Wednesday October 10th Lunch Report

Lunch: I had a large breakfast, so I passed on lunch today.

Guitars: Do you like or dislike relic guitars? If they're well done, I like them.

Amps: Do you have a preferred model of power tube you like in your amps? I like 6V6 and EL84 equipped amps.

G'day Sprinter, good idea after a big breakfast. What is the old saying - eat breakfast like a King , lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.
I only like real wear on a guitar. I cannot see the point of fake. One day I'll get around to showing my 1960 Fender jazz master to you all . It has relicing you cannot fake . I also buy my jeans dark and let time age them .
As for valves whatever is in the 1960 's Fender Bassman and Vox AC30 sounds good enough for me.
Cheers
Anthony

I have played some nice relic guitars. I think the best guitars Fender makes are the NOS, Closet Classic and Relic guitars from the Custom Shop. Their Road Worn series is very good, too. I've been real close to pulling the trigger on a couple of those.

The Tom Murphy-aged Les Paul I played was exquisite, one of the best guitars I've ever played, but it was BIG bucks. I have a couple of the VOS Pauls, but I polished them with the Virtuoso Cleaner and Polish to give them a beautiful gloss finish, perhaps the best of both worlds, with a lovely patina.

I like most tubes. Probably my least fav is the 6550, though I played some killer SUNN amps back in the day. All are good, but I'd say the 6L6 is the best all-around choice. I have two Mesas with EL84s, definitely a different tone.

Bill

No preference on tubes, but my favorite amps have 6L6s.

I have no interest in "relic" guitars. I guess I've been around long enough to put my share of authentic play wear on a lot of instruments. I like a guitar or bass that's been played-in, but it needs to have been genuinely played-in. The average age of my G&Ls is 25 years. Some picked up scars along the way, others are close to pristine, but they're all genuine.

I wouldn't turn my nose up at a high quality newer instrument made to vintage specs or with a NOS vintage feel (thinking of G&L "rustic" finishes, Fullerton Sigs, etc., here), but I definitely would have no interest in an otherwise good guitar that's had a belt sander or blowtorch taken to it at the factory. I make my own mistakes often enough...

Ken

I do have one amp - a 60s-vintage Harmony H400 - that uses a 50L6 and a 35Z5 as power tubes. I wouldn't rate them as any sort of favorite, but they are pretty unusual. That amp's best feature for guitars is that you can reach full-throttle tube overdrive and still hear the phone ring in the next room. I understand that it's considered a classic harp amp for Chicago-style blues.

Ken

Lunch: I had a large breakfast, so I passed on lunch today.

Guitars: Do you like or dislike relic guitars? If they're well done, I like them.

I don't dislike relic guitars, but I don't purposely seek them out. I just got an LSL CV Special where the paint job has some light checking along with some patina on the metal parts. It looks new, yet not. I've also owned a Murphy aged SG that was very nice. Other than that, I prefer my new guitars to look new. For that matter, I prefer my used guitars to look new.

Amps: Do you have a preferred model of power tube you like in your amps? I like 6V6 and EL84 equipped amps.

I like EL34s, EL84s, and 6V6s. Even though the EL34 is my favorite tube, I do not currently own any amps with EL34s.

RickT

my favorite power tubes are 7591's and 6l6's. i prefer natural relicing over artificial.

Guitars: Do you like or dislike relic guitars? If they're well done, I like them.

I'm not super fond of them, real or 'antiqued'. A big reason I have the SB-2 I have i the first one I played was relic'd through actual use, and so I held off to find a nice example of the model. Success!

+1 on 7591's. One of my all-time favorite sounding tubes. A couple of my Ampeg's have em, as does my Fisher 500C receiver which is still going strong after many years. Naturally relic'd guitars from years of use look great. Buying them new beat up doesn't make sense to me although I do like rolled / worn fretboard edges. Dan Strain of DanOCaster fame does this very well. The one exception to this is the Fender Rory Gallagher which feels beautifully worn in, and does a great job of honoring Rory's very worn and beat to hell Strat.

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I like most tubes. Probably my least fav is the 6550, though I played some killer SUNN amps back in the day. All are good, but I'd say the 6L6 is the best all-around choice. I have two Mesas with EL84s, definitely a different tone.
Bill

Yeah, the 6550 is the cheap version of the KT88. But it is so odd. The SVT which is the best bass amp ever, uses 6550. I don't get it.

Lunch was combination #78 without the vermicelli at Green Leaf.

I hate relic guitars. They are charging you an arm and a leg for something that is entirely new but looks like it was used for several decades with various amounts of abuse. No offense, but I do not see why anybody would ever be willing to pay top bucks for something like a Tom Murphy aged guitar. Why don't you (i.e Gibson or Fender) build me the same quality and spec'ed guitar without applying the dremel to it so your clientele could purchase it at $100s of bucks less. What a scam!!! If as a buyer you want your guitar to look that way, just play the bloody crap out of it! You got a '59 LP or a '54 Strat? Apparently you stopped reading after the year so you entirely missed the 'RI' part of the model designation, you idiot! Sorry to get off this much, but these kind of things are the wonder elixir and/or snake oil of our time and a significant fraction of the guitar playing part of humanity is apparently stupid enough to fall for it. It is just like politics ... caveat emptor. And I'd be pretty sure that Leo would be ashamed if a guitar left his shop it such a derelict (not withstanding the contradictio in terminis of using that term because an exorbitant amount of effort is put in to make the instrument look 'crappy') condition.

I like both EL84 and 6L6 tubes. For in house applications, I heavily use Hot Plates to protect the ears ...

- Jos

Relic: No thanks, unless that is the only way to get nitrocellulose lacquer, etc.

Tubes: 6L6 / KT66 / 5881 - Tung-Sol, SED "Winged C" & GE


Cheers,

Will

I probably shouldn't complain about 6550s, they are good tubes, but they stay clean forever. Great for metal. Another good one is the now nearly extinct 7027s that Ampeg used in the VT amps of late 60's--early 70s...another amp that could play hellaciously loud.

And back to relics, I agree they are not for everyone. But consider the guy who has a real vintage Strat, that guitar could be worth $40k--crazy to take it to a gig, right? So, he can get a custom relic for $2500, and have a guitar that he can gig with that feels the same as his oldie. The guy who has a vintage Paul ain't gonna gig with a $300k guitar, but a $7k Murphy might look like a darn good choice to him.

I have tell you, of my 11 LPs, the Historics are the best. The aged Historics really take me back to my teen years, and the feel and smell of the guitars I lusted for in the pawn shops.

Bill

I probably shouldn't complain about 6550s, they are good tubes, but they stay clean forever. Great for metal. Another good one is the now nearly extinct 7027s that Ampeg used in the VT amps of late 60's--early 70s...another amp that could play hellaciously loud.

And back to relics, I agree they are not for everyone. But consider the guy who has a real vintage Strat, that guitar could be worth $40k--crazy to take it to a gig, right? So, he can get a custom relic for $2500, and have a guitar that he can gig with that feels the same as his oldie. The guy who has a vintage Paul ain't gonna gig with a $300k guitar, but a $7k Murphy might look like a darn good choice to him.

I have tell you, of my 11 LPs, the Historics are the best. The aged Historics really take me back to my teen years, and the feel and smell of the guitars I lusted for in the pawn shops.

Bill

if i have a real vintage strat, you bet your behind i am playing it out. a buddy of mine used to bring his 54 strat, another buddy a 57 to gigs. i got to play both. great guitars. there is no way i'd be gigging with a different guitar. i never thought it to be crazy or even unreasonable to take expensive gear to gigs. that's what it's for, to be played.

I’ll admit I haven’t played any “relic” guitars – I have no interest. To me, a “relic” guitar is a fake. Buying an expensive “relic” guitar is sort of like buying a new Corvette and paying some maniac to drive it into the ditch a few times to make it look like it’s seen some excitement. Not for me, thanks. If I’m going to spend several grand on a new guitar it needs to be modern, well built, with the specifications I want. JMHO.

Late in on this one. I detest relics unless they are natural from the owners use. Even then a well taken care of guitar will have the paint worn through but it should not be loaded with dings. That is mishandling in my opinion however I realize they can happen.

All of my tube amps have been 6l6. I have no preference as long as its clean.-- Darwin

I was surfing the web over guitars and I saw the word relic. It took me 30 minutes to figure out what he was referring to.
No thanks. I will personally scar up my own guitar, thank you.

I love how an old guitar yells a story at ya,
there's close to silence with fake relics.

I like Relics !
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Elwood

Elwood - Now that's the kind of relicI can get into!