A short treatise on Relic'd Pedals - featuring Rock N Roll Relics, Shin's Music, and Danelectro

So we have a new kid on the block in the guise of Rock N Roll Relics - a California Outfit - who were hitherto known for just their Relic’d Guitars. They have just released a couple of equally beaten-up and weathered pedals - supposedly using NOS components on the inside - while visibly scratched and rusty even on the exterior.

Oddly the guitar sector is one of the very few where beaten and battered products retain a high value cachet. I do believe there is a difference between guitars and pedals though. For worn-in guitars - you often get an improved playability and more comfortable connection between player and instrument. Smoothly worn down necks are an asset typically, and the cracks and scratches in the cellulose possibly aid the resonance of the wood for that instrument - so you can derive genuine benefits from worn-in guitars.

The same is absolutely not true of pedals - in fact it’s the opposite really - a battered pedal has suffered years of abuse, and its main footswitch is probably on its last legs - as are some of the rare components onboard.

There is obviously an aesthetic angle to this too - where near enough all other objets’ d’art are restored to their original pristine condition. While increasingly nowadays guitars are being dragged along asphalt drives - just to give the guitar a little more personality and ’value’.

I personally put little sway in instruments or pedals that have been battered to within an inch of their lives - that’s as much a taboo as torture porn to me. It’s somewhat reminiscent of torn-up 80’s jeans a la ’Voyage’ - which were an ironic statement for the wealthy - but really just made everyone look like tramps!

I personally find it odd that you put so much time and effort into the creation of a pristine instrument - only to mangle that work to near oblivion for the Relic’ing Process Department. Don’t get me wrong - I’ve seen some cool relic’d guitars over the years - and kind of understand the appeal - while it’s never going to be for me! If you found a weathered Ferrari Dino - you would put all your efforts into restoring it to its former glory. You would not cruise along in a patinated rust bucket - you would surely want to improve the condition of said vehicle.

I’m far more onside with the Art of Restoration than the Art of Relic’ing. But as I said - there are merits in having guitars relic’d for improved comfort and playability.

Having a pedal that looks like you wiped your arse on it - serves no purpose for me. In most instances I would presume that to be overpriced tat in the truest sense of that tatty phrase.

In this section we have 3 brands that make relic’d pedals - Danelectro does it very mechanically - so you get the exact same pattern across a whole series of models. Shin’s Music does it a little more one-off and organically, while Rock N Roll Relics really go to town here with a complex combination of scratches, chips, and patches of rust! But why not then go the whole hog - and go with a broken-off knob, just the exposed potentiometer stalk showing, a cracked LED, and intermittently working Footswitch. Surely that would be authentic for a beaten up pedal. Everything else is really just different degrees of artifice. It’s all totally contrived and faked! And to add injury to indignity the prices for Relic’d gear are of course typically higher than for pristine minted examples.

While if you were referencing the Reverb.Com Condition Appraisal chart - some of those devices would barely quality for ’Fair’ Condition and yet you want me to pay a premium for them?!? It’s like pedal companies selling B-Stock and Blems at a premium - they can just reference those as a minimally tastefully relic’d device!

This Selection consists of the following 6 pedals from 3 Brands :

• Rock N Roll Relics Stinger Boost - $279
• Shin’s Music Dumbloid 335 Limited Relic’d Edition- $625
• Rock N Roll Relics Stinger Overdrive - $289
• Danelectro Eisenhower Octave Fuzz (Super-Fuzz) - $149
• Danelectro 3699 Octave Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine) - $199
• Danelectro Nichols Fuzz/Drive (Liverpool Fuzz-Tone) - £199

All the Danelectro’s are very reasonably priced extended range editions in the main, the Dumbloid is relatively basic, as are the two Rock N Roll Relics one. I’m not sure I can fully justify either the Rock N Roll Relics, or the Shin’s Music one. I mostly feel like I’m being made to pay more for Blems! Which I know isn’t exactly the case - as these have had a lot of time spent on their somewhat rough finish.

I quite enjoy the Branding association with Yellow Jacket Artwork for the Singer - which the grey one doesn’t make as much sense.

As a Scandinavian - Quality and Value matter a lot to me - as does longevity and durability. Yet here we have deliberately deconstructed those pedals’ looks.

As always I never say never - but isn’t this just another chapter of the ’Emperor’s Clothes’. Even if you do like the look of those Rock N Roll relics - can you really fully justify the higher prices for such simple effects?

Would be good to have your opinions on these. I obviously own the 3 Danelectros, but am currently somewhat unlikely to acquire the other 3. Where do you sit with Relic’d Pedals!?

Further details on each below :