Well, I don't know what the hell a FRUAD is.
I'm posting this not to insult, argue or ridicule but to help you deal with something I struggle with... ego. So please do not take offense.
For the record, I was not offended but I can see where I overly reacted to a thread that I feel has been beaten to death. My apologies to you.
I agree with this post whole heartedly. Back in 2020 I was looking for a R8 or R9, and found ONE "gloss" R9 for sale on Reverb and I promptly bought it. Try finding a "gloss" anything CS now! Few and far between. I didn't even want VOS, I wanted a guitar that looked brand new.My body rejects the relic concept solely on the basis of it being, well, artificial. At the same time, the skill and workmanship that go into creating an aged guitar are occasionally admirable, in the same way that one might admire a work of art. Still, I would never purchase or own a relic because I personally think the starting concept itself, just as a concept, is ridiculous. I do understand, of course, that some specifically prefer a relic for actual functional reasons (for example, many relics have rolled fingerboard edges, which arguably does exert an impact on the feel of the guitar). I also certainly think that those who love relic guitars should be able to get whichever guitars make them happy, just as people who consider relics to be as ridiculous as I do should be able to get whichever guitars make them happy.
The one objection that I do have when it comes to relic guitars, however, is the impact that they seem to have come to exert on the high-end reissue guitar market. As of this writing, for instance, Fender Custom Shop guitars are currently much more widely available ONLY as relics, and scarcely as N.O.S. versions — despite the fact that even just a decade or two ago, N.O.S. Stratocasters, N.O.S. Nocasters, etc. were regularly well represented in the inventories of high-end guitar shops.
And look, before anyone chimes in with the usual "Well, guitar players' buying preferences have changed, and the market simply reflects that," I must respectfully call bullshit on that observation. Perhaps tastes have changed, yes. Fair enough. But a guitar buyer who specifically wants a shiny, brand-new-looking version of a legendary model of guitar (translation: the NORMAL version of the given guitar model!) should NOT, in my opinion, have to make a special or extra effort to obtain one — for example, I don’t think the N.O.S. version of a guitar should ever need to be a "custom order." Those guitars should be available off the rack like that. I mean, it's fine if Gibson and Fender choose to flood the current high-end guitar market with guitars whose backs and bass-side lower bouts look like they've been gone over with a cheese grater — just as long as gloss and N.O.S. versions of the same guitar models remain equally available to consumers. As of this writing, however, they do not seem to be, and I view that circumstance as yet another indication of how upside down the world is these days. In other words, you can find scratched, dented, and rusty-looking $5K-plus reissue versions of iconic guitars all day long. But try finding a version that re-creates what the same guitar looked like when it was brand-new.... well, THAT you evidently now have to dig for. That’s nuts, IMO.
My $0.02
