I want to see your beat up Les Pauls. Not artificially aged Les Paul.

[1981 LPC]

where are you seeing primer?

In between the wood and the finish coats.

 

[Deftone]

In between the wood and the finish coats.

No primer on mine. I don't recall ever seeing primer on any Gibson.

Anyway, here's my road worn 89 LPC Lite with a Floyd. The top had a lot of checking but I took it in for a re-fret and they polished the top.

 

[bbbirchey]

1993 Custom

 

[grimmchaos]

The gold is holding up well. The gold on my Studio which I bought new in 2017 has faded a great deal more than this.

I replaced the nashville bridge shortly after I got it because the original Schaller was collapsing pretty hard in the middle. I have no idea if the tailpiece or tuners are original or not unfortunately.

 

[moreles]

Normally worn metal parts look a billion times better than dipped/"agedf" garbage. To state the very, very obvious, the guitars posted here have slim resemblance to "aged" ( = not really aged, just faked) and relic'd instruments, up to and including Murphy Lab concoctions. My favorite look, personally, is an old, much-played, but reasonably well cared-for guitar. But I guess that in America, the land of excess, even excess damage is somehow desirable.

 

[zdoggie]

born to loose win this bout very nice

zdog

 

[Wise Guy]

At camp.

 

[edro]

Not mine but a beautiful Goldie..... Barry Bailey's.... Worn from playing...a lot...


Willie's book is a great read too...

 

[juanpuol]

TTT!!! (That Top Though!!!)

Sometimes a guitar can get played A LOT and not show the bruises and scars from playing clubs, bars, festivals, private parties, opening acts, etc........

I bought my '80 "Jimmy Wallace" used in '84, and played it on all gigs around the area until the early 90's

I babied the guitar and made sure I put it in it's guitar case between breaks at all gigs. I only had it on the guitar stand if I was changing guitars during a set.

Here's a pic of my JW on stage in '84, and a pic of the case that protected it all those years.

It's obvious the poor case did its job.

That Top Though!!!

 

[BornToLooze]

What the "relic" buyers have apparently never realized is that the absurdly exaggerated wear they seem to love, is solely the result of a tiny number of guitar players abusing their instruments as part of their stage act.

But unless you throw your guitar around on stage, use it as a surfboard or whatever else people have done to guitars in the name of showmanship, guitars are pretty reslient against everyday wear- as we can see from the pics of actually old and non-reliced guitars...

The guitar in my avatar is 50 years old this year, and sure, a bit closer and you can tell its age, it has laquer cracks up the wazoo and a few dings and worn away spots on the back - but otherwise it has stood the test of time quite nicely, as would be expected of hardwood covered with car paint...

That's something I've never got.

I've read stuff about "relicing" and why new guitars don't wear like all the old cool ones, but I've gone on drunken rants on here about how Geronimo is one of best guitars that Gibson has ever made, even though it had more issues than a mutt. It had a sticky neck like every other Gibson in the late 2000s, but after the steel wool treatmens for the sticky neck it feels like i've tried to relic it because I've worn the fnish off the back of the neck

 

[grumphh_the_banned_one]

That's something I've never got.

I've read stuff about "relicing" and why new guitars don't wear like all the old cool ones, but I've gone on drunken rants on here about how Geronimo is one of best guitars that Gibson has ever made, even though it had more issues than a mutt. It had a sticky neck like every other Gibson in the late 2000s, but after the steel wool treatmens for the sticky neck it feels like i've tried to relic it because I've worn the fnish off the back of the neck

Getting rid of the finish on the (back of the) neck doesn't count as relicing in my book, as that can be a playability thing.
Others may disagree

When i talk relicing i speak of the often exaggerated cosmetics that are usually applied to the fronts of guitars...

 

[100thdeuce]

Normally worn metal parts look a billion times better than dipped/"agedf" garbage. To state the very, very obvious, the guitars posted here have slim resemblance to "aged" ( = not really aged, just faked) and relic'd instruments, up to and including Murphy Lab concoctions. My favorite look, personally, is an old, much-played, but reasonably well cared-for guitar. But I guess that in America, the land of excess, even excess damage is somehow desirable.

Bingo! My '55 J160e is a thing of beauty. It has dings, chips, wear and finish checking. This comes from 65+ years of play and makes me smile just looking at it. The ML folks obviously enjoy what they are getting (until it all starts falling off) because they talk about what fabulous instruments they are. Oh the tone...the playability! Best guitar they've ever owned! Uhmm, the guitar was already all that and would still be without the new--tech relicing.

It reminds me of my Harley Davidson experience. I've been riding since the 70's and ridden hundreds of thousands of miles on bikes that are meant to be ridden long and hard. I don't do Daytona or Sturgis any more because they are overrun with Posers who have $100k bikes you couldn't do a cross country on without kidney transplants and back surgery. They wear crisp new leather vests with cheesy patches (DILLIGAF patch required) and pins plastered all over, Doo rags, cool shades...all trying to look like a 'real' biker. My vest has stuff holding on by their last thread because they were hand sewn (by me) 40 years ago. My current '03 Harley has dings and scratches and almost 100k miles. It still looks good because I take care of it. It got the look it has because we have been out on the road for 18 years together.

Maybe many of the newer guitars won't wear as quickly or beautifully as the older stuff. It's the nature of the materials. But the wear you get from practice, play, gigging and the occasional careless moment are memories recorded as clearly as a photograph. Stop going through different guitars like crap through a goose. Find a couple that feel like friends and then play them like you stole them. Let them age with you. You'll get scars, cracks and character lines together.

The long-played, long-loved guitars shown in this thread are amazing for the life they've lived and the music they helped create. MORE...MORE...MORE!

 

[DaveSG]

Now if only we can get the Murphy Lab folks invited in on this thread to study the pictures more closely

 

[tache3]

 

[JMP]

That’s a well lived LesPaul! Tell us about it. Is it a Deluxe routed for humbuckers?

 

[grimmchaos]

That's a beaut!!

 

[Jake_Jakerson]

Most of the beat up is on the back side, not sure what happened with that piece that got knocked off

 

[tache3]

That’s a well lived LesPaul! Tell us about it. Is it a Deluxe routed for humbuckers?

Nope, 1979 Standard. I'd love to say that I bought it new and have put every scratch and scrape on it myself but the truth is that is the condition it was in when I obtained it in about 2017. Boring, I know. Sorry about that!

It has the two main features everyone despises (ie skinny ass neck and low wide frets) but I love it because of them. It was the neck profile that first drew me to it.

More about it here- https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/this-years-project-1979-lp-standard.421572/

 

[BKS]

I guess mine is mild self relic compared to most here and none of it done by moi, don't own it long enough.
91 studio

 

[Wise Guy]

I've always thought that these Studios are some of the best Gibson has ever put out in the 90's. Great playing guitars!