We are talking about “Relic’d” gear.

If you are new the game – “relic’ing” a piece of gear means to ‘beat it up’ intentionally. In the best possible way. Usually, the purpose is to make it look ‘old’. The preferred terms thrown around are ‘vintage’, “patina”, “well-played”, etc.

Now, why on Earth would anyone pay MORE for an instrument that is not new looking?

Because many of the instruments their hero’s wielded looked well worn. Because they were. Some started that way in that hero’s hands. Then just progressed further. Some starting crispy clean and then were subjected to years of playing and traveling and whala…

Some of these relic jobs are hard to distinguish from the ‘real thing’. Some are over the top exaggerated versions of the real thing. And yes, some are badly done too.

Gibson and Fender have made big business of producing relic’d instruments. Other brands like K-Line, Nash, Anderson, and Friedman have been doing wonderful representations for years.

One thing to note is that for guitars the aging process, when done right, creates a more comfortable feeling instrument: softened fret edges, minimal thickness gloss top coats offering very little friction with the hand. They feel ‘broke in’. And you don’t worry about the dreaded first ding.

We are not advocating for beat up instruments – we love shiny clean ones too. But they do have an allure. And as a company that specializes in used gear in general we get the faux ones, and a LOT of the ‘real thing’ to.

Come in – don’t be afraid of the scratches, dings and dents. They could be your elixir.