Aged PRS Guitars - Yay or Nay?

[ScottR]

A natural ginuine patina to me is cool. Like scars that tell a story and to me says a lot about how loved and played it really has been in its lifetime. That being said, I am soooo anal and ocd...I religiously whipe down every inch of my guitars after each time I play them. If one gets a ding or a scratch it will bug me terribly but if it's a keeper....it's a keeper. So for me... nope not interested in the whole faux relic thing..at all. But hey, that's just me. If you think it's cool and you dig them you wont have to ever have to worry about me fighting you over the last one..
So yeah, there's that at least.

 

[Boogie]

Cracked nitro looks cool to me. Again, it’s a nuance that looks good when composed into the right ensemble. It’s an expression of art which is subject to the eye of the beholder. If it’s your thing, I’m good with that. If not, I’m good with that too.

 

[dkilpatrick]

I’m not a fan of new guitars that have been relic’d to look old. The finish checking and cracks don’t do it for me. However I love the faded colors on the examples posted.
Sign me up for one of those faded colors but with a flawless PRS finish.

That being said,
A naturally relic’d guitar from playing hard is awesome!

 

[Coop]

The only relic'd guitars I've ever dug were the Fender Roadworn guitars. It was just because of how the necks felt and not the relic job. With that said I won't bag on anyone if that's their thing. Like what you like.

 

[gush]

I'm like Bodia, I would never pay to have it done and I never really gravitate towards buyin one but if it played and sounded fantastic I could buy it.

I need all the help I can get!

 

[jxe]

i found an artificially aged private stock and really like the neck on it, but hate the faded amber and finish checking, so i’ll probably have it primered and oversprayed down at the auto body shop.

 

[vchizzle]

I don’t dislike it if done well. I think classic burst colors look better faded anyway. I’ll likely tarnish some hardware if I actually use the guitar.

 

[11top]

I can’t wait til my new car is all beat up.

 

[veinbuster]

I can’t wait til my new car is all beat up.

I’ve had my convertible for 25 years and it isn’t beat up yet. I did have to reglue one seam on the rag top and have a couple of parts on the tonneau cover to try a fix next spring.

 

[Jason Penn]

1st dgt i had was an early one in nitro. i'd love to see pics of it today.....it seemed to age a pretty good bit the year or so i had/gigged it.

 

[Boogie]

I can’t wait til my new car is all beat up.

Lemme borrow it for a weekend at the track and we can accelerate the loss of that new car smell. Heck, just take me to White Castle and we can fix that in a jiffy!

 

[Brian]

I wonder what "aged" guitars will look like when they're aged?

Also: Will there be an "aged-aged" market in the future?

 

[László]

Also: Will there be an "aged-aged" market in the future?

In the future people will be playing accordions, so it won’t matter at all.

 

[11top]

In the future people will be playing accordions, so it won’t matter at all.

How cool to have a reliced accordion?!!

AND a seeing eye minkey:

 

[László]

How cool to have a reliced accordion?!!

AND a seeing eye minkey:

Exactement!

And for your information, M. Onze Top, I have played l’ accordeon in Paris, but I was not breaking the law!

Because M. Onze Top, I played l’accordeon precisely in a recording studio creating la musique for a General Motors project.

I did not need a seeing eye minkey, but I took my minkey with me, as I always do just in case someone wanted to touch my minkey. One never knows, ne’s ce-pas?

P.S. Unfortunately I had to rent l’ accordeon as well as l’ amplificateur Marshall because it would have been difficult to ship such items to Paris.

 

[László]

I can’t wait til my new car is all beat up.

I’d be glad to help; leave it with me for a while. Just sayin’.

 

[garrett]

i found an artificially aged private stock and really like the neck on it, but hate the faded amber and finish checking, so i’ll probably have it primered and oversprayed down at the auto body shop.

That's the spirit!

1st dgt i had was an early one in nitro. i'd love to see pics of it today.....it seemed to age a pretty good bit the year or so i had/gigged it.

Queue pics of @Mike Duncan DGT...

I wonder what "aged" guitars will look like when they're aged?

I wonder that too! And I figure probably not good. Or maybe they stop changing at some point? We'll have to check in on 50's Fenders and Gibsons in another 50 years to get an indication.

 

[BrianC]

More options are better than less. Make them and if people buy them thats great for the buyer AND the brand!

I like the look, but the ones in the pictures did not look well done to me. I could not help but to look at the pup rings - WAY TOO WHITE. I don't even like them on a new PRS. Switched mine out right away.

 

[Tonart]

My thought process as I read this thread:

You’re right
You’re right too
Nope, you’re right
Actually, you...you are right
Hmm but you’re right too
Dammit that’s right
Okay, another u-turn..
Hey, you’re right!
You...you’ve kept quiet but you’ve liked all the right rights!

 

[Tonart]

I think the guy who first hatched the idea is a genius. I found the VOS finish on the Gibson CS historics very tasteful. That’s very surprising for a guy with hyper OCD on perfect shiny gloss finishes. They’re more ‘unbuffed’ rather than ‘aged’, albeit with rusty hardware. That’s like something along the lines of what WA Paul expressed above.

So I feel there’s definitely a market for PRS with aged finishes, but probably with the S2 or reclaimed limited look. Interestingly the reclaimed limited is the exact opposite - super old and worn wood made to look new.

Go for it PRS!