People debate the aesthetic of a relic guitar. Some take offense from an ethical standpoint, battle scars should be earned not purchased. Why pretend to be something your not. There are also those who don’t care for a beat up guitar.

Last year I spend a semester in a class titled “What is Art” and you guessed it, we spent 18 weeks defining and discussing the definition of art. Here’s what I got from the class – two graduate hours I needed for my masters, a bill for $550, an $80 textbook that I’ll never look at again, and a better understanding of the role art play in peoples lives. (I feel like I got ripped off. That’s almost five saga kits). The value of art is personal, when that value is shared by many it can become valuable. So when I think valuable, I think about builders like Callahan and Glendale. I think we can all agree that is artwork with frets . The giggling guy on youtube with an angel grinder and a squire strat has created art, but how many will value it. Once again value is highly personal. If I presented my wife with a blue daisy rock guitar and a butterscotch Glendale tele, she would choose the daisy in a heartbeat, its blue. Its all about value.

Here’s why I value a relic guitar.

I bought a 335 custom shop when I was 19, I cost $1800, my life savings at the time. It was a beautiful and flawless guitar; I was scared to play it for fear of a scratch. I was almost relieved when I sold it two years later. On a shiny guitar a nick in the finish becomes a beacon flashing in my periphery. A relic instrument takes the sting out of a small bump or nick in the finish. I can feel comfortable playing and focus on the music not my proximity to a cymbal stand or a drunk bass player. Reality check here, I should replace cymbal and bass player with laundry basket and wagging dog tail, but you get the picture.

I don’t mind reading fiction. A story doesn’t have to be true to be amazing. Objects, especially guitars, tell a story. A lot of instruments say “I am an exceptional instrument; I was produced by a cnc milling machine capable of maintaining a tolerance of…” I prefer an instrument that says something along the lines of “I was playing in a bar just north of Toledo the night you were born, I broke a string halfway through the second set..”

Ultimately, I just like the patina of old stuff. I live in an old house, I collect antiques. Old things make us think of our history and give the world a little sense of scale.

Ok too much typing I need another guitar to build.