Corsair wrote:
...Yep - not a huge fan of artificially aged and distressed guitars....
Generally, I agree with you John, but there are variations of the artificial aging technique. Many are not very good and go over the top, others are more subtle and look kinda kewl.
I have the Vintage "Lemon Drop" LP with the Peter Green wiring, and the "distressed" finish. From a distance it looks good, but up close you can see that it's a ho-hum job. It has wear spots OK but you're looking at them under a top finish! They may as well be a photo finish. Kind of defeats the purpose really. Sounds and plays great however.
At the other end of the spectrum are the SLICK brand guitars sold through Guitar Fetish. Bloody awesome builds with a single coat of auto paint sanded back. All hardware is either brass or aged metal. Looks completely authentic.
I want one real bad but 1) they're always out of stock, 2) the bloody exchange + shipping + duty almost triples the price