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Thread: Relics....

  1. #41
    TFF Stage Crew
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    Re: Relics....

    Every Cunetto I've ever seen has had either a flamed or birdseye maple neck, every one. They also have a strange misshapen headstocks. It's only an aesthetic feature but one my eye fixes on. Another possible detail to consider when trying to identify these things. I've seen one or two Cunettos go for cheap presumably because the seller didn't know what he was selling. Obsessing over minutae can be a good thing sometimes!

  2. #42
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post

    ...Dont worry about the days to come. I'm sick of this crap from the last few days, so I won't be back...
    Again?
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

  3. #43
    Forum Member melody's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by Offshore Angler View Post
    Again?

    What's this like the third time?

  4. #44
    Forum Member FrankJohnson's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    Well, if you don't want your opinions challenged, don't post them online.

    Dont worry about the days to come. I'm sick of this crap from the last few days, so I won't be back.

    And the thing I liked about this forum is that it wasn't overrun with jagoffs who think everything is crap unless it cost 4K and you never heard of it. But hey... you've managed to chase off most of the musicians, so why not? Then it can be just as worthless as every other guitar forum.
    I have made a point to not respond to negative commentary - I hate confrontation.
    Jim - sorry you haven't been happy here since you came back. I Have seen some very confrontational commentary from you and it often feels like When you tell someone to have a good day - they respond with "Don't tell me what kind of day to have!" I am not bashing - just making an observation. I appreciate the forum that we almost lost, being resuscitated and cam grateful for all who made that happen. I have never felt chased out - or impacted by cork sniffery. I think its a different place than in the past - and am ok with that - although I wish some of that spirit would resurface. That said - I can't think of a time that the forum has been more supportive of positivity. I tip my hat to those who make it a great place, contribute and make me smile what I sign on. And Yes Jim - you are one of those too - most of the time.

    that all said - I am glad to be here - and may even start posting some cool gig videos again -
    now......sorry for the hijack - back to our regularly scheduled program - I like well big relics, and I cannot lie........
    Kenny Belmont
    >:^{I)>

  5. #45
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    Re: Relics....


  6. #46
    Forum Member sticko's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by Cogs View Post
    Every Cunetto I've ever seen has had either a flamed or birdseye maple neck, every one. They also have a strange misshapen headstocks. It's only an aesthetic feature but one my eye fixes on.
    This!

    I hadn't thought about this since I first saw these in the '90s. Those headstocks always looked slightly odd to me.

    I feel like the new CS stuff, regardless of whether you like it or not, has benefitted from a 20+ year learning curve.

  7. #47
    Forum Member VibroCount's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    I do not understand relics.

    I am not against them. Every guitar and bass I play becomes one. But starting with one seems to create a doggie head-tilt in me.

    But I do understand Custom Shop.

    I doubt I will ever own one. I've played a few and they were magnificent.

    Every guitar, from a $100 cheapie to a tens of thousands masterpiece, requires a certain level of human touch. Until recently, every guitar's neck was shaped by hand. You pay a person $10 an hour to make a guitar, he might make a great guitar. You pay a person $50 an hour, he'd better make a great guitar.

    Better wiring and insulation. Better pickups. More time attaching the neck, leveling and edging the frets. Prettier wood.

    What there is... is the law of diminishing returns. A $100 guitar might be nice, but it is likely to be poorly made with poor quality components. Spend $200 and you see remarkable improvements. Spend $400 and you might have an instrument a pro will be willing to play. Spend $700 and it will be a finer guitar.

    Spend $1200 and it will rarely be less than stellar. But each improvement costs more and more, and the improvements become more and more difficult to notice. A great guitarist may fight with a $200 guitar to make it work, but will make a $700 guitar sound much like a $2000 guitar. That $1300 jump is smaller than the $500 jump.

    But people can see and feel that jump... and for some, the value is worth the cost.
    Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't. -- Pete Seeger

  8. #48
    Forum Member GregsGuitars's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Enjoyable seeing different points of view on "distressed " guitars , I think I was really asking what you guys thought about Vince Cunetto and the great job ( IMO) he did for Fender and any thoughts on why in the world would Fender let talent like him go and then start the "cookie cutter" relic jobs in house. I understand his work was custom shop guitars and a little pricier than the normal runs but shouldn't Fender have kept him for the CS and maybe do a better job on the standard production "worn" models ?

  9. #49
    Forum Member redisburning's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by GregsGuitars View Post
    Enjoyable seeing different points of view on "distressed " guitars , I think I was really asking what you guys thought about Vince Cunetto and the great job ( IMO) he did for Fender and any thoughts on why in the world would Fender let talent like him go and then start the "cookie cutter" relic jobs in house. I understand his work was custom shop guitars and a little pricier than the normal runs but shouldn't Fender have kept him for the CS and maybe do a better job on the standard production "worn" models ?
    I dont think Vince ever technically worked for Fender. I think he was on contract and Fender probably wanted to bring it in house. Certainly the relicing work was not being done by Fender employees.

    The relic jobs today tend to be pretty accurate but maybe too over the top.

    One thing I'll say about the pickups used in them is that they are absolutely dead on to two early 60s strats I've played. best second position on a remotely new strat I've ever played and it's not even close.

  10. #50
    Forum Member GregsGuitars's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Yes, it is correct that Fender contracted the work to Vince, I wish they would have kept him to oversee the work in house, (JMO).

  11. #51
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    Re: Relics....

    My guess is that hiring him as a proper employee would cost more than Fender was willing to pay. Big companies can be like that sometimes. They are reluctant to pay what someone is actually worth, lol

  12. #52
    Forum Member redisburning's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    it's a real shame that for all the posts in this thread there are only two owned by forum members.

    do we really have that few around? although I wouldnt blame people for not posting theirs with how this thread went down, I would hope that those that do own them would be willing to share.

    the cs relics made between 96 and 98 are a unique part of Fender history as well as the history of the market being the first true factory relics and are very very very good guitars on top of that. I'd love to see one in CAR or Shoreline Gold. When I got my blue 1960 I passed on a 3 tone sunburst with maple fretboard that I could have gotten at the same time and kind of regret it. That thing had a monster neck; it would make a nocaster owner jealous.

  13. #53
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    I'm pretty sure I've seen lots of relics from our members. The discussions have always wavered between folks who like them, folks who don't, so I don't think this thread is that daunting.

    Even if I'm not interested in relics for myself, I enjoy seeing our members' relics. I do believe they are great guitars and do not mean to insult any of you.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  14. #54
    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by melody View Post
    What's this like the third time?
    At least. He's got a history of stirring the pot and leaving TFF when it gets too hot for him.

    My $0.02. I owned a CS '64 Jazz reissue (light relic) for a couple of years and I felt it was hands-down the best Fender bass I've played (incl. MIA, MIJ, other CS models I've owned or played). Neck was sublime, pickups had a nice natural compression to them. Required next to no effort to play and get an amazing tone out of. And it looked pretty sweet - one of a kind. It has been the only instrument I've owned in over 40 years of playing that others noticed and commented positively on. I regret trading it off for a pedal steel guitar, but at the time I thought my bass playing days were over.

    I also owned a MIM Road Worn Tele - I liked it enough, but wasn't sublime to me or anything. Cookie cutter relic'ing was meh.

    I home relic'd a MIM Strat years ago (the body and neck, ironically, bought from Gravity Jim); was an experiment that turned out mostly OK but was still a MIM Strat with ceramic pickups, so nothing special.



    Before and After MIM Strat Relic Project; my relic job was bush league, but I took a dumpster body and neck and fashioned it into something of an ugly player. Relic job was not convincing at all!




    A family photo from 2010 - the CS Jazz and the RW Tele in the middle - on the far right was a natually road worn LP. Incidentally, I own none of those guitars anymore!


  15. #55
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    Re: Relics....

    All my Fender-style guitars are "relics" in the generic sense, & not CS relics.

  16. #56
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by GregsGuitars View Post
    Enjoyable seeing different points of view on "distressed " guitars , I think I was really asking what you guys thought about Vince Cunetto and the great job ( IMO) he did for Fender and any thoughts on why in the world would Fender let talent like him go and then start the "cookie cutter" relic jobs in house. I understand his work was custom shop guitars and a little pricier than the normal runs but shouldn't Fender have kept him for the CS and maybe do a better job on the standard production "worn" models ?
    I don't understand the hype about Cunetto, I owned 3 of the early Relic Fenders (Nocaster with a serial number below 100). They were nice guitars, however my MB Fenders (earliest 2004) are much better than any of the Cunetto era guitars I owned. Some of the newer Relics are not very convincing, the aging process is sometimes terrible. I've played a few of Dale Wilson's guitars lately and he does an incredible job. My favorite builders are Fleming, Cruz and Wilson, they do a much better relic job besides building the whole instrument. Cunetto just aged the finish back then.

  17. #57
    Forum Member GregsGuitars's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    I like what Vince did and honestly never played a bad Cunetto era relic, he actually aged the hardware as well as distressed the finish on the CS versions he did. This was my fav...a Diamond Dealer Aztec gold 50 era reissue Cunetto CS Strat....






    Sorry if some think I "stir the pot" .....what ever that means ? I do try to check in when I can ,but being a very busy individual it may not be as often as some people desire......

  18. #58
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Beautiful guitar!

    And they're talking about Gravity Jim, not you man. He gets confrontational with others, and then when they respond to him he says they're being mean and picking on him. Then everything gets blown out of proportion, mean things are said, people get their feelings hurt, then it gets uglier, a moderator will probably delete comments or tell them to play nice. Still, people stomp around and act like little kids... I personally just don't even pay attention to it, it's the freaking internet! I'm here to have fun, look at neat gear, ask and answer questions, laugh with my interwebz friendz. I mean seriously, this is a fun forum with a lot of nice people on it. If you don't like something, just look past it and keep reading or go to a different thread or forum. I couldn't care less about "pissing competitions" or the whole "I'm taking my toys and going home!" routine. I'm 35 years old, and indulge in things that bring me pleasure.

    I REALLY like that color on your guitar, and I love the pattern that the finish is coming off at. Hopefully she sounds as good as she looks!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  19. #59
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by GregsGuitars View Post
    This was my fav...a Diamond Dealer Aztec gold 50 era reissue Cunetto CS Strat....
    I love Aztec Gold! The color is what prompted me to buy a MIM 50th Anniversary Strat (no photo, since this is about relics). I also find Desert Sand appealing, and this one is calling out to me...


  20. #60
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    I played a Baja strat in desert sand a few years ago. If I didn't have my CS strat at the time I would have pulled the trigger.

  21. #61
    Forum Member FrankJohnson's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    I played a Baja strat in desert sand a few years ago. If I didn't have my CS strat at the time I would have pulled the trigger.
    I had a Baja In Desert sand a while back........
    THAT was a NICE guitar! it is back with its original owner I believe @PC
    Kenny Belmont
    >:^{I)>

  22. #62
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by FrankJohnson View Post
    I had a Baja In Desert sand a while back........
    THAT was a NICE guitar! it is back with its original owner I believe @PC
    Yep--at home with its many brethren Teles.

  23. #63
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    I played a Baja strat in desert sand a few years ago. If I didn't have my CS strat at the time I would have pulled the trigger.
    I thought Bajas were Telecasters. ???

  24. #64
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    oops, you're right, it was a tele. I was thinking desert sand and the guitar in the picture was a strat.

    d'oh

  25. #65
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Speaking of relics....

    Has anyone had a chance to play the Dave Gilmour Strat? Love to know what diff if any exists in the playability between the heavy relic-ed and the (non?) relic-ed.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  26. #66
    Forum Member GregsGuitars's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Thanks "Chuckocaster" for clearing that up, and yes already had a slight with whom you were referring,Rock on !!!!!

  27. #67
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Yeah man! I've been a member for a LONG time! I've seen blowouts, spats, the works. People leaving, getting booted off, suspensions, etc. I've always operated on the not saying anything if I don't have anything nice to say. Ignore the people I don't like, and using basic common curtesy. It's not hard to do. But some people thrive on conflict...

    With that said, there's a lot of great people on here! Many I consider friends, and talk to outside of the forum. Funny thing being I've never met them in person, just their avatar and things they post on here. I try to be positive and supportive in my posts. We're all at different points in our musical journey. This should be a forum for noobs up to the self proclaimed experts. I really do believe that the vast majority of people are doing the best they can. And coming here to share ideas and seek guidance. I have no delusion that we're all going to get along, or have some hippy commune. BUT! What I do think is that we can at least ALL act like adults, and stop wasting time with BS comments.

    Again, I LOVE your guitar! I dig some Relics, when tastefully done. Think they got blown out of proportion, just like any other fad, and over saturated the market.

    I myself build "not perfect" guitars, IDK if you'd call them relics? I don't really care what they're called. What I do know is that I like the looks and how they play/sound. And while my guitars don't please everyone, I build them to make me happy. Same with Relics, if you like them? That's ALL that matters!!!

    Rock on bruthaman!!!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  28. #68
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    Quote Originally Posted by chuckocaster View Post
    We're all at different points in our musical journey. This should be a forum for noobs up to the self proclaimed experts.
    Amen! Almost daily I face the fact that my knowledge about things guitar -- electric or not, but more so electric -- is about nil. I'm kind of like the saying, "I may not know art, but I know what I like." Do I have a great guitar? Does my amp measure up? I don't know. But I like the way my guitar feels when I play it, and I like the sounds that come out of my guitar and amp when I play. I can't tell you if I like single-coil over humbuckers (and a year ago I couldn't even tell you how they differ) or whether I prefer P90s over Seymour Duncan Little '59s and why.

    That's why I come here. I learn more each time I visit. And I like the visit! There are conversations that I enjoy, and I like feeling welcome despite the fact that I don't know squat. Nobody has ever told me, "That's the stupidest question ever," even though maybe I asked it. More than once.

    Bottom line: I don't know what I don't know, except that I know I don't know a lot. But I love playing guitar, and I love Fender guitars. I suspect the only people who will ever hear me play may be the dudes at the guitar store as I fumble through a few bars of my Robin Trower imitation.

    I will never take a wrench or screwdriver to my guitars, or wield a soldering iron building an amp. But I love the fact that people do! Where else can I enjoy this from the comfort of my home and computer?

    So I don't take any of it personally. And I LIKE Gravity Jim!

  29. #69
    Forum Member Frat Rettle's Avatar
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    Re: Relics....

    I love this place.






    Take care, stay well.
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