Aged PRS Guitars - Yay or Nay?

[BWV548]

I’m not big on the making things look old; or the whole laudatores temporis acti thing, for that matter. But to each their own...
What does make my eyes role, however, are the folks who spend loads on a relic’d (insert brand here) AND blather on about their myriad misconceptions and prejudices towards PRS; implying ostentation, and perhaps pretention. As though a telecaster built in 2018, with a spec to look likes it’s been beaten by Keith Richards for the last 30 years, was some platonic notion of “authentic”

 

[markd21]

PRS is a guitar that looks "right" as a shiny object. It is also an instrument that looks right when gigged hard and left to rot. But, it must be authentic. There is something about the PRS finish that screams FAKE when relic'd. I have had relic'd Fenders. Paid good money for them and loved them as much as I could. Fender? It works. PRS? I don't know....there is just a totally different vibe about them. Just my $0.02.....

 

[drdoom8793]

I dig Relic looks on F style guitars but not on my PRS. I could see the mahogany S2s looking good reliced though.

My CE24 is beat and the finish is wearing thin on the neck, but it's natural, baby.

 

[garrett]

To me it's like buying new jeans that already have holes in them. Can't bring myself to do it, but if it makes you happy, have at it.

 

[Rockmark]

Don't like fake things. To me a relic is not a relic until it has been worn in by use.

 

[Lister]

My OCD wouldn't let me. Besides, like markd21 said, PRS guitars are gorgeous, shiny works of art, and if aged naturally look right, but I'm not down with the artificial relic stuff on any brand.

 

[Shizzrock]

nah bro

 

[ViperDoc]

It’s part of the art form. I have a relic’d strat that not only looks really cool, but it plays like it’s been played for 50 years. It’s awesome! There’s something for everyone.

 

[elvis]

I have a heavy relic T. Fake, but looks cool. The argument that brought me around was that you can't gig a real '57, even if you happen to own one. Too much risk of theft on the gig. But you can bring something akin to it.

I think some relics look great, others not so much.

For the 594, the purpose was to produce a vintage style guitar in feel and tone. Why not also have the look? I'm not hung up on brand-new looking guitars.

As 11-top put it, to each his own.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I have a relic’d S style guitar, courtesy of 20+ years of playing, does that count?!

 

[HANGAR18]

What do you think?

examples:

https://www.guitarmaverick.com/prs-private-stock-7132-aged-594-mccarty/

https://larkguitars.com/collections...tock-mccarty-594-aged-faded-mccarty-burst-717

https://larkguitars.com/collections...ty-594-singlecut-aged-faded-mccarty-burst-644

That is the stupidest thing I have ever seen come from PRS.

If you want to see and aged and relic'd guitar, there is a guy on this forum (whose name I have forgotten) who plays professionally and his guitars are extremely beat, banged, scratched, gouged and generally ragged the hell out because he plays his ass off at shows and doesn't baby his guitars. IMHO that is the only acceptable way to have an extremely worn guitar. That nonsense in the examples is blatantly fake, especially since we know PRS hasn't been around since the 1950's.

I've owned Kalamazoo made guitars which really started showing their age, natural checking and all that and I didn't like it at all. I don't care how old they get, I want them to look nice, and whoever I wind up handing down my guitar collection to when I'm gone better like the way they look too or they aren't going to treat them nice and keep them.

 

[Tag]

Not for me at all.

 

[walrus]

Me either. IMHO, honest play wear or none at all.

 

[elvis]

For those who are so strongly against, given the power to do so, would you prevent PRS from offering them?

 

[László]

For those who are so strongly against, given the power to do so, would you prevent PRS from offering them?

Old PRSes simply age and wear differently from 50s and 60s Fenders and Gibsons, due to vast differences in finish technology. And of course there weren’t any PRSes around during that time.

So the results I’ve seen strike me as weird. I wouldn’t offer them. It would feel like a cynical money-grab to take that path.

 

[shimmilou]

Anyone remember having jeans, natural wear, tattered, faded, that you have had from new, but worn for many years? Then seeing these new jeans come out that were already worn, and cost extra for the wear and tear?!? I was a bit put off by this new thing, "pre-aged jeans", and even thought that maybe the kids that were wearing them were fakes and pretenders, shameful. But they were only doing it because they thought "we" looked cool in our worn out jeans, and they wanted to emulate "us". Wow, is that awesome or what?

Apparently this relic thing is very popular, or they wouldn't keep doing it. I've come to appreciate the guitar relics quite a bit, when done well, and understand the appeal of the cool looks. Part of it is fantasy too, because almost everyone oooohs and aaaahs every time you pull out a well worn guitar, they automatically are drawn to it, assessing it as old...... and cool.

I say yay! All of the guitars in the links provided by the OP looked tastefully done, and they are PS.

 

[WA Paul]

While not my personal cup of tea, I believe it is another expression of the art of guitar building and when done right can be quite compelling. I like some of the aged finishes and satin nitro, but not so much the artificial chips, dings, etc. While I don’t currently own a guitar that has been aged, I would certainly be open to trying one if I came across one in town. I can’t stop looking at JFBs new SC594 for example!

 

[JMintzer]

Yay! Another "Relic" thread!

 

[11top]

Yay! Another "Relic" thread!

...........Without you and me as the subject matter.

 

[AaeCee]

I totally like them!

Then again, I'm kinda aged myself, so there's a lot in common.