The best tele I have ever played was a 52 Nash tele. Blew my 52 reissue out of the water. The best strat I have ever played was a Nash. So I bought it! Extremely resonant. There is a guy makes from scratch tele's strat's jr's etc. Literally from scratch no parts guitars like Nash or Edwards. His name is matt McCorkle ie McCorkle guitars. Those are a little cheaper than the Nash etc. And are better than fender cs, Nash, Edwards, suhr or whatever. I don't thinknhe has website but look him up on facebook. Worth it

Go Dawgs!

Quote
with sssoul

but but but on stage Keith uses genuinely vintage guitars (or blatantly new ones, like that recent DA) -
so i'm glad the rumour's been put to rest, even though i never heard it before. have some popcorn

well if it's a genuinely vintage instrument there's no need to relic it, usually.
this mainly applies to Fender guitars - as a scratched plexiglass Dan Armstrong looks rather sad, Gibsons too.

I'm still not convinced that the rumour has been put to rest in it's entirety.
Keith may have requested a worn-in look & feel, not a worn-out one like the Custom Shop did when they made a replica of Micawber.




it looks worse than the original and to know that these are fake battlescars I doubt Keith would want that.
I'm a bit surprise you haven't heard of it before as Teleblaster and Spud seem have heared the same as me.

anyhow, thanks for the popcorn my dear.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I need a shot of salvation, baby, once in a while.
Hear the whistle blowing, hear it for a thousand miles...

>> well if it's a genuinely vintage instrument there's no need to relic it <<

that's just what i mean, open-g honey: the guitars we see Keith with are genuine vintage instruments (or clearly new ones),
not "relic-shopped" items, so i don't get where the rumour came from.
where do people think he uses the "relic-shopped" items - on the beach? :E

have some more popcorn - it's good today, innit! :E

I agree with open-g that the "rumour" has not been put to rest. I've seen this mentioned in numerous guitar publications - including quotes from Keith confirming it and the staff at Fender who were asked to do the first modifications - over the years. This thread is the first place I've ever seen the statement disputed. Fender and Keith both seem to agree with it.

As to what he used the guitars for - well, Keith's got literally hundreds of guitars, not just those that he uses on tour. We all know that certain guitars become associated with certain songs onstage. I just assumed that he wanted the guitars as back up in case the main guitar developed a fault mid-song. Not unusual in a band of the Stones' stature.

>> Keith's got literally hundreds of guitars, not just those that he uses on tour. <<

of course, but if the idea is to have relic-shopped back-ups in case something gets damaged on the road,
develops a fault mid-song, etc, then we're talking about stage gear, right? not instruments we never see.

>> I just assumed that he wanted the guitars as back up in case the main guitar developed a fault mid-song. <<

and i've always reckoned his stage back-ups were also vintage instruments, bashed up by previous owners instead of by a relic-shop.
i don't mean to be argumentative - i've just never heard/read this rumour until now,
so i'm just as surprised as you all are, but in the opposite direction :E


- Brno july 20th 2007 by Rich



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-09-10 10:21 by with sssoul.

This contains an example of the standard explanation

[www.wired.com]

If memory serves me right, Keith ordered a couple of guitars in the lead up to the Voodoo Lounge tour.

More of the same: -

[www.guitarstop.com]

[www.multimap.com]

I own a CS Relic Strat. Not that I wanted it to be relic'd, it just happened that the first good deal I stumbled on for a Mary Kay lookalike was (not heavily though). It just sounds wonderful - probably my best sounding guitar.

Some of the relicing looks artificial (the fretboard wear) when you look closely, otherwise it seems pretty natural. And, being clumsy, I don't have to worry about making the first ding on a brand new guitar.

The real issue with relicing is that the acid used to age the screws really weakens them. My guitar tech had a hard time adjusting the bridge saddles on the Strat the first time. And I broke a strap button screw on my SG VOS while fitting a strap lock on...

[farm3.static.flickr.com]

It's become a big earner for Fender. The price of pre-CBS Fenders just went through the roof in the nineties. I remember way back when a used pre-CBS Tele or Strat cost less than a new CBS-era guitar. Unfortunately I was still at school and spending my pennies on Stones albums and the like.

At least you can now walk into a guitar shop and choose from a range of guitars that include those with 50's and 60's specs that a lot of players appreciate. This was not the case in, say, the eighties. I remember my confusion at preferring a Japanese Squier Tele to a (much more expensive) USA model. Nowadays you can but Custom shop models (it doesn't HAVE to be a relic), vintage reissues , etc. I've played a few Japanese and Mexican models that have punched above their weight, too.

The story I read on an Italian guitar magazine goes as follows (the author of the article is a huge Fender collector and friend of John Page, at the time at the head of the CS)

Some time before the VL tour started, Keith visited Fender's custom shop because he needed some back up tele's to take on the road. He ordered one and promised to buy ten teles if the one he had oredered was good as promised.

Apparently, when Keith returned to the CS some time later to try the tele that was built for him, he sayd to John "its great, but it looks too new". So John jokingly replied that if he wanted he could ruin it a little bit for him. "Do it!" said Keith, and that was when the "relics" were born.

It seems that the guitar that Mick Jagger is using during Some Girls is SAL comes from the batch of 10 CS that Keith eventually bought from Fender.

C

Quote
with sssoul
>> Keith's got literally hundreds of guitars, not just those that he uses on tour. <<

of course, but if the idea is to have relic-shopped back-ups in case something gets damaged on the road,
develops a fault mid-song, etc, then we're talking about stage gear, right? not instruments we never see.

>> I just assumed that he wanted the guitars as back up in case the main guitar developed a fault mid-song. <<

and i've always reckoned his stage back-ups were also vintage instruments, bashed up by previous owners instead of by a relic-shop.
i don't mean to be argumentative - i've just never heard/read this rumour until now,
so i'm just as surprised as you all are, but in the opposite direction :E


- Brno july 20th 2007 by Rich

you are 100% right i have seen keith and ronnie's racks of instruments on stage all vintage fenders .ronnie during the licks tour might have been using a relic ash body fender strat on dont stop ,the one with the camera on top of the headstock which showed ronnie'e fretwork during the solo of dont stop.that's about it .certainly not keith .these guy's have the money to have the best possibile tools to ply there craft .they dont have to use the relics

Quote
with sssoul
>> Keith's got literally hundreds of guitars, not just those that he uses on tour. <<

of course, but if the idea is to have relic-shopped back-ups in case something gets damaged on the road,
develops a fault mid-song, etc, then we're talking about stage gear, right? not instruments we never see.

>> I just assumed that he wanted the guitars as back up in case the main guitar developed a fault mid-song. <<

and i've always reckoned his stage back-ups were also vintage instruments, bashed up by previous owners instead of by a relic-shop.
i don't mean to be argumentative - i've just never heard/read this rumour until now,
so i'm just as surprised as you all are, but in the opposite direction :E


- Brno july 20th 2007 by Rich

one more thing while i am at it . great photos of keith's racks .we have seen these instruments played all throughout the years on all the tours in the past .we know these guitars .all vintage !!!!!!!!!!! .once again great photos.

Quote
teleblaster
It's become a big earner for Fender. The price of pre-CBS Fenders just went through the roof in the nineties. I remember way back when a used pre-CBS Tele or Strat cost less than a new CBS-era guitar. Unfortunately I was still at school and spending my pennies on Stones albums and the like.

At least you can now walk into a guitar shop and choose from a range of guitars that include those with 50's and 60's specs that a lot of players appreciate. This was not the case in, say, the eighties. I remember my confusion at preferring a Japanese Squier Tele to a (much more expensive) USA model. Nowadays you can but Custom shop models (it doesn't HAVE to be a relic), vintage reissues , etc. I've played a few Japanese and Mexican models that have punched above their weight, too.

exactly right .fender came up with this relic stuff in the mid to late ninties and it was a excellent marketing campign .the look and feel of a vintage instrument at a fraction of the cost of a true vintage fender .these things sell so fast that fender cant make them fast enough .they do look good if thats your preference.pure geniuis on fender part.and lets not forget that they are built really well and because they are fender custom shop , better materials are used in the bodies and necks and pickups etc. then the normal produced factory fenders .so there is that issue as well .it comes down to choices for the consumer which is nice .myself if i was in the market for one of these i would go for the fender custom shop nos guitars (new old stock)i do own a 1998 fender custop shop 1954 ash body strat with a birdseye maple neck and aztec gold fininsh with gold hardware.killer guitar!!!!!!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-09-10 20:46 by The Greek.

Fender Custom Shop is selling these '53 Humbucker Heavy Relic Blonde Nocaster - not mentioning KR or Micawber for $ 4320.
some details missing but easy to correct and pretty close to Micawber.

anyone need one? hehe



[www.themusiczoo.com]

Quote
The Greek

Quote
open-g

Quote
with sssoul
>> So it's not true that Keith had started the relic craze? <<

is that a very widespread myth?? i've never heard it before

Yes, that's what I've read many times whenever the question arises who (deliberately) started the relic fashion.

well whoever it was that started the relic thread is a major RETARD .yeah i know they sell well the look and fake feel of a vintage guitar , but to take a brand new guitar and then bash it up and scuff the finish and put in fake cig stains on the headstock and on and on the dings go .really retarded to me .

I'm sure some genius in the marketing dept. came up with the idea, and it actually makes very good sense from a business standpoint when you consider that Fender (and Gibson for that matter) get no benefit whatsoever from the trade of classic vintage instruments. They got paid for them once - back when they were originally sold - and got far less than the same instruments get now, sometimes selling several times, each time for more money. It is only logical that they would find a way to try to cash in on the vintage thing by creating a very high quality new "vintage" guitar that can be sold for a premium price, but still is far more affordable than an actual 1950s or 1960s Strat or Tele.

Quote
open-g
Fender Custom Shop is selling these '53 Humbucker Heavy Relic Blonde Nocaster - not mentioning KR or Micawber for $ 4320.
some details missing but easy to correct and pretty close to Micawber.

anyone need one? hehe

For this price you're not even getting a brass bridge? The gold-plated bridge they are using is clearly a way to market a Micawber lookalike, yet they fail on this.

Quote
gwen

Quote
open-g
Fender Custom Shop is selling these '53 Humbucker Heavy Relic Blonde Nocaster - not mentioning KR or Micawber for $ 4320.
some details missing but easy to correct and pretty close to Micawber.

anyone need one? hehe

For this price you're not even getting a brass bridge? The gold-plated bridge they are using is clearly a way to market a Micawber lookalike, yet they fail on this.

Oh, I missed that they're gold-plated - shame on them.
add another $70 plus shipping on one of these:

[www.armadilloguitar.com]

in this case this one is a better "deal", since you have to change the bridge anyway:

[www.maxguitarstore.com]