The most stupid guitar I ever saw

[SecretSam]

Back in the days when a new ES335 cost 1650 pounds, and there was a proper music shop at the top end of Oxford Street, I was in the shop looking for a present for myself.

On the same wall as the nice, new ES335 was a specially reliced version. Someone had taken some laser measurements of Eric Clapton's old 335. They had fitted the correct non-matching replacement tuning machines and knobs, dulled the varnish, and painstakingly recreated the fret wear of the original.

The price was 9995 pounds.

I would bet that, given the choice, Eric would have bought the new one, as would anyone who actually makes a living from music.

One born every minute, eh?

Dunno why I just thought of that. Wine and jazz, I suppose.

[Studio Support Gnome]

Broadly echoed my feelings on tbe entire relic market . . Dents scrapes and scratches honestly earned are okay . It’s evidence of a life lived . Taking a perfectly good guitar and damaging it then Asking more money ? Eff off .

[Studio Support Gnome]

Broadly echoed my feelings on tbe entire relic market . . Dents scrapes and scratches honestly earned are okay . It’s evidence of a life lived . Taking a perfectly good guitar and damaging it then Asking more money ? Eff off . Note to self “ Must switch off delay pedal before posting “

[Wonks]

On the other hand, limited edition custom shop guitars like these (250 made in 2005) do tend to immediately appreciate in value whereas the standard models will generally drop in value, before eventually rising in value again as they age.

There's one of those guitars on Reverb for £15k.

2005 ES335s currently go for around £2.5k. So percentage-wise the standard one has done a lot better in this case.

A lot of these limited edition guitars are bought to put away with all the case candy, never get played, and hopefully make them a decent return on their investment in a few years.

[Sam Spoons]

Back in the day, before guitars were considered 'collectable' those 30 year old NoS and 'case queens' were probably the ones that nobody bought because they were just a bit shit so they sat in a case or on a shelf, complete with tags and other 'case candy' until somebody said "wow, there's a mint condition 1961 Fender Stratocaster! You don't see many of those"...

[FrankF]

On the same wall as the nice, new ES335 was a specially reliced version.

I remember trying that very guitar back in the day! I reached up to take it off the wall, and as I sat down, my brand new jeans split at the knee.
Even now I cringe with embarrassment at the memory of walking around for the rest of the day wearing a pair of ripped jeans...

[Dave.P]

I cannot think of many other areas apart from maybe antiques where they try to make you pay more for a beaten up look.
As Wonks says this is more due to collectors and people that perhaps will never actually play these instruments.
My Strat Plus looks a bit like that now but only through 40 odd years of use and ironically they would try and knock money off due to the cosmetics.
Not that it is ever going to be for sale and apart from changing a crackly volume pot it still works as well as it did when new.
Can you imagine a posh car brand charging extra to make your new purchase look like it has done 70,000 miles?
Madness to me, but I guess if somebody will pay for it they will offer it.

[Wonks]

I would bet that, given the choice, Eric would have bought the new one, as would anyone who actually makes a living from music.

These days Eric would either buy a goodvintage ES 335 or have a custom shop one given to him by Gibson.

But it is interesting to note that David Gilmour now plays a NOS DG custom shop Strat (just like mine), rather than the reliced version.

[Albatross]

...Even now I cringe with embarrassment at the memory of walking around for the rest of the day wearing a pair of ripped jeans...

They're extra now well!

[Watchmaker]

I briefly owned a relic'd custom shop Strat that was frikkin amazing but I traded it in for an NOS '69 Tele Thinline. Oddly, I made about a hundred bucks on the trade.

[Dumble]

One born every minute, eh?

Oh yes. Another judgemental guitarist does indeed seem to be born every minute.

[adrian_k]

Classy!

[ManFromGlass]

Yes - This place would be soooo boring if everyone liked every guitar!

[Sam Spoons]

I bet he plays banjo

[Folderol]

...Even now I cringe with embarrassment at the memory of walking around for the rest of the day wearing a pair of ripped jeans...

They're extra now well!

I always thought they were stupid first time round.

Mind you, modern denim is a crap material anyway.

[ManFromGlass]

Not just denim - even sock material is toilet paper thin.

[adrian_k]

You’re buying the wrong toilet paper…

[ajay_m]

I have advocated for years for the creation of the British Standard Sock. A BSS-compliant sock would come in one colour (black), one style and one material (cotton). No matter who you purchased your socks from, one of a pair would always match any other random sock in the drawer.

[FrankF]

Yes, but which black?
Do you mean Down Pipe, Hopper's Head, or perhaps you prefer Tanner's Brown? (It would appear that Jillie Goolden never went away after all...)

https://www.farrow-ball.com/paint/black-paint-colours

[BigRedX]

I have advocated for years for the creation of the British Standard Sock. A BSS-compliant sock would come in one colour (black), one style and one material (cotton). No matter who you purchased your socks from, one of a pair would always match any other random sock in the drawer.

But all you have to do is wash one pair a few more times than another, and then they no longer match and you're faced with the even harder task of pairing otherwise identical socks by how much they have faded. Don't ask me how I know...