A World of Make Believe
There is presently a very robust and active segment of the electric guitar market that obsesses over a specific condition of instruments and instrument parts. The condition is “relic”, and I cannot quite grasp its psychological command of buyers’ attention and dollars. Esentially, a “relic” guitar is one that is not old, but made to look so.
“Vintage” guitars are instruments that are old, and show their age in all the typical ways electric guitars eventually do, i.e. chipped, dented, scratched and worn finishes, corrosion and rust on metal parts, etc. Guitars which have seen a reasonable degree of use demonstrate these characteristics after a certain number of years, subject, of course, to the exact amount of play and particulars of the specific instrument. Any 1950s Fender guitar seems to represent the “relic” ideal. Those instruments, however, fetch prices well beyond the means of all but the wealthiest collectors. Professional guitarists like Ron Wood may play a 1958 Stratocaster (and have a 1954 as a spare!), but pre-1968 Fenders (and old Gibsons, too) are astonishingly expensive, so to own one requires a major financial commitment. If the value of something can be measured solely by how much someone will pay for it, then vintage guitars are a wise investment: between the mid-1980s and 2002, the three major stock market indexes gained about 356%; over the same period, a 1959 Les Paul gained well over 1150% in value, and will sell for close to $300,000 today. A savvy investor would dump all their stocks and even their real estate and invest in vintage guitars.
Now, I can understand a person wanting to own one of these old, vintage instruments. But I cannot understand a person deliberately purchasing a new guitar, and damaging it to make it look old. Yet, Fender has a Custom Shop which, in addition to making new instruments for professional guitarists, also makes “relic” guitars for the wider market. You can buy one of these old-looking, new guitars for over $3,000, or buy a new-looking, new equivalent for less than half that.
Meanwhile, the impostor relic market is also strong, with many eBay sellers auctioning off guitar bodies and necks that they bought new, and sanded and scraped themselves, and now sell to customers online. One can pay over $100 more for an abused-looking after market neck than for an otherwise identical pristine version. It seems crazy, doesn’t it?
My theory is this: In a society in which it is far more important to be perceived as being something than it is to actually be that something, people are willing to fool even themselves and pretend they are what they are not. People want to feel like rock stars. It’s understandable; after all, they rock and roll all night, and party every day. But Guitar Hero is make believe. And, although having a beat up looking guitar might subconsciously make you feel like a guitar hero, it doesn’t make you a good player. Rather, it is the essence of poserdom.
Filed under: Popular Music, Rantings, Technology on January 22nd, 2008
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