Folk musician David Wilcox has a song called “Guitar Shopping” that contains the following lyric:
There’s a guitar here in the window
I’d like to play before its sold
Its such a classic, mint condition
Great shape for one this old
Now all these axes have their stories
Of the gigs that they have seen
But when this one sold the first time
I was seventeen
‘Course back then I didn’t want it
It was way too new for me
I needed something old and righteous
With its own authority
So the first guitar I ever bought
Was twice as old as me
Cause its life was full of music
As I dreamed that mine might be
In the past I have agreed with Wilcox. When thinking about “my dream guitar” I thought about a brand new, pristine guitar that I would play hour upon and hour and wear off the finish myself. Therefore, I always considered the idea of “relic-ing” an instrument kind of silly. I suppose there is some sort of “high art” to the exact copies of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Lenny” or Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstein but thought of buying a mass-produced Fender “road worn” instrument always struck me as goofy.
Along comes the fledgling company Rittenhouse Guitars to change my opinion of relic’d instruments. Rittenhouse works with their customers to create what they call a “unique, one-of-a-kind” instrument. This isn’t a production line relic’d guitar. Each Rittenhouse guitar is a handcrafted beauty that oozes vintage vibe and is made by working closely with the customer. This level of commitment to customer service is seriously cool in this day and age and Rittenhouse is to be applauded.
Rittenhouse Guitars is holding a contest in which they will give away a relic’d guitar to one lucky winner on December 24. You better believe I have entered. But as much as I would love to keep it if I won the guitar, I would probably give the instrument to my two daughters (aged 10 and 9). They have really, REALLY caught the guitar playing bug this year and want me to teach them to play. They both have guitars on their Christmas lists but, like everyone else these days, we’ve tightened our belts and there won’t be a guitar under the tree this Christmas. So, if I won a guitar from Rittenhouse, it would go to my daughters. I can’t think of a cooler instrument upon which to learn than a custom-built guitar made just for them. After all, as David Wilcox said, a guitar that looks as “old and righteous” as a Rittenhouse has “its own authority.”
Feel free to click on through to Rittenhouse’s website and have a look around. They are a great little company filled with quality people. I’ve got my fingers crossed that a picture of a beautifully relic’d Telecaster will end up under the tree for my daughters this Christmas.
