I played a Fender Road Worn Stratocaster the other day and loved it except all the relic-ing seemed a bit false.

My question is this:- All the so called Relic Fender Strats that are appearing whether CS or homegrown all have wear on the body where the arm rests when playing, so how come on all the actual vintage Strat guitars you never see this?

It’s as if someone has thought this is a good idea and the world and his wife have copied it!

Do you mean like this?

1964 Strat

I don’t know if it’s a case of only certain periods / finishes being susceptible to this kind of wear or if there’s just not many strats that have been played to this point still about?

its like jeans……………

You could buy a perfectly good pair for £20

or………….

You could buy a pair for £120

but you dont want to look smart/rich, and you work in an office so will never achieve the tramp look

so you buy ones with holes already in them

for £140

Oh nice, okay, but the wear isn’t the same as the ‘Relic wear’ though! I know the Nitro finish would dull and wear through in places but I still think that the Relic look is somehow just wrong. Thanks for the link btw – lovely Strat.

how come on all the actual vintage Strat guitars you never see this

Oh you do see it 😉

Mmm but the wear isn’t where his arm is resting though is it?

Lot’s of nice Strats here…

With regards to the nitro wearing through I perhaps should have said I don’t know if the 2 tone burst is more susceptible than the three tone for example?

I agree the wear on the “Relics” and “Road Worns” doesn’t really look authentic but I’d still love a Rory Gallagher Relic Strat!

Mmm but the wear isn’t where his arm is resting though is it?

How can you tell? His arms cover the bit where his arm rests 😆

Fender did a SRV model that was worn in the exact same places as the original, to the nanometre.

Gibson did the same a few years back IIRC.

But they tend to age the wrong parts of the body IMO.

Exactly my point – that CS SRV doesn’t have that stupid arm wear bit 🙂

Err, it does. The whole top (left hand side in that image) of the guitar is worn.

Yes indeed – but not just the part where your arm would rest!
I don’t mean to get too anal about this but if you look at any Relic Strat advertised it always has the wear on this part of the body as if it’s typical and my point is is that I find it strange because I don’t think this is the case.

Ah right, get you now.

I don’t get/understand the relic nonsense either.

I mean if I was spending all that dosh on a guitar I’d want all that extra time spent TLC making the damn thing play better…

After all you can abuse your own guitars for free

Coming soon, the Pete Townsend relic guitar.

Its a Rickenbacker with its neck snapped off.

Its marketing nonsense by Fender trying to squeeze a bit more margin from the Strat brand. Why pay £700 for a guitar that’s the same spec as a MIM strat which you can get for £300? May as well buy a MIM strat and take a bit of sandpaper and wire wool to it. Personally I think the worn finish looks crap as I like my guitars to look like proper instruments and not something that’s been left in the yard over the winter.

tyger,
So you gonna buy one then?

SB

SB – no, I’m currently recreating a 1962 Fiesta Red Strat as authentically as I can. I was born in 1962 but could never afford the genuine article. 🙂

When you say ‘recreating’, what do you mean? What you got so far?
Sounds V interesting. 🙂

Hi stratobiker, well I’m doing this as properly as I can – a bit like the ol’ JC song of how he built a Cadillac one bit at a time LOL!

I’ve managed to source over many years nearly all the parts as originals and learned loads in the meantime! It’s been very educational and I reckon I could spot a forged Strat from a real one now. For example, turning ratio on the single line Kluson tuners, length of pickup screws, type of neck screws used etc. Plus you need to understand how they were built at the time and that nothing was standard but a combination of inaccuracies would give the game away.

Anyhow I reckon that I should have mine finished by the end of the Summer, all being well, and nope, she’ll not be for sale 🙂

tyger – Wow! That sounds very cool, in a good anorak sort of way. 😉

What a great project….
You’ll have to post some pictures, and a you tube clip when she’s done.

SB

My old guitar teacher made custom guitars, he got a strat from a burnt down music shop, made a new neck put new electrics in and left the body as is/was. It looked absolutely awesome with a transparent pick board (?). I loved that guitar I thought and still do think it was the absolute dogs.

read a thing about this in guitar and bass mag, the argument rages on about wear or no wear, its all horses for courses

personally, i’d rather put the wear there myself through time, haveing a guitar (if you’re serious about them) should be like a journey, you put the wear in yourself because you got something out of it, not because it looks like a guitar that’s been played by someone else for 20 years

but what do i know?

This is a great site:-

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/62strat.html

tyger – FFS that is a brilliant site! Why have I never seen that before?

I was telling Mrs Stratobiker about your project last night. She asked me a few questions, and of course I didn’t know the answer. So, can you tell us more……………

Have you bought vintage bits and you are putting them together?
Have you had to make/or get bits made – body? neck? – I ask this because you mentioned about how they were built at the time.
Do you have any plans to get it featured in STW (Chipps is a strat fan)?

SB
PS – Hey Chipps, what about doin a feature on tyger’s strat? 🙂

Hi SB, I’m taking pics as I go along.
I’ve taken as much care as I can in getting the real deal as far as parts go – mostly from the US but because the parts are small I’ve never had to pay import tax so it’s been worth it – although I did just recently get a 1962 CRL selector switch for a tenner because it was advertised as C.R.L. and nobody had found it! (normally over £100) 🙂
The neck and body I’m getting restored by a luthier who’s even more mad on Strats than me so I know it’ll be spot on. Here’s a parts list without the body and neck:

1962 Fender Stratocaster Parts List

1. Tuner Set Single in-line Kluson x 6
2. Mounting screws aged x 7

3. String-tree, screw and steel spacer

4. Strap Buttons and screws x 2
5. Vintage leather strap

6. Neck Mounting Plate
7. Mounting Screws – full thread – aged x 4

8. Pickguard, ’62 Vintage Stratocaster, Mint Green 11 hole
9. Shielding Plate Aluminium
10. Mounting screws x 11

11. Pickups Vintage 57/62 staggered pole Alnico Stratocaster, x 3
12. Pickup covers Vintage Stratocaster, x 3
13. Mounting Screws short aged x 6
14. Tubing, Latex Cut x 6

15. Vintage Control Pots, CKS 250k Ohm (or Stackpole) x 3
16. Mounting Hex Nuts x 3
17. Locking Washers x 3

18. Vintage Knob, Tone, small font Aged White x 2
19. Vintage Knob, Volume, small font Aged White x 1

20. Output Jack Switchcraft
21. Jack Ferrule
22. Jack screws x 2

23. Luxe Red Dime Capacitor, 0.1uf plus yellow sleeve

24. Black and White Waxed Cloth wire

25. CLR Selector Switch, 5 Way
26. Knob, Aged White
27. Mounting screws x 2

28. Fender Pat Pend stamped vintage steel Saddles x 6

29. Claw, Tremolo
30. Mounting screws x 2

31. Tremolo Ashtray Cover
32. Steel Tremolo Block
33. Mounting screws x 3
34. Tremolo Bridge Plate
35. Mounting screws x 6

36. Springs, Tremolo, Vintage x 3

37. Tremolo Arm, Vintage and Spring
38. Tremolo Knob

39. Back Plate, White Vintage Stratocaster
40. Mounting screws x 6

(All screws aged countersunk, raised cross head, aged nickel plated steel)

One of the hardest parts is the case which is what I’m working on now.

I had the saddles made correctly by a fan in the US, he aged them too and their perfect.

If you want to do it yourself let me know and I’ll pass on my contacts list.

Cheers T

blimey Paul – can’t wait to see this!

That’s an impressive list of bits.
They say that a good strat is more than the sum of the parts so I hope it’s got it when it’s done.

Fender Pat Pend stamped vintage steel Saddles x 6 (even if made by fan)= Fantastic! – the dogs.

Thanks for the offer of contacts. Might take you up on that if I ever earn any money.

Big Question – Let’s say it comes together really well (can’t see why it won’t)- apart from enjoy it, and love it, will it ever leave the house?

SB 🙂

SB oh yes, I’m a gigging muso and it’ll be played lots I assure you 🙂

The saddles had to have the correct springs and screws too (looks around in case this is getting way too anal LOL!!). When I got them I was absolutely amazed at how light weight and perfect they were – made by a chap called Fat Elvis in the US!

I’m a great worshiper of tone and with a combination of engineering and music background I’m praying that it’ll sing, sing, sing! LOL!

BTW it’s nice to find some other Strat fans.

If you do decide to go for it I may be able to supply you with a few parts which I duplicated for whatever reason – give you a head-start so to speak.

Strats?? Pah.

Gibson SG all the way!!!!

🙂

Gibson SG – fantastic but not in the same league my friend 🙂

This is what I’m aiming for…

Teles are way cooler surely? 😉

why would anyone want a pretend worn guitar?! It’s just crap branding and marketing. As someone said earlier, you’re own guitar gets worn because of the way you play it. Are relic guitars actually for just hanging on the wall so the owner can pretend to be a rock star?

That’s lovely tyger.
Shouldn’t the selector switch be a three way so that you can wedge it with a matchstick? Just checked that website, yes, it should be a three way. How come you’ve gone for a five way?

Here’s a picture of my old 79er.

Originally it had black knobs as well. The paint cracked over the years, and it had a few dings on the body.
I bought it new from Rock Bottom in Croyden in 1979. Played it in numerous bands right through to 2007, when I sold it!!! Why oh why oh why did I sell it…. can yer tell me that eh? can yer? It was a silly daft thing to do. I tried contacting the buyer to see if I could get it back. No joy…. 🙁

So now I have to make do with this…

It’s a 97 (interesting that date, 79 vs 97 eh? nah prob not) Big Apple strat. Again, bought from new. It has two Seymour Duncans with switching options to get that single coil sound.

Guitars are great aren’t they. Like bikes. 😀

SB

SB You’re right it should be a three way switch (of which I have an original one also for a tenner LOL) but I play positions 2 and 4 a lot and if you’ve ever tried to get a three way switch to stay lodged then you’ll know it’s very unreliable, so I managed to snag a very early (dark bakerlight) five way version.

Yes your 79er you should have kept – sorry LOL 🙂

Yay! ’62s are the best 🙂

I played Paul Sadoff’s ’62 this spring and it was ace – though I did think ‘Ooh, this feels just like my ’81 Tokai Springy Sound’ too…

I did also get to play Ross Shafer’s ’52 Tele too – wowza… There’s no way you can relic the amount of dirt that came off the back of the neck when it got warm 🙂

I have pics too – I’m planning a ‘Bike industry guys and their guitars’ photo-feature for some distant date in the future… I hope there are enough interested people to make it worthwhile.

Does this mean I might finally get to meet the legend? LOL 🙂