means it's worth more then for that condition. Will only know once we get there and with differences like real ebony fretboards and Brazilian rosewoods used over Richlite which is common these days now with almost half of the models having that as an alternative. There is a difference really no matter what Gibson puts out and they know it.
 

Big Al

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Apr 24, 2002
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Folks buy them 'cause they like 'em. The rest is bs justification and delusional tripping. Like that look, fine. I can do without all the hyperbolic koolaid. All those vintage guitars looked new when they originaly sold. A new Reissue is just as good and all the phony wear and imitation doesn't make a better guitar, just the same new guitar with an expensive fake assed cosmetic simulated imitation vintage old guitar veneer. It's nothing more than a finish option.
 

El Gringo

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Apr 8, 2015
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Folks buy them 'cause they like 'em. The rest is bs justification and delusional tripping. Like that look, fine. I can do without all the hyperbolic koolaid. All those vintage guitars looked new when they originaly sold. A new Reissue is just as good and all the phony wear and imitation doesn't make a better guitar, just the same new guitar with an expensive fake assed cosmetic simulated imitation vintage old guitar veneer. It's nothing more than a finish option.
I agree with you and I would dare anyone to do a shootout A/B test of a Murphy lab R9 , with a new gloss R9 and never mind the hyperbole and such and compare TONE . I know one will not hear a difference because it's the same instrument built and FINISHED in the same way with the difference being the razor blade on the Murphy R9 . I know I am sounding harsh right ? I like that Gibson is giving the consumer more choices and that is a beautiful thing at the end of the day . Gibson is very smart and I applaud them for that because they are giving us more choices and who doesn't like that ?
 

GastonG

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Jul 25, 2001
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Folks buy them 'cause they like 'em. The rest is bs justification and delusional tripping. Like that look, fine. I can do without all the hyperbolic koolaid. All those vintage guitars looked new when they originaly sold. A new Reissue is just as good and all the phony wear and imitation doesn't make a better guitar, just the same new guitar with an expensive fake assed cosmetic simulated imitation vintage old guitar veneer. It's nothing more than a finish option.
100% with Big Al. I like my new Murphy Lab Les Paul; I think it looks cool, and mostly, I love the sound of it. I have to admit that when I'm playing, I don't see how it looks... I mainly look toward the fingerboard ! :ROFLMAO: but I do hear how beautiful the tone is.

I have to confess: I bought that specific Murphy Lab because it has a serial number that means something to me; "9 0910". When I said to my wife that wanted that Les Paul, she tought that Gibson was reissuing a 9 0910 model ! I said no, there's only one with that serial number made in 2020. You're crazy she said ! but... it really does sound better than my "main" Les Paul for the past 12 years (a 2009 Pearly Gates model) .

please don't throw stones OK ? ;) (Ha! Ha!) Life is fun when you play music !
 
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Big Al

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Yup, people love those things and it's been a real popular cosmetic option since Ron Davids 1999 40th Ann model. Now they get real, or simulated, dirt rubbed in on the #4 heavy aged. I'm waiting for the posts explaining how the dirt helps produce an earthy tone you just can't get with a gloss finish.
 

ourmaninthenorth

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Mar 28, 2009
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There's a lot I don't get about a lot of things.

Which is why when I get a guitar I like under me arm, any guitar, I take that simplicity as the great blessing that it is. Everything else to me is just blowing bubbles.

When boiled down to the last, I'm just trying to make some music for my soul, plain and simple.

;)
 

GastonG

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Jul 25, 2001
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This little passage of a lead part gives an idea of the difference between my 2 Les Pauls ( first the Pearly then the Murphy Lab)
(recording of last year with Pearly, then a re-recording made yesterday with the Murphy Lab.
http://dicitte.com/images/PearlyGvsMurphyLab.mp3

p.s. not big science here, only guitar-science... and having fun ! The part with Pearly was mixed by a pro, and the Murphy is roughly mix by me...;)
 
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mjross

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May 11, 2019
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They are like retro mod cars if you know what they are! Very popular right now. Aged guitars/relic are a very similar concept.
 

porterburst

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Dec 3, 2001
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Could never understand why someone would waste their time wondering why someone else likes or would spend money on something they don't particularly care for, as if it's their money being spent. Hilarious!!!

Then they're the mind readers that think they know why people make the desicions they make.

Too freakin' funny!!!
 
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