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How to get weather checking on my '11 R8 ???

Y

yeti

Guest
Hitler Wanted a Perfect world (to his eyes) you know the "Master Race" who were supposed to be Uber Alles or Above All (others)(forgive Spelling).

I knew that there was a "Hitler" angle to all things Les Paul the first time I heard the term "UeberBurst":2cool
 

Big Al

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Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
I never minded the aged look, when it applied to slight dulling of the metal parts or finish fading, and aged looking plastics. It is the intentional damage that is put on a new guitar like dings and chips and wear spots and yes, checking, that IMO is mystifying and I will never get.

" Well I will just chip out some paint to show where their guitar had some hard knocks, lets sand out a nice arm wear spot, oh and let's not forget to cut up or fracture the top coat." I buy lots of jeans and have some pretty nice Mission Style furniture and none are aged. I equate this Checking thing to ripping and cutting holes in new Jeans or clothes. "Man that homeless dude looked so cool, I'm gonna go home and tear up my new clothes"
"Oooo, I just gotta put some cigarette burns and piss stains on my new furniture!!" It is the infliction of such damage that I don't get.

I see, and get that some here are buying new guitars to satisfy some vintage desire. I absolutely understand and even like, the cosmetic clones of famous guitars, where every ding and wear spot is duplicated, for an almost exact replica. I see these as collectables for the fan of these particular instruments. Myself, I would have loved to have gotten one of the Fender Rory Gallagher Strats, as he has always been a major influence on me.
Still, it strikes me as rather silly and counter productive to damage new guitars to imitate an ideal of the old stage warrior axe, which has survived countless battles on the stage.
Most of the ones I see are over the top, and the single most ridiculous part of it is the weather checking. As I have said, I have seen lots of vintage Gibsons, I still own some and still search them out. Still I do not see checking as a very common thing. Most are gently checked if at all and the very few that are really weatherbeaten are rare and certainly do not represent the norm of vintage guitars. And I would be willing to bet that the owners of them would prefer that they were not checked.

I guess the thing that puzzles me, and I will probably never understand, is buying a new guitar and then damaging it for a faked cosmetic reality. As if somehow it will be imbued with some kind of mystical magic mojo musical martyr mayhem. "Ah now I can play it, it really is so much better now"

It seems I and others are out of step with some of you. I haven't gotten a lot of things lately. I certainly do not like to wear my pants below my ass, my ball caps face front, I learned how to tie my shoes when I was 5 and still do. Many things I accept as the norm are no longer seen that way. I feel older and out of touch, more and more, every day. The extent that some have gone to, to justify this practice of aging has convinced me that the whole thing is nothing more than a fashion flavor of the day. Before this became a thing, I never, ever heard anyone complain that their new guitar looked too new. Wow, what a concept. A new guitar. It certainly has changed. This thing is a desired thing, now. I admit that some look pretty cool, and the better ones are close to the real thing. It's not for me, but it is for many. And it is hard to deny the pleasure and pride these things bring to their owners. Being happy with your guitar is a good thing, and though I don't get it, some of you do, and it makes you happy, happy, happy.

I am glad that those who do this at least play them. That really should be the emphasis, and as has been said, whatever floats yer boat. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the long run. Maybe my worn for real guitars will become more valuable, instead of less, because they a'int new looking. If that's the case, age the hell out of them!!! Make me some money!!!:rofl :rofl :rofl
 

DoctorMO

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Mar 4, 2009
Messages
597
I have owned many vitage guitars and only a few were checked . Its really not a desireable feature on a vintage guitar and in general it means someone left there case in the trunk of their car. When I read about intentional checking no one ever mentions trauma. they only talk about temperature change. When you are warming your frozen guitar bang it around or loosen and tighten the strings. That being said its not worth freezing your new guitar.
 

Trennasol

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2002
Messages
895
There's a thread on the Vintage section of this forum showcasing the beauty of finish checks on vintage Les Paul's. Those pics are stunning and yes, beautiful IMHO...

However, I just saw a pic on another forum of a newer Historic that had been refinished proper by one of the big name guys, and I'm sorry to say it DID NOT look like a well weathered VINTAGE Les Paul. The checking on that guitar was nothing like the checking I've seen pictured in the thread mentioned above. If the owner of that guitar loves it, that's all that matters.
To me though, all I could think about was the money and time spent to achieve a certain look. For the money of a Historic LP, a makeover job, replacement parts of all sorts, one can come close(with some extra savings) to the money that could buy at least an early 50's Goldtop or LP Special. Personally, I'd rather have one 50's Goldtop over mulitible madeover Historics.

Or, just play the crap out of my Historic's and enjoy them for what they are, and not consume myself with making them look like something they aren't.
 

oldflame

Active member
Joined
Jan 11, 2004
Messages
1,142
I have owned many vitage guitars and only a few were checked . Its really not a desireable feature on a vintage guitar.

Nahhh, disagree. I'd say it adds charachter. Growing up in Great Britain in the 70's and early 80's, most of the vintage guitars hanging up in stores that I 'oggled' over were checked. That was the norm for us.
 

j45

Active member
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Jun 14, 2002
Messages
9,081
I have owned many vitage guitars and only a few were checked .

Not my experience at all but luck of the draw, I guess. About 180 or so guitars shown in my collection in the link below in my signature line and the large majority were well checked. I'd say over a thousand vintage guitars have gone through my hands in the past 30 years and as best I can recall, the large majority of those were checked as well. Quite a few heavily checked at that.
 

J T

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Messages
10,501
I don't mind dings, wear and checking at all. It takes the pressure off me of having to deal with causing the first ding on a shiny new guitar. It's much better to just pick up the guitar and play it and not have to worry about OMG I might scratch it, or the 1/4 inch cable dinging the top.

However, I will turn my belt buckle off to the side and wear my shirt outside my pants.:hmm
 

sharq attaq

New member
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Messages
1,636
Exactly.....funny, i just asked how to get that checking and now people are discussing whether THEY like it or not....:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

happens every single time....

and pretty much without fail, the new car analogy comes up.

what's really funny is that every three of four days someone will rethink this...get all upset about it and repost the same thing in a different thousand words or less (or more).

:lol


but, it's all good.

(see, I did it myself....) :applaude
 

Tomcat

New member
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Feb 1, 2002
Messages
319
h
and pretty much without fail, the new car analogy comes up.

Right, but...

...a car with dents and scratches isn't cool, be it old or new. A guitar is. And how many of those relic haters wear prewashed jeans or antique-leather jackets? :rofl
 

gypsyseven

Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
767
happens every single time....

and pretty much without fail, the new car analogy comes up.

what's really funny is that every three of four days someone will rethink this...get all upset about it and repost the same thing in a different thousand words or less (or more).

:lol


but, it's all good.


(see, I did it myself....) :applaude


:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:
 

Musicman

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Feb 27, 2002
Messages
1,909
Right, but...

...a car with dents and scratches isn't cool, be it old or new. A guitar is. And how many of those relic haters wear prewashed jeans or antique-leather jackets? :rofl

If you're refering to my post I was just stating how some things you want to keep looking new and some you don't. I also said that I liked the look of wear that's occuring on my guitar so no relic hating coming from me.
 

Tomcat

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Feb 1, 2002
Messages
319
If you're refering to my post I was just stating how some things you want to keep looking new and some you don't. I also said that I liked the look of wear that's occuring on my guitar so no relic hating coming from me.

Errr...no, I didn't.
 

Cliff Gress

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Aug 26, 2004
Messages
3,301
Right, but...

...a car with dents and scratches isn't cool, be it old or new. A guitar is. And how many of those relic haters wear prewashed jeans or antique-leather jackets? :rofl

Here's a 180 for us all. This guy restored a 1930's (Ford?) to not new status, but how it would have looked in the 50's with 20 years of age, and then had a new LP custom made to match. Both look pretty are cool to me.

gibson-623x467.jpg
 

Musicman

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2002
Messages
1,909
Here's a 180 for us all. This guy restored a 1930's (Ford?) to not new status, but how it would have looked in the 50's with 20 years of age, and then had a new LP custom made to match. Both look pretty are cool to me.

gibson-623x467.jpg

:applaude
 

mmcquain

New member
Joined
Sep 21, 2005
Messages
2,646
I always come to these checking threads in hopes of seeing more pics of actual checking and hearing how people
got it that way... why do these threads usually turn into debates on the merits of aging guitars? I just don't get why
those that are against artificial aging can't just move along quietly to another thread. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I'll offer up some pics of my experiments on age checking. Some look fake, some look half way decent
IMO... it's a learning process for me and I knew going into it that I'd probably get mixed results at best. But ya'
never know until ya' try...

MyAging%20%281%29.jpg


MyAging%20%2815%29.jpg


MyAging%20%2817%29.jpg


MyAging%20%2820%29.jpg
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
Nothing wrong with exchanging different viewpoints, that's what forums are for. But my main gripe is that all this aging seems to skew the perception of what the real thing looks like. From there it's not very far to claims that Gibson is getting the look of the Historics all wrong. Then, when a really pristine example surfaces it might get called into question because it doesn't "match" expectations. It has happened here before. I'm not blaming anybody but I think relicing plays a part in skewing that perception. So here's a reminder of what a Les Paul looks like the day it left the factory in 1958.
DSC_0089.jpg

I'm pretty sure they left the factory with strings attached.:rofl
 

j45

Active member
Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
9,081
Here's a 180 for us all. This guy restored a 1930's (Ford?) to not new status, but how it would have looked in the 50's with 20 years of age, and then had a new LP custom made to match. Both look pretty are cool to me.

gibson-623x467.jpg

Heavily modded cars and guitars... Another subject altogether. I'm a big fan of old heavily modded and especially personalized guitars. Almost all players modded their guitars back in the day, kinda bothers me that so many get "restored" back to stock.
 
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