4 ms·

This reminds me of some of the goofy aging snake-oil techniques that audiophile-type guitarists try on their guitars. Putting them in vibrating jigs and stuff.

This reminds me of some of the goofy aging snake-oil techniques that audiophile-type guitarists try on their guitars. Putting them in vibrating jigs and stuff. That said, if there's a way to significantly tighten / age / enhance the density or resonance of wood using some kind of technique, that's pretty awesome. Then drink aged liquor before playing on aged guitar. Win-win.

kibwen 10y ago
Sounds like a market opportunity: pre-distressed guitars to go with your pre-distressed jeans. :P
- compiler-guy 10y ago
  Pre-distressed guitars are sold all the time as "relics". Both Fender and Gibson do it. Their custom shop will relic them to match a particularly famous one or generally. I would link to a source, but they are all pretty much just advertisements. Your favorite search engine could find them.
  - analog31 10y ago
    Here's one, just for the sake of completeness: http://www.fendercustomshop.com/series/artist/jaco-pastorius-tribute-jazz-bass-rosewood-fingerboard-3-color-sunburst/ http://www.fendercustomshop.com/series/artist/jaco-pastorius... I'm guessing it won't make me play like Jaco. ;-)
  - aaronbrethorst 10y ago
    Ugh, sounds like Leica's B.S. M.O. http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2015/02/new-gear-leica-m-p-correspondent-was-designed-lenny-kravitz-comes-pre-distressed http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2015/02/new-gear-leica-m-p-corr...
- mazlix 10y ago
  A close friend of mine made https://www.tonerite.com/ https://www.tonerite.com/ to distress your own guitars. I know it's done well.
- RUG3Y 10y ago
  All of this marketing is giving me pre-distressed wrinkles in my pre-distressed face and receding my pre-distressed hairline.
tptacek 10y ago
Aged liquors aren't speaker cables. You can get before/after and old-wood/new-wood flights from distillers to see the difference: age makes a huge difference, and cask type makes a huge difference --- as, apparently, does cask size, according to Chuck Cowdery.
- camperman 10y ago
  > Aged liquors aren't speaker cables. So what? He was talking about guitars made of wood, not speaker cables.
  - dtornabene 10y ago
    He was noting the difference in comparison...which was the op's point. its apples to oranges.
- anfractuosity 10y ago
  I'm assuming cask size would effect ageing, by altering the surface to volume ratio. With a wooden beer cask I had (4.5gal) you could taste the vanilla from the wood, which I believe was so prominent because of the small cask size, because of more wood touching the beer. I'm wondering if the cask size also effects the amount of angels share too.
  - tptacek 10y ago
    Cowdery finds the opposite: that smaller barrels produce a less pronounced aging effect. It's counterintuitive.
    - anfractuosity 10y ago
      That's very interesting! I've just been skimming: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1995.tb00873.x/pdf http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1995.... Although it says "An increased surface to volume ratio of the miniature cask, and increased oxygen concentration, appeared to enhance both extraction and further transformation of wood components, resulting in the dominance of a single characteristic, sweet, after 21 months of maturation." they go on to mention "maturation of Scotch malt distillate in miniature casks did not enhance the sensory quality of the final product, nor did miniature casks provide a suitable model of an accelerated Scotch whisky maturation process."
abakker 10y ago
I think that is real, though: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/technology/05tonerite.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/technology/05tonerite.html https://www.tonerite.com https://www.tonerite.com I've heard from several musicians that say that it genuinely works. I've also witnessed first hand the "breaking in" process with an instrument that results in a better sound after being played a lot. Note that an old instrument doesn't break in - it is the playing. I've also heard, from Ed Maday - http://www.edmaday.com http://www.edmaday.com - that the vibrations are why he says away from power machinery in his craft - he believes that the use of that machinery might damage the potential tone of the wood. I am skeptical, but if there is a mechanical process involved, then maybe he's not wrong.
- 6stringmerc 10y ago
  Well it might do a little something but in the grand scheme of things, in my opinion, professional of sorts, is that there are far too many variables in the Electric Guitar chain to ever really care too much about any one element. Collectively, yes, different aspects have flavors to add, such as type of wood, age, mass...but then there's all sorts of other aspects - set up height, string quality / material, type of pickups, winding of said pickups, type of amplifier, what effects pedals might be in the chain...so I don't feel like going beyond skepticism is necessarily worth the effort. By comparison, I had a guitar teacher who would play his G&L Strat 5 days a week for lessons, and you could just see how he was working the fretboard and neck into the sweetest playing, conditioned piece of gear. He always had a line of people waiting to buy his guitar whenever he felt like he wanted a change. I can understand wanting a guitar that "broken in" but by comparison getting something artificially relic'd or aged doesn't seem appealing.
  - ozi 10y ago
    Gains from pretty much all "advanced" techniques are incremental. Most improvements - whether cars, sports, business, marketing, etc. - come from mastering the basics.
    - 6stringmerc 10y ago
bubblesocks 10y ago
I'd prefer talent and scotch on a cheap Yamaha any day.

kibwen 10y ago

Sounds like a market opportunity: pre-distressed guitars to go with your pre-distressed jeans. :P

compiler-guy 10y ago
Pre-distressed guitars are sold all the time as "relics". Both Fender and Gibson do it. Their custom shop will relic them to match a particularly famous one or generally. I would link to a source, but they are all pretty much just advertisements. Your favorite search engine could find them.
- analog31 10y ago
  Here's one, just for the sake of completeness: http://www.fendercustomshop.com/series/artist/jaco-pastorius-tribute-jazz-bass-rosewood-fingerboard-3-color-sunburst/ http://www.fendercustomshop.com/series/artist/jaco-pastorius... I'm guessing it won't make me play like Jaco. ;-)
- aaronbrethorst 10y ago
  Ugh, sounds like Leica's B.S. M.O. http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2015/02/new-gear-leica-m-p-correspondent-was-designed-lenny-kravitz-comes-pre-distressed http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2015/02/new-gear-leica-m-p-corr...
mazlix 10y ago
A close friend of mine made https://www.tonerite.com/ https://www.tonerite.com/ to distress your own guitars. I know it's done well.
RUG3Y 10y ago
All of this marketing is giving me pre-distressed wrinkles in my pre-distressed face and receding my pre-distressed hairline.

tptacek 10y ago

Aged liquors aren't speaker cables. You can get before/after and old-wood/new-wood flights from distillers to see the difference: age makes a huge difference, and cask type makes a huge difference --- as, apparently, does cask size, according to Chuck Cowdery.

camperman 10y ago
> Aged liquors aren't speaker cables. So what? He was talking about guitars made of wood, not speaker cables.
- dtornabene 10y ago
  He was noting the difference in comparison...which was the op's point. its apples to oranges.
anfractuosity 10y ago
I'm assuming cask size would effect ageing, by altering the surface to volume ratio. With a wooden beer cask I had (4.5gal) you could taste the vanilla from the wood, which I believe was so prominent because of the small cask size, because of more wood touching the beer. I'm wondering if the cask size also effects the amount of angels share too.
- tptacek 10y ago
  Cowdery finds the opposite: that smaller barrels produce a less pronounced aging effect. It's counterintuitive.
  - anfractuosity 10y ago
    That's very interesting! I've just been skimming: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1995.tb00873.x/pdf http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1995.... Although it says "An increased surface to volume ratio of the miniature cask, and increased oxygen concentration, appeared to enhance both extraction and further transformation of wood components, resulting in the dominance of a single characteristic, sweet, after 21 months of maturation." they go on to mention "maturation of Scotch malt distillate in miniature casks did not enhance the sensory quality of the final product, nor did miniature casks provide a suitable model of an accelerated Scotch whisky maturation process."

abakker 10y ago

I think that is real, though: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/technology/05tonerite.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/technology/05tonerite.html https://www.tonerite.com https://www.tonerite.com I've heard from several musicians that say that it genuinely works. I've also witnessed first hand the "breaking in" process with an instrument that results in a better sound after being played a lot. Note that an old instrument doesn't break in - it is the playing. I've also heard, from Ed Maday - http://www.edmaday.com http://www.edmaday.com - that the vibrations are why he says away from power machinery in his craft - he believes that the use of that machinery might damage the potential tone of the wood. I am skeptical, but if there is a mechanical process involved, then maybe he's not wrong.

6stringmerc 10y ago
Well it might do a little something but in the grand scheme of things, in my opinion, professional of sorts, is that there are far too many variables in the Electric Guitar chain to ever really care too much about any one element. Collectively, yes, different aspects have flavors to add, such as type of wood, age, mass...but then there's all sorts of other aspects - set up height, string quality / material, type of pickups, winding of said pickups, type of amplifier, what effects pedals might be in the chain...so I don't feel like going beyond skepticism is necessarily worth the effort. By comparison, I had a guitar teacher who would play his G&L Strat 5 days a week for lessons, and you could just see how he was working the fretboard and neck into the sweetest playing, conditioned piece of gear. He always had a line of people waiting to buy his guitar whenever he felt like he wanted a change. I can understand wanting a guitar that "broken in" but by comparison getting something artificially relic'd or aged doesn't seem appealing.
- ozi 10y ago
  Gains from pretty much all "advanced" techniques are incremental. Most improvements - whether cars, sports, business, marketing, etc. - come from mastering the basics.
  - 6stringmerc 10y ago

bubblesocks 10y ago

I'd prefer talent and scotch on a cheap Yamaha any day.