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Interesting video. I personally use 9-42 strings on my Tele and have a much lower action 1.25mm (High E) and 1.5mm (Low E). I have no string buzz and find it easy to play and bend. I also have a Gibson Les Paul that has 10-46 strings and a 2mm string height (action) that works well for me on it. Maybe the thicker strings you use requires a higher action to avoid strings buzzing. Its a personal choice but I prefer the thinner strings and lower action.

I have a heavily modded 2004 MIM Telecaster. Its polyester finish has chipped in a couple of spots along the edge of the body, yet for the most part, the primary evidence of wear is a very noticeable reduction in the glossiness of the finish in the area where my forearm comes in contact with the guitar.

Great lesson 👍

A lifetime......and more

Love this scale.

PDF’s available on my Patreon!

Now I understand why you bang on about CY4. Duh.. it's all sinking in slowly Korey. Thanks mate. You are the only guitar teacher online I look at now. I don't even bother with the others.

Makes a lot of sense

I've been stuck playing the same few things for many years. I keep spending hours on music theory, scales, and just trying to improve... but have no clue how. I've taken lessons, but feel I need to go to a conservatory at this point. This video was very eye opening. Thanks!

Brilliant 👏

Got it! Thanx!

Super helpful Korey. Def need to take a step back and just work my way through the major scale, then start learning melodic and harmonic minor....and more.

I have a 2019 Les Paul Traditional. I bought it lightly used in 2020, and I've been gigging with it for 4 years now, and every ding and dent has a story. It's a Nitro finish which I love. I always wear a belt when I gig, and it has some serious buckle rash which is all by me. The guitar was pretty much brand new when I bought it!

guitars don't relic in real life

Two comments: 1. I remember taking lessons with you YEARS ago in MN and you had that Tele then. A huge reason as why one of my main guitars today is my custom Telecaster. 2. I still have my first guitar, a blue first act in a LP JR style. I replaced the pickup with a Vig P90 and made a variety of other upgrades to keep it playable. I still gig with it on occasion too

I've watch this but skip some part and have a question about the string size, my cheap chinese guitar come with 10 gauge string, can i change it to 11 gauge? Will it break the neck more bcoz of the diffrent tension ? Or what the effect for the wood structure if im using the bigger gauge from the default one?

Hey Korey, I'm a relatively new subscriber but I really value your insight. For me, this video boils down to what you've touched on in your other video regarding practice regime - there are no shortcuts and if I want to be a good guitarist I have to put in the work. I'm five years in to my journey (43 now) and have always had a mind towards theory, learning the fretboard etc., but have more recently doubled down on my focus to continue improving and your videos have been helpful in giving me that nudge.

i love how smooth that drive sounded in the intro

Keep going with vids mate, had a bit of time recently been practising a lot. Have binged all ur vids

I have an 07 Hwy1 Strat. It has a nitro finish, and it's worn in beautifully.

To spite their false advertising, no Fender production guitar today has a real nitrocellulose finish. The American Vintage ii series claims this, but it's false. I know because I stripped mine. It's a few coats of "nitro" with plasticizers added to it so it won't ever chip, check, or wear like a vintage guitar. Then under that is a very thick extremely hard poly finish. In fact you could strip off the "nitro" topcoat, and buff out the poly underneath and you'd still have a full 70s style finish. So this will never wear like a 50s or 60s vintage guitar. You can't even artificially relic it in any believable way. For $2200 they should be ashamed. I found all this out the hard way.

Basically. Just buy the most expensive one they make so you don’t have any issues.

I built a custom Jazzmaster using a USA Custom body and neck in 2009. I painted in with ReRanch nitro-cellulose lacquer (about five color coats, 20 clear coats, polished to 2000 grit sand paper). The paint is now checked and changing color - the Daphne blue has a yellow patina. There are lots of chips in the headstock area showing a Lake placid blue undercoat and a white primer. There are similar body chips that show the white primer, and the water slide decal between the two pickups, which was heavily oversprayed with clear coat, is wearing due to pick friction. I'd say it's more of a closet classic than a relic, as I try not to abuse the guitar. It's definitely my favorite guitar that I play 90 percent of the time, despite owning a nice Reverend and an ES-335 clone. Mainly, it just have the best tone.

I have a 1982 ‘57 two tone sb Vintage reissue Strat, bought in 2008 with some playwear & dings. My only guitar until 2022. Lots of natural 42 year wear now. Looks cool. More than that, the tone is amazing!

Genuine wear fantastic I have done it with my own guitars but fake wear is just fake and will always be fake someday people are going to look back and go what the hell

I have a Gibson SG Special from 1968, which has been almost my only guitar for the last 12 years. I've taken it to every gig, every band rehearsal, every session. Although it's still really old nitro lacquer without plasticizers, without poly undercoat and stuff like that, the guitar simply hasn't aged a bit in that time. That's why I can hardly believe what you say in the video and how much your guitars have aged. Respect, you really seem to play an incredible amount. 😨

My 2011 AmStd Tele (poly) paint is not relicing but does have obvious wear and dings, also need refretting..

I’m enjoying my learning journey, every day. I have developed a comprehensive learning plan that I follow meticulously but I never think about when I get ‘good’; every day I get better.

I know a guy who likes to play "Custom Shop" at home by sanding down the neck etc Myself I prefer playing it down to the wood which is also the case with my 1982 American Vintage 62 Stat. Lovely neck with a good feeling of wood.

Play it frequently, play it hard, don't treat it with kid gloves

Could you recommend a solid state amp for practicing?

8 months into my new Strat and I have 2 dings and the pick guard is scratched 💪

I bought a 1995 Fender Mexican Standard telecaster two years ago. It had been looked after but had some nice natural wear and a nicely played in neck. In my 2 years I've just started to wear through the neck finish of the maple fretboard while the body is showing very little signs of wear. It's an all poly finish but the first time I've seen one starting to wear but it's also one of the oldest guitars I've owned. Absolutely love the guitar and feel I'm putting my own mark on it.

I built a replica 1964 Airline ResOGlass out of wood a couple years back and im slowly starting to wear through that. Another guitar that’s been in my family for a long time is an original 1958 Silvertone U-1 Copper and man does she look good with a relic. Just got passed down to me 3 years ago. Can’t wait for many years to come!

I’m so glad I came across your video on “How Long . . . “ I understood going in, that learning how to play well, would take a lot of practice hours & mentally & spiritually, I was up for it AT FIRST ~ Until reality kicked in & I was hit with the fact that, as an older person ~ I’m in my senior years ~ I would first have to build up the strength & stamina to have the ABILITY to practice for long periods of time every day. But with determination, practice, focus, depression (because I wasn’t getting it & my hands hurt & I was exhausted), 3 years later, I can finally play “Dust In The Wind” by Kansas, without hurting my hands. 🎉🎉🎉 NOW, I can finally start learning how to play guitar ~ theory, etc. I have memorized the E & A strings, so THAT’S a start. Thank you very much for explaining things. I was starting to wonder if I’m just “slow.”🤣🤣🤣❤️😁

Such an underrated video. Should have a lot more views. Thanks for this outstanding lesson Korey. Very well structured and informative. I also like to add the major and minor scale in this practice routine.

I bought a 1970 univox phase 2 hi flier last year. It has several chips and dings, and I’m pretty sure it was in Korea at some point because of initials on the back. Plus the initials ov in the front so I call it ovi. I kept with tradition and carved my name too.

it depends on the thickness of the nitro. I have a 2019 LP Jr and its not reaalyy worn. just has some cracks

I love lightweight guitars. Weight is a misconception based on historical programming, there is no science to support a heavy guitar is a good guitar.

I bought a Fender Strat MIM back in 2013. I took real good care of it, had a proper guitar polish to clean it everytime I change strings roughly about every 3 months. 11 years later with the same care, the paint still cracked and chipped on the parts that frequently makes contact with skin. I'm not a fan of reliced guitars, but a guitar that is naturally worn by you is beautiful.

I have had quite a few D-Style pedals: Van Weelden Royal Overdrive, 3 different varieties of Zendrive (including the Zen/Zen), Hotone Grass, Barber Burn Unit, the original Vertex Ultraphonix and the Mk 2. The RO was great but it became worth too much so I let it go. The pedals left standing are the original Ultraphonix (I have two of them) and the Burn Unit. Of all these pedals, the Burn Unit is by far the most flexible and can additionally emulate blackface overdrive sounds and Tweeds more to my taste than my Love Pedal Les Lius or High Power Twin. (The Burn Unit can do tweed with a tight low end.) The Ultraphonix I use when I want more of the character of my amp to come through as in low gain applications it can be used more effectively as a more transparent boost that can give "bloom" to an almost clean sound. I love that. Great points you make about Ford's favouring of the bridge pickup (which is not my personal preference) and the slap back delay. Both essential to copping that tone. I often point out to people who are fans of that Talk to Your Daughter tone that you have to look at the mix on that one. During the solo the guitar is given the same treatment as the vocal tracks are elsewhere. It is placed VERY forward in the mix and there is a specific 'ambience' there (reverb/delay).

Rory Gallagher's guitar was stolen and he had an Irish TV station put out a story to ask the public to look out for his guitar and return it. Stratocasters were so rare in Ireland at the time, the thief freaked out and dumped it. Gallagher got it back after a few days later when someone found it outside in a muddy ditch. Rory called it his "lucky charm" after getting it back. I wouldn't advise leaving your guitars outside in a ditch to age them though. I do have a 1997 Heritage H535. The hardware is a bit burnished and the finish has very minor checking and ware but nothing really substantial. My other 4 guitars are between 1 and 6 years old and no real wear yet.

My guitar is a 1990 Stratocster Plus deluxe natural with a poly finish it has tinted but polyurethane is really tough and doesn't check like nitro it takes a very long time with constant use.

Ngl, I don't really like the idea of factory/custom Relics I get the stylistic appeal of a worn guitar, it's holes in bluejeans of the guitar world, but a lot of relics just look pretty bad, and DIY relics done in someone's garrage or something somehow usually look worse? Like I said I get the appeal of the look, but I feel like it's a lot harder to pull off and if it's not done well you have basically just put an innocent guitar in their equivalent of an iron maiden for no reason lol.

I have a 2017 fender Stevie ray Vaughn Stratocaster. I’m the second owner of it, when I got it, it was dead mint, barely played. I’ve owned now for about 1 year and it now has a ton of fret wear, dings, dirt and scratches.

The difference between fender and gibson is I will throw the fenders harder at the end of the set, they can take it. Gibsons are more fragile, but looks cooler dented than the poly. Either way. I’m putting play wear in addition to aggressively ending the night. My number one never gets thrown but it has 20+ years of wear

I think in many ways having a beat up guitar, particularly from natural wear is somewhat of a badge of honour/right of passage for certain players, and ultimately bragging rights to tell their stories. There is nothing wrong with pre-relic’d guitars, I’ve seen many people ignorantly state that only posers would play relic guitars, whereas majority of customers that buy them are very experienced pros, stop the hate! One of my main guitars is an 85 MIJ Telecaster just after the JV series and I believe is poly, I have still work the neck down through that finish which feels awesome and that just from 10 years or so of owning It (and Australian heat)

I think a lot of the issue with modern poly finishes is simply the thickness. I have three budget Japan guitars from the late 60s to the early 70s, a Harmony, a Silvertone, and a Kay; I’m almost certain these guitars would not have had nitro lacquer on them because of the expense, so I assume they are painted with some kind of plastic based poly finish. But it is MUCH thinner than what you see on modern day poly-finished guitars. They will scratch fairly easily, and where there is a scratch/chip through to the wood, you can see that the edge of the finish is paper thin, not millimetres-thick glossy plastic.

1996 Fender telecaster thinline blonde crafted in Japan purchased new and still in mint condition (although I've recently noticed i need to work on the intonation).

Great vid! I just got a used 2023 American Vintage II ‘57 Strat in vintage blonde back in August and am so excited to see it age with me!