Expensive Repros: From "Gem" to "Jacket"

Tony, you are not the only one who traveled with at least one of your jackets this summer!

I agree with others this is a great thread topic Xopher. By your avitar photo alone you are obviously one who cares about their belongings, for certain, any guitar player has to appreciate fine wood...and great patina as well.

That said, these jackets were built to work, and a certain amount of working these is quite beneficial once one gets to a point of comfort about doing so. I certainly agree it's hard to do that with a four-figure jacket indeed. My very first Aero jacket - the 4-pocket Cafe Racer got a very quick break-in this way. The day after I bought it at Thurston brothers, I was walking into downtown Seattle and tripped and fell straight onto the sidewalk, landing on my side. Barely a nick on the jacket at all, but it was embarrassing to say it moderately. But it taught me quickly that the Steerhide it was made of was more than capable of keeping up with my clumsiness!

These jackets were built to RIDE !!

You know, thinking back to my Gem phase with my B-6...I would day dream about what cool patina it would get over the years...all while I was too afraid to wear it doing the things that cause patina...seems kind of silly now.

I think of the aging on my guitar. I am a musician for a living so I have a main gig guitar. I've been playing it professionally for about 10 years now and it inevitably gets its road wear no matter how careful I am with it. I have tried like crazy to keep it in perfect condition but it is literally impossible. Outdoor gigs where you sweat on the wood, or get rain. Indoor gigs in cramped spaces, somebody knocks a mic stand over and I catch it but not before it leaves a tiny scuff somewhere on the mahogany. And just years of play rubbing away the finish under my arm or on the neck. The Martin logo now missing letters, lost long ago on the road. It wasn't a top of the line guitar or anything, a DC15e, cost less than my B-6 but I am super protective of it. If my house were burning and I had to choose the jacket or the guitar...the guitar for sure. Its a little beat up, but its been there with me from the beginning. A gift from my father before he pasted...the guitar has been with me longer than any girlfriend Ive had. Ive been in happy and very scary situations with my guitar on the road, Outlaw Biker bars, to Opera houses, Funerals to weddings. Ive chased it down and yanked it out of the hands of people trying to walk off with it at gigs, loaned it to a grammy winner.

My B-6, now that Ive had it for a while and built a history with it is now starting to develop the same sentimental bond as my guitar. Its not perfect any more, just a touch too big now that I lost weight. The patina on it is not that "attractive Patina" that Ralph Lauren would fake on his jackets. The patina is not balanced, one arm looks brand new, the other arm is flaking the finish off all over the place. The cuffs and hem are heavily balding....but then again so am I.

I guess honest wear isn't always pretty, but then again neither is life. I guess that what makes patina interesting. It shows everything....the good and the bad. The happy moments and the heartbreaks.

I think watching the patina develop has taught me to lighten up with life as a whole really. Coming to accept that life doesnt go as planned. We get our scuffs and scares, and even if we wish they weren't there or effected a different area...someone else looking on may be inspired to keep going despite their scuff and scars.

It seems a little silly to be learning "acceptance" from jackets and guitars...but hell...I guess it doesnt matter the route, just the arrival.