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Checking or no checking???.....

johnnyjellybean

Active member
Joined
Dec 23, 2001
Messages
1,030
So I just picked up this 05 R9 faded tobacco burst in a trade deal. It once belonged to another forum member here. Anyway, it has light aging on the parts and has other upgrades such as Buzzy inlays etc. It is perfect checking weather up here in Canada and I am debating whether or not to check the guitar. What say you?

<img src=http://stevesegal.hypermart.net/madre001.jpg>
 

Mark Kane

All Access/Backstage Pass
Joined
Jul 18, 2001
Messages
5,742
I'd be surprised if it checked, but you never know, good luck.
 

stock_hippie

Les Paul Froum Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
Messages
4,247
i think the aging craze could be over...final answer is leave it alone...its cool
 
R

R9.

Guest
i think the aging craze could be over
When did the craze start, roughly?
Personally, I don't like artificial aging...but doing it because it's the popular thing to do sounds foolish. You do it because you want a Les Paul that looks like its been around for 50 years; not because everybody else is doing it.

Just my two cents...:salude
 

D'Mule

Active member
Joined
Apr 5, 2003
Messages
4,621
I've got a Faded tobacco R8 that looks just like that (well except for that luscious flame) and I'm sure mine would check much faster...how 'bout we trade before you start all this?:2cool
 

Trennasol

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2002
Messages
895
I say no. It's a beautiful guitar. I think checking would distract from the natural beauty of it.
 

Dino_k

Active member
Joined
Nov 9, 2006
Messages
1,000
I think it's a beauty that would look good with some light checking on it. And I love the flame and fleks it has going on. Reminds me of Danelectro's (forum brother, not the company) Murphy. (pics on this thread: DANELECTRO's Murphy)

Re: the artificial checking vs natural, I've always assumed that, regardless of whether it is a new or 50 year old guitar, natural checking was a result of the nitro moving from climate, the nitro outgassing or the actual wood beneath, while artificial checking was created by using knives, dyes, etc.

Am I making a false distinction?
 

J T

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Messages
10,501
Leave it age on it's own.

Great looking Guitar!
 

El Dug

Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2006
Messages
139
So I just picked up this 05 R9 faded tobacco burst in a trade deal. It once belonged to another forum member here. Anyway, it has light aging on the parts and has other upgrades such as Buzzy inlays etc. It is perfect checking weather up here in Canada and I am debating whether or not to check the guitar. What say you?

<img src=http://stevesegal.hypermart.net/madre001.jpg>

I'd say don't do it!Let it age naturally.
What is perfect checking weather anyways?
 
O

olgabowl

Guest
unless it is a late '05,it should check.It might take a couple of tries.

So, from late '05 on, you'll have difficulty checking Historic finishes?

I've got an '06 R7 with a RS refinished top (see pic) that I successfully checked, but I too would like to take advantage of this cold weather and have a go at the back and sides...

Doable??


P1030078.jpg
 

joeymac

New member
Joined
Sep 18, 2008
Messages
112
Let that beaut check on it's own if it's going to check! Come down to Vegas and play a summers worth of gigs outside and I guarantee you you'll get some natural wear on that baby!
 

johnnyjellybean

Active member
Joined
Dec 23, 2001
Messages
1,030
Believe me ... all I have to do is leave it in the trunk overnight up here and it WILL check on it's own.
 

lpcust

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Messages
414
Check away! If you like checking, you shouldn't let someone else's opinion influence you.
The only way my guitars age is with some encouragement. My skin chemistry doesn't do a thing to hardware. The other guitar player in my band has the Tarnishing Touch, but I don't. I'm also careful enough of my vintage guitars that they don't check on their own.

Run of the mill Historics will never be collectible, so future value isn't an issue. I've aged the hardware artificially on my R9 and given it serious sun baking to fade the paint. I'm now trying to get it to check. I'd never do either to a vintage guitar, but Historics are reproductions. I like making mine a more accurate reproduction. During the '60s and '70s people weren't concerned about future value and they weren't afraid to customize. I drilled the headstock of my PAF ES-345 for Grovers. Do I regret it? Yes, because the end result was one less completely original collectible piece of Americana. I don't like the fact that folks modified guitars that became collectible, but I do like the innocence of that time and the absence of the anal OCD that overwhelms many of us now, especially because modifying an Historic doesn't fall under the umbrella of defacing collectible Americana. It's like worrying about putting custom touches on your new house that looks like an original from the post-Colonial era; a completely different issue from irreversible modifications to an 18th century home that enjoys National Historic Register status.
So if you like checking, go for it. It won't be a meaningful part part of your legacy.
 

zosolp

New member
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
1,488
if you love the guitar your going to keep it, right? so if you want to check it go right ahead, it will look good either way
 

czarivan

Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
325
It once belonged to another forum member here.

used to belong to a few of us :) i gave her the name "tu madre"

congrats on the trade deal. she's an absolute beauty. Not sure if it will make a difference that yours is an '05 custom authentic.

if it'll check, i'd say do it. i would have if i'd kept it, but it doesn't get cold enough here.
 
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