Distressed finishes: getting out of hand?

[DJ Mango]

 

[DJ Mango]

Mahalo 2023 Historic Series
https://mahaloukuleles.com/historic-series/

 

[BigJackBrass]

The authentic look of a cheap ukulele that's been buried in a peat bog since Tiny Tim's first marriage.

 

[necessaryrooster]

Presumably true also of the tattered jeans. If one "adventured" enough to actually rip their denims to shreds, they'd just buy new ones when possible and the wearing out of them is simply a byproduct of use. But no one says "hey you're rich and you lead an uneventful, inactive lifestyle, how'd your jeans get so torn?" Everyone knows it's just for style. But for some reason, people like the idea of raggendess, so they buy the already torn jeans. I don't get it. But hey I guess someone's getting those people to willingly separate from their money and is then taking it to the bank, so..... shrug emoji?

When I was a kid I used to actually wear out my jeans to cause rips and holes (partially because we would buy them used already, partially because...kid). I hated it and would make my mom patch them. Who wants a big hole in their pants? So uncomfortable.

 

[rustydusty]

The best cure for holes in the knees of your jeans, is to turn them into “jorts”…

 

[badhabits]

The best cure for holes in the knees of your jeans, is to turn them into “jorts”…

Jorts are not a cure for anything...

 

[GalexC]

Every now and then I browse the Southern Ukulele Store website to see what's new in their range of soprano. Today it was this laminate model from Flight, the "DUS330 Spruce/Zebrawood Soprano Ukulele - RELIC FINISH".

Here's their photo of the back of the instrument:

View attachment 149551

Is it just me or does it look as if this poor uke got into an argument with a belt sander? The front is OK, mostly looking grubby more than anything , and it has the disappointingly common guitar-style tuners, but the back looks absurd.

Sure, Flight is doing this for perfectly valid commercial reasons, not entirely distant from painting a ukulele pink or staining mahogany dark brown, yet there seems to be a level of clumsy artifice about these distressed finishes that seems silly. Most of the negative comments I've heard about Martin's Streetmaster tenor have been concerned with its seemingly random artificial wear patches. While some people like the fact that it sort of takes the pressure off and makes new scratches and dings less painful to see, others see it as a form of musician cosplay.

My "step up" UKE was an Ohana SK-38 which had what they called a reliced finish—a word I am apparently incapable of reading as other than re-liced—which was a slightly uneven dark stain. I quite liked it, but it was hardly necessary and it did make me conscious of a degree of fakery about the instrument. These heavily distressed finishes though… Ah, maybe I'm just whingeing for no reason. Do they make the difference to you when it comes to buying a particular instrument?

hello. i'm definitely not a fan of any finish that is made to look worn. i've purchased many vintage guitars over the years with normal wear and tear and i don't mind that. i know that people have played the instrument and it gives me a chance to work on them and try to imagine where they have travelled since the time they were built. my concert taropatch has travelled 100 years through time and who knows where since it was built in the USA. it looks amazing with some blems and that's fine. if it's a vintage look people want then let them seek and find vintage instruments. definitely don't ruin a beautiful new wood finish to make it look old. let people put there own wear and tear on them year by year. 20 years from now it might look worn down but it will have history to it.