Relic FAQ

How long have you been working with guitars, professionally.
I've been working professionally on guitars since I was 7 years old, I am 47 now. I left the guitar industry for a short time "4 years" but other than that. there has never been a day where I have not had a guitar in front of me or in my hands for the major part of the day. This is what makes me understand how to really age an instrument. I've seen over 15,000 instruments in my hands, and know how they age naturally, and what changes happened naturally that make that instrument feel good in your hands, This is the magic that and gives you the mojo factor that will inspire.

How does your relic process work?
1.)  We talk by phone and get a feel for each other, as well as what you want to get out of the project. You will explain to me your thoughts, and tell me the base instrument we will be working from.

2.) Either we arrange for pickup or delivery of the guitar to our location.  Please send with Signature Required.

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Cara Guitars
1702 Newport Gap Pike
Wilmington, DE
19808

302-521-0119

 

3.) Next, I will send you a digital rendering of what the guitar will look like after the relic process. from that point, we will make changes if needed, till you are blown away by the way your guitar will look.  Then, we ask you to sign a full release that allows us unconditional changes and modifications to make your guitar look as close to the rendering as physically possible. We use all of your original parts, and do not substitute parts ever.  Any part changes must be requested by you and approved by you. At this point we get a deposit.

4.) Our process starts with disassembling the instrument and relicing each part in the method that applies to metal, plastic, finish, and wood. We apply relic processes to EVERY PART on the instrument.

5.) We send you photos along the way, documenting the progress of your guitar, and upon completion we request the remainder of payment before we ship your guitar back to you.

We take Relicing as an Art.
Unlike other relics that look like they may have been drug behind a pickup truck, our instruments look like they have been played, and have decades of MOJO just oozing from it.
There is a difference in relicing a guitar, and damaging a guitar. We relic guitars and take it as an art.

What is the cost to Relic a Guitar?
Our cost is $1200 if you supply us with the instrument. We have a contract that you sign, and send it along with the guitar and a 40% deposit. We will send you photographs of the project, as it comes along. Upon the view of the final instrument photos, you will pay us the remaining balance, and we will ship the guitar back to you to show all your friends, and to have one of the hottest looking instruments in the country.

We charge $1200, and are constantly looking to see what others are charging. I believe we set the price for the best in the relic business. As soon as others start charging our prices, we'll raise them. The dedication, and personal interest we take in the owner during this process is what makes it so individual, and remarkable.

Who does the work?
I do... nobody else.
Right now we are averaging about 6 instruments per month, and are starting to get a backlog. I will not hire someone else to do the artistic work in the relic process. I do hire young talented player/craftspeople as protégé' and bring them into the process for non artistic tasks. I seek artists and craft talent before looking at someone who can play the guitar and thinks it would be fun to be around them every day. , 

I've had over 15,000 guitars in my hands and know the natural process in which guitars age. After doing so many relics, and having my mind taken back to some special instruments I have seen along the way, I don't understand how someone who has not experienced  so many natural instruments can actually have a feel for what it takes to turn an instrument "back in time"