Comments on: What’s the deal with pre-aged replica guitars?

By: EVH

EVH — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:04:15 +0000

I agree that most people who pay that much for a replica will not play it.

Hell – if I had $24k to spend on something like that, I would not play it either! It would be kept up high, away from the kids and anything that could break it!

By: Ross McGee

Ross McGee — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:18:11 +0000

I agree, the reason is mostly just profit. Most of these replicas are built for glass cases NOT really to be played. Its a symbol that people with alot of wealth are willing to pay a heafty amount, Im willing to bet some of the buyers of EVH’s frankie and Clapton’s blackie dont even play guitar.
They put it in a glass case and probably lie to many that its the original, and who could tell…maybe the artist..anyway as long as people spend the same amount of money on a guitar that you would for a car, Fender, Gibson, etc. will continue to make them. Gota admit though, they sure are cool to look at.

By: Mike Lackey

Mike Lackey — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:39:14 +0000

So I don’t play. But this X-mas I built (assembled) a Les Paul type kit for my son. Luckily I found an AMAZING luthier that made it sing! Anyway, here’s my point: I asked him about these guitars. (I saw a Clapton “Black Betty” replica the company had sold out of) Well, my son likes the scuffed up guitars too, like they’ve been dragged behind a truck. But he admitted that if he’s going to play one, he wants to “earn” those scuffs himself by playing the s–t out of it! He wouldn’t get a tat, punch himself in the eye and then call himself an Ultimate Fighter. That made me proud.

By: Gilles T.

Gilles T. — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:50:31 +0000

I love old guitars because those were
made with a quality factor in mind!
The insane replica aging process is the proof they are only after “profits”.
Walk in a guitar store. Try 12 Strats.
You might find one nice guitar the others as good as any other brand half the price tag.
They should use that energy creating
guitars as good or better than those represented by the replicas. Can’t They?

By: matt

matt — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:47:45 +0000

I agree with the aged guitar thing… It gives it character right? But I’d rather it be aged because I’ve played the crap out of it, not because some crazy luthier at Fender pain stakingly copied every detail from another guitar.

By: Nicholi

Nicholi — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:23:52 +0000

Well, I’ll admit it. I like aged guitars. They just look so much cooler than a shiny brand new guitar. They look tough. Like they’ve lived a hard life on the streets. But I would never pay a lot of money for a replica that looks like someone else’s guitar.

By: matt

matt — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:34:03 +0000

Awwww yeah, the Blackie. I knew there was another one I was forgetting…

I guess some people just have waaay too much money to spend.

By: Cary

Cary — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:20:48 +0000

Hehe… it really is amazing, isn’t it? We had a bit of this same conversation when Fender created all that hoopla around their ‘Blackie’ replica.

I just couldn’t see why someone would pay $24,000 for a replica of someone else’s guitar, no matter how much they may love the guitarist.

It’s a freakin’ replica for gawd’s sake!

Should be interesting to see how Fender deals with the Frankenstrat dilemmaâ€“â€“unfortunately, with Blackie selling out in the first day I think we can expect a lot more of these things in the future…

Heck, if people are buying I guess I can’t blame them!