My buddy, Jeff Aragaki is totally into the relic thing. and has several guitars that have been aged. He even went so far as to take a brand new R9 (’59 Les Paul Reissue) and rough out the gloss finish! Mind you, he’s a very close friend, and I don’t begrudge what he did to an absolutely fine-working guitar! And I know, I’ve brought up this subject before, asking the question: Do you get the relic thing?
I don’t get it, but there are many people who do, and there are many people who would pay top-dollar for a relic job. For instance, this morning, Jeff sent me this eBay link to a Bill Nash aged Les Paul Standard. The seller is asking $4200 for the guitar. I personally wouldn’t pay that but I’m sure that people who are into aged guitars woudn’t balk at the price, considering the work Bill Nash puts into the process of aging; and there are many who would send their guitars out to Nash or RS Guitar Works to have their guitars aged.
For me, based upon the process description that was provided by the seller, I’d send Bill one of my Les Pauls to have the pickups matched and the frets dressed. I especially like what he does with the neck tone pot, providing a coil tapping pot. After 8, the pot will tap the neck pickup coil. Very cool. But this is the extent of the work that I’d have done. Don’t mess with my finish; don’t apply acid to my hardware. Give me my nice, shiny, guitar!
Guitar Gear 
I’m, with you !
I take very good care of my guitars to keep them from getting like that except my #1 which rarely gets wiped off but get’s played hours daily normally. What I like to call relic’d the old fashioned way.
A friend has me watching his dogs this weekend and also dropped of his Mark V, Asat Classic, and a Nash Tele that I have had a tough time putting down. My wife came in yesterday and asked “what the hell happened to that guitar” which is a hard question to answer, other than
ME: “don’t you like the way it sounds”
WIFE: “it sounds beautiful, it’s not yours is it?”
ME: “no”
WIFE: “GOOD!!!”
ME: “it’s a copy of a used 60’s tele that plays great and sounds amazing”
WIFE: “whatever”
I don’t think she gets it either, this is the first time she’s ever reacted this way toward a guitar or amp I’ve brought home and I’ve brought home a 65 Fender Pro Reverb with torn green felt for a grill cloth and the baffle falling out the front. You’ve probably seen that one (post repair of course) at Doug Doppler’s place when you did the “Doppler on Dumble” clips or in his “Get Killer Tone” amp room clip..
That ’65 was yours? Wow! THAT was a GREAT sounding amp! I didn’t get footage of Doug playing through it, but he played through it to compare the cleans between the Dumble and ’65.
My ’59 replica is aged, but very lightly aged – you have to look really closely to see the faux-checking. I bought it off Jeff because he had an extra replica, and mainly because it plays and sounds so damn good! But it wouldn’t be my first choice.
BTW, you have a PRX150 attenuator, don’t you? How’re you liking it?
Fender has tried to capitalize on the “aging” market with their Road Worn series. I’m with the first post, I’d rather my instruments get aged the old-fashioned way – through honest use. True aging normally enhances not only the tone of an instrument, but also the $ value. Artificial aging definitely has a market, but I still like the vintage way.
Hi Jerry,
Yes fender has gone with the relic market full force with none of my money in their pocket. I’m definately with you on this one..
Hi Goofydawg,
Yep, the 65 Pro Reverb, Traynor, Twin II head. Doug already had an XTC and Twin ri so my 68 twin and xtc weren’t needed.
Yes I have the PRX 150 Pro..
I’ve had other attenuators and had to choose between Great tone and volume.
Now I don’t have to.
Great tone at any volume..
I was first attracted to the PRX150 PRO because of my herd of amps and people always want me to bias of check out their stuff that isn’t working right. In the process I’ll have an amp here like a mesa recto or something and thought I bet that would sound good with my Bogner 16 ohm cab but I can’t get a true sonic affirmation due to the ohms mismatch. I’ve tested and mismatched ohms even on the safe side changes the tone at least a little (not as clear and less low end). The PRX150 PRO has fixed this and I can even try my original 66 Super Reverb (2 ohm OT) with other cabs.
Yes I know, ask a simple question get a very long answer. Short answer.. Best attenuator I’ve tried and the only one I’ve considerd a boon to good tone.
Chris, not a problem at all about being long-winded. I’m ALWAYS at fault for that. 🙂
The technique that Jeff is using is so radically different than the attenuators that follow the traditional design (resistors in parallel then an L-Pad for variable) like the Hot Plate, Dr. Z, Alex and Faustine. I’m no electronics expert, but this difference is significant. All attenuators I’ve tested that rely on an L-Pad – even if they have an EQ compensation circuit – essentially put a blanket over your tone!
The first time I plugged in the prototype of the PRX150, I knew Jeff had something special. After years of disappointment and compromise, I finally found an attenuator that I could get great tone at any volume.