Why the Level Matters More Than You Think
When people first enquire about a relic build, they often focus on colour, wood species, and pickup type. The aging level gets left as an afterthought, something to settle near the end of the conversation. That is a mistake. The intensity of aging shapes almost everything about how the finished instrument will look, feel in your hands, and ultimately suit your playing situation.
A light relic and a heavy relic of the same guitar model are visually and tactilely quite different instruments. The choice is not just cosmetic preference — it affects how the guitar reads in a live setting, how your bandmates and audience perceive it, and how you feel about adding your own wear to it over years of playing. Getting clear on this early saves time, sets realistic expectations, and produces a better result.
Below is a practical breakdown of each level, drawn from hundreds of builds and the feedback we receive from clients once they have actually played their instruments for a year or two.
Light Relic: Honest Use, Carefully Kept
A light relic is what you get when you imagine a guitar owned by someone who played it regularly but kept it clean, stored it in a case, and did not abuse it. Ten to fifteen years of careful use is the mental image to hold.
At this level you will see fine lacquer checking across the body and neck — the shallow hairline crazes that nitrocellulose develops from thermal cycling, invisible from a metre away but visible in raking light. The finish remains largely intact; wear-through appears only at the highest-contact zones: the forearm area on the body top, perhaps a faint trace where the picking hand rests. Hardware is mildly aged, shifted from bright chrome or nickel to a softer satin tone with the faintest tarnish in recesses. Frets show very light crown wear at the most-played positions.
This level suits players who:
- Play in more formal or professional settings where a heavily battered guitar could read as unprofessional
- Want the tonal and tactile benefits of a nitro finish without dramatic visual aging
- Are sensitive about the instrument looking "damaged" and want the aging to be something they notice rather than something everyone notices immediately
- Plan to add more character over years of actual playing and want a starting point that will evolve naturally
Light relic work is underrated. It is actually more technically demanding in some respects than heavy relic, because every mark has to look genuinely subtle. There is no hiding behind drama.
A light relic is a guitar that looks like it belongs to a careful player who has used it for fifteen years. That is most working guitarists, and it is nothing to be ashamed of.
Medium Relic: The Working Player's Guitar
Medium is our most popular level, and once clients see it in person they almost always understand why. This is the sweet spot between character and chaos. It reads immediately as an old, genuinely used instrument — but it does not look wrecked.
Expect pronounced lacquer checking that extends into the sides and neck heel. Finish wear-through is clear and multi-layered at all primary contact zones: the forearm contour worn down to raw wood in the centre, the back showing a worn patch where the body rests against the player's torso, the neck pocket area slightly roughed. Hardware oxidation is more advanced — nickel parts grey and slightly flecked, chrome with dulled highlights and some greenish creep around screw heads. Frets will show genuine wear at positions one through seven, with visible flattening on the most-used frets.
Dings and dents are part of the picture at medium level. Small impact marks on the body edges, a long scratch across the back where a capo or slide was stored, perhaps a repaired headstock chip. These are contextual marks, placed to make sense within the story of a hard-working instrument rather than scattered randomly.
This level suits players who:
- Play live regularly and want a guitar that looks at home on any stage
- Are not precious about their instruments getting additional wear during actual use
- Want a guitar that commands attention through character rather than flashy newness
- Have seen plenty of genuinely aged guitars and want something that passes that test immediately
Heavy Relic: Maximum History
A heavy relic is a statement. This is the guitar that looks like it has been to every city in Europe, survived loading into a Transit van at 2am, been propped against amplifiers in humid clubs, and played until the frets were almost level. The visual story is one of decades of hard, uncompromising use.
At this level the finish is substantially gone in many areas. Body edges show bare wood with subtle oxidation. The back can have large areas of finish loss where the grain is exposed and beginning to darken. Checking is dense and irregular. The neck feels noticeably different to the hand: smoother in the worn zones where the lacquer has thinned to almost nothing, grainier where it catches light. Hardware is heavily aged: significant tarnishing, green-grey patina around posts and screws, saddles showing deep string-contact grooves.
Heavy relic also involves more significant impact marks — a notable dent from a microphone stand, a crack repair on the headstock or body edge that has been professionally but visibly fixed, perhaps a replaced tuning peg in a slightly non-matching finish. These details are what separate a well-executed heavy relic from something that simply looks beaten up. Context matters enormously.
This level suits players who:
- Specifically want the aesthetic of a road-worn touring instrument
- Are not worried about the guitar appearing damaged — they actively want that quality
- Play in contexts (blues, rock, country, roots) where such an instrument fits the visual language of the music
- Have a high tolerance for imperfection and actively enjoy using instruments that already have marks on them
How to Decide: Three Questions Worth Asking
Where does the guitar spend most of its time?
Instruments that mostly live at home for practice and recording suit light to medium aging. Guitars that tour, gig regularly, or sit propped against an amplifier at a rehearsal studio suit medium to heavy. Think about the actual environment, not the aspirational one.
How will you feel adding your own marks?
A lightly relic'd guitar will develop new wear over time, and that wear will stand out more clearly against the subtle background. A heavily relic'd guitar absorbs new marks invisibly — they simply add to the story. If the idea of putting a fresh ding on a light relic bothers you, go heavier.
What does your reference point look like?
Most clients have a guitar they admire — a vintage instrument they played once, a photo of a famous player's worn guitar, a museum piece they remember. Bring us that reference. The level of aging in your reference image is almost always more informative than any description you can give us in words.
A Note on Going Between Levels
We can always add more aging to a finished instrument, but we cannot reverse it. If you are genuinely uncertain, it is worth starting at the lower end of your intended range and seeing how you feel after a few months. Clients who start light and decide they want more character can return the guitar for additional treatment. The opposite is not an option.
We are also happy to do mixed levels on a single instrument — light body aging with heavier neck wear, for example, which replicates the pattern of a guitar played frequently but stored carefully. This kind of hybrid approach often produces the most convincing results of all, because real guitars wear unevenly based on how and where they get played.
If you have questions about any of this, the best approach is to come and see reference instruments in the workshop. There is no substitute for holding a guitar at each level and feeling the difference in your hands. Visit us in The Hague by appointment, or browse current builds to see these levels on finished instruments.