I am also open to trade offers on this instrument: For Sale / Trade: reverb.com/item/24896290-video-2018-fender-custom-shop-1969-heavy-relic-stratocaster-olympic-white?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly This was my first custom shop Stratocaster. I liked the tones, but I'm not really big on this relic job - the neck felt nice though! A little bit more of the story of this strat will be coming later...
The Trogly's Guitar Show, hey, how about doing a review on the new Epi George Thorogood model, or if you trip across one, and Ace Frehley Les Paul? I’d like to hear your thoughts on either. I had an Ace that got stolen, and since Epiphone came out with the Thorogood model, I’ve been leaning heavy toward checking one out.
it is dumb a relic, means the guy always plays in his bedroom and try to show he's abdass with a worn out guitar LMAO :D and relic show the guy didnt care thru the year . it is a joke ; a guitar is precious, you take care of it, for a guitar always scream, never get fat, never betray you and always stay by your side :))
I’m ok with the relic look in general but I HATE what they’ve done for those fake wear marks between the frets. They all look identical which makes it look cheesy.
I agree to a certain degree. To me it seems like whatever happened at Fender when they stopped the Vintage reissues / Pure Vintage series and brought out the Original Series , they lost track of wtf their own real vintage guitars actually look like nowadays. That fretboard darkening next to the frets is usually more obvious on a 50's Tele or Strat, not late 60's for sure.
I think the aging process is really over the top. I have a 1990 fender 62' jazz bass I've been in punk bands classic & rock bands that played in crap dive bars outdoor restaurants near water and it looks a hell of a lot cooler than that thing. They over do it to a point where it's looks juvenile.
I can appreciate the relic'd guitar idea,but the heavy relic'd is not for me either. If I was going to drop that kind of money on a guitar it would be a journeyman.
Sorry i can't see the heavy relic CS guitars they just go to far . A closet classic i can dig that is to much imo for the price. Just me. Sounds good though thanks.
I have been playing guitar for 57 years, currently in year 58, and have been around and playing Fenders since 1961. I've played in bands for 35 years and worked in several music stores and seen A LOT of Fender guitars. I have NEV-ver seen a Fender guitar or bass with that kind of wear on the arm bout. I have a 1991, '62 reissue finished in Vintage White, that is now downright yellow. I will admit that I can see a bit of Fullerplast showing through. But seriously, I do not believe that arm bout-to-the-wood wear is a common thing across the Fender years. I am personally not a fan of heavy relicking; but to each his own. And maybe someday EYE will have a Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster. But at those prices, I am not holding my breath. I would rather put that much money into a really good Gibson ES-330, as I know my days of playing through amplifiers are numbered.
Just a heads up on why the different degrees of wear feel different on the body - Nitro finish is generally shot in 3 stages. First a clear or slightly yellowed sealing layer sprayed over the raw wood, then the colour layer, and finally the protective clear coat layer. Obviously this isn't indicative of the amount of coats of each, but I digress. I imagine what you're feeling is the difference between actual raw wood (which has been further artificially darkened to simulate the effect of oil from our skin etc) and the places where the paint layer has been worn away, but the sealer remains. At least that's what it felt like on the last official Fender relic I took a look at, but that was a passing inspection at a music store so I could be wrong. I also imagine that while the parts of the body where all the finish has been removed probably didn't receive an additional coat of sealant (warping isn't really a huge concern with the slab at this point), the back of the neck and those wear points on the fretboard were likely resprayed after being distressed with at least a coat of sealant to prevent undue moisture (sweat, humidity, etc) from causing an issue down the line. I can't imagine they'd feel terribly confident in offering a warranty on something like a completely raw maple neck. Then again, I could be entirely off base, I'm by no means a professional painter/relicer.
After playing custom shop fenders, it’s the only thing I play now. You can find really good deals on them if you know where to look. I bought a medium relic burst version of this exact guitar for less than a new gibson USA Les Paul. I also have a HSS for those humbucker tones. Love the relic, because it doesn’t make these expensive guitars feel so fragile.
I still just can’t bring myself to like such a heavy relic job. Lol it looks like it fell out of the truck on the highway. Still cool to take a close look at it and hear it. Thank you
If you think the 57 Fender CS is good...wait until you play a Masterbuilt... wow. They are that good I own several! Regarding the saddles in 2014 they found all the original tooling and press machines in creates in an old warehouse which they thought contained "junk" so basically, anything made mid-2014 and onwards used the exact machines that made the original hardware in the 1950's... Just a bit of info from a 51-year-old Fender freak! Peace from Australia.
Exactly Whenever I order my custom strat it will be NOS. That whole relic stuff is kinda dumb in my opinion. If I buy an actual vintage guitar and it has marks and stuff then fine but I ain't spending 3k$ for someone to artificially age my guitar lmao. That would be like someone going and getting a complete skateboard and paying and extra 50$ for someone else to ride it and make it look beat up and used smh.
well what else would you expect? A great guitar needs a great sound system to hear it properly while a junk guitar sounds good on anything because there is not much to expect... ( cmon you're in a Gibson room you KNEW someone would come at ya lol).
Ron Just Ron humbuckers are pretty lame... but in certain cases they sound great. Nothing beats the raw power of a Strat in my book. I’ve got probably the cheapest Squier you can get, but I wouldn’t trade it for a Gibson. If I had that kind of money, I’d modify my Squier to what you could truly call a custom guitar. I also have an old mid 70’s naturally relic’ed Aria SG, which oddly enough I would also not trade for the real deal. It’s got a bold on neck and SG custom styled headstock, what’s not to like?
@@NotDingse - to each his own. To my ears the Strat just sounds like a wounded duck lol. Like I said it's each to his own.... I won't convince you and you won't convince me otherwise. I have a lot of guitars,some with doubles and some with singles and in every one with the singles I just never like them as much as anything with doubles. Even my Tele, it has a double at the bridge and then two singles, guess which position it gets played in the most lol.
@@NotDingse Both wrong! It's all about P90s!!! Nah each pickup has it's own application. For me, nothing beats a neck strat style pickup. But humbuckers are good in their own right. Different pickups for different applications. Just an excuse for more guitars to have!
I like reliced guitars. Had a Road Worn Tele that was great. Also a relic 64 - but this relicing does not seem right to me. The fretboard looks too precise in its war and the body too looks wrong - like it was dragged at just certain areas
I have a 78 and it actually does have the dings on the bottom side of the headstock. Original owner gigged it to hell. So yes, those marks do occur in the wild
It's funny, I cant afford shit, but the relic Idea is somewhat appealing. I'm with the " I dont need holes put in my new Levi's" crowd. But, I also dont want to fret all over some cherry guitar I'm afraid to scratch or breath on it the wrong way. The idea that it would look shitty out of the gate is funny. At least knowing all the parts are new and sturdy would be nice. I started riding motorcycles on a rat chopper bike my brother made for me out of an old Yamaha 650. It was a rockin little beast, turned heads, cool as all get out. Wasnt afraid of hurting it, it wasnt worth much, monetarily. I want a tough unpretty guitar that will take a beating.
Just heard a rumor from fender cs that for the 2021 relics they are going to make optional a scent that comes with the guitar and case from actual dive bars,beer joints,roadhouses...that will mimic all the smells one encounters when patronizing such establishments......sort of a hanging Christmas tree for your car if you will......it's just one more step in getting the poser that much more in touch with living out their fantasies of a actual life long musician who put the time in to get a guitar to look like yours without actually putting in the 1000 hrs of sweat equity ...
I agree. Should have a maple cap for the fret board. No skunk stipe. I hate that truss rod spot on the headstock too, they weren't like that on vintage 60's strats.
Austin is correct about the difference in the feel of the neck. After playing a relic guitar like this most players will agree the neck has a superior feel to it. These are strange guitars to both look at and play. Seeing them on-line is different from actually playing one, the necks alone make them pretty good players. Totally agree a relic guitar isn't for everyone. I think every guitar player will agree there must be a balance of feel, tone and appearance when selecting a guitar. To some people the feel of the neck alone tips the scales in the guitars favor. I have a couple friend who have guitars they purchased new in the last Century (1970s - 1980s) and they look like this now from everyday use, those guitars being the real-deal are ridiculously cool to look at and play. To me a Stratocaster is a totally different type of instrument compared to a Les Paul. The Stratocasters seem more like a tool where as the Les Paul guitars seem (to me) more like "Tools and Art".
But that argument of neck feel doesn't hold water: you can basically get the same thing on any guitar by sanding the neck lightly with sandpaper. It takes 5 minutes, I've done it to all my instruments and they feel way easier to play and yet don't look fake and cheesy.
@@lptomtom I'll agree with you 100%, it's what I would do! I know people that won't even adjust the bridge on their own guitars, they pay a person to adjust the instrument. Those individuals would never sand the back of the neck! Everyone is different, I totally get what you're saying lptomtom.
I think (this is just me btw) that when the strat is in the middle+neck and middle+bridge its almost fighting to get back to clean. Its a really unique characteristic and it's one of the reasons why I love the strat so much
Not questioning the Custom Shop, but why would the smooth wear be where the dings happen in reality (under the input jack, and on around the bottom and High E side of the guitar) and then the rough wood is where your arm over time would sand it down so finely that despite it being raw wood should be smooth and oil sealed by years of "sweat"? This relicing just seems backwards to me.
I love Fender guitars but this I find a bit of a stretch to understand their logic here. Ok , Custom Shop guitars more often than not have the modern 9.5" neck radius, regardless of what year it's meant to emulate, so I accept that ,but just look at it ! Fender, under CBS, transitioned from nitrocellulose lacquer to Polyester during 1967 (As stated in A R Duchossoir's 1991 book , The Fender Telecaster) . I have never seen a '68 onwards Strat or Tele looking like that !
What I dont understand is the skunk stripe and the walnut dot. is it sure this is the original factory neck? The 69 guitars and reissues are usually 2 maple caps with no skunk stripe or walnut dot which was only produced in 71 for a short (cbs) period with the big headstock.
Funny, I just got my first MIA Strat a couple days ago. Love it! Like you though, I don't like relic jobs. Looks like trash, but I bet it is great to play. Oh well!
Sweet strat i still have my 1st lawsuit super strat from 1980 got a 2nd one has a gift in 2006 working on relicing it my self cant get my self to do it to the neck lol.
Love my old 2000 closet classic 60’s strat, Paid $1,300 artist. Relic finishes were the new thing then. Passed on that...too weird, especially back then....just seemed very strange to me. A pre beat up guitar? What? They only did three models then by the way as I recall. Two strats and a Tele in NOS, Closet Classic and a Relic. I got the right one. Thanks Bruce Bolen jr and M. Stuart.
I like the idea of the relic but they go way to far with wearing away the paint. A little goes a long way? Right? Maybe it’s just me. Don’t get me wrong I would still play the shit out of this!!
First relic guitar I ever saw was in a music shop hanging up in the shiny new expensive section. My first thought was I thought the shop was playing some sort of joke to it’s customers and when I saw the price tag 🏷 was 3.5k I laughed and then someone told me it’s a real guitar it’s been made to look old it’s called relicing. I couldn’t believe it and still don’t. I live in denial
I have what would be considered an unreasonable hatred of relic guitars. I think it is the musical equivalent to buying a new pair of jeans with holes in them. Wear & tear should be earned. If someone wants to spend $3K on it, great for them. I'll never understand it.
I went to see, Govt Mule a few days back and Warren Haynes was playing a 12 string Gibson Les Paul, never knew they made them, a review from your good self would be interesting.
3:41 is it normal for the string to wound so much around the tuning peg ? I’m assuming that it’s for a proper break angle from the nut (due to the absence of a string tree). I find it rather odd I have never seen that, did restring the guitar or is this a factory setup?
I’d rather buy new and have it get honest wear and tear as time goes on. I’ve got a Jimmie Vaughan strat from 97’ so it’s 22 years old and the neck is where it really shines but it has some honest mojo and I have a great peavey predator from 92’ (my first electric) that was made in the USA with a poplar body, maple neck, and nitro finish and it looks great but again has that honest wear and tear that makes it my guitar and some day when I’m gone someone will get some truly well played and great sounding guitars. I have Gibson’s as well but I just can’t justify paying for custom shop relicing no matter how cool it looks. These are what I call doctor/lawyer guitars because they were too busy in school to play their guitars so they all look new so these guitars are for them to make up some story about the guitars history. They’re also artist guitars who no longer want to bring a real 59’ strat on tour but a $5000-$10000 custom shop works just fine plus their resale value holds up when they’re done with them
Relic jobs are probably just rejects from the production line and old stock bridges that have tarnish on them. And a lot us are suckers in buying them with even more money as they area labelled custom shop. Fender Worker: Sir, this body has a blemish on it, we have to repaint,,, Manager: Send it to the custom shop, let's relic it.
As much as that would seem plausible, they cant. Its stamped "Relic" into the body under the pickguard. Before they apply finish. Which makes it quite the issue to repurpose it as a custom shop instrument. Seems more likely that they'd just try and make the blemish look better, then sell it as B-Stock.
personally, i think one of the reasons fender does relics better than gibson is because really worn in fenders look better (to me) than really worn in gibsons also i adore fender relic jobs cause they REALLY feel like a players guitar
I've had my strat since 98, bought new and I have put days of playing through it over the years. It doesnt look anything like that. There are a couole of dings from hitting into stuff but it polishes up and looks good as new. How much playing and carelessness does it take to make a guitar look like that naturally????
The thing is, even if you played it religiously, and I mean really went at it like Eddy van Halen, playing it every day for thirty years… It wouldn’t have the back plate still on, no way in hell
Lol I have a whole rack of beat up guitars I will sell as relics lol.. I will never understand why people buy these fake guitars. I bet you half the ones who do will stand on a stage somewhere and let people believe his guitar is really that old lol. Yeah I remember that black Les Paul with the primer showing through, that would have been OK had the blue not been such a huge patch lol. This Fender sounds pretty good, it takes me about 20 minutes of playing a Strat before I can feel comfortable and I manage to stop turning down the darn volume as I play lol.
I don't think I've ever seen a wear pattern like this neck has. Just imagine your basic pentatonic shapes, there would be almost no wear between some frets. So unless this imagined owner played nothing but chromatic runs for years this is just wrong. Not to mention the 60 grit sand paper right arm to get rough radiused wear on the arm contour. If you've ever felt real rubbed off wear on a body it's very smooth. And I don't have a problem with relic guitars but for what they charge for them they should at least look and feel right.
I believe a guitar should earn its relic marks. From pick stretches, to fretboard markings, to arms rubbing off the finish, etc. it’s just something that only years of playing and abuse will do. That being said, that neck does look great.
@@m.stewart8094 Not sure. It's a holdover form the 50's. I think it has to do with the choice of having the truss rod adjustment at the head or not, but I dunno'.
I remember back in the mid-1970s the real thing could be had for $175-$200. Fender is still selling two pieces of wood and some wire for outrageous prices … Custom Shop be damned.
Hi guys. I used to watch on youtube a guitarist wearing a beret testing great strat guitars. He used to use the word cats for those who like some kind of music. But I can't find it anymore, do you know who I am talking about? Thanks!
I will never, ever, ever, ever understand this concept. If I want a beat up guitar, I'll either wear it out myself, or buy it used that way. And for the price, you may as well go on a search for a real vintage Fender. It's a good thing I don't have the money to blow, because the first thing I would do is buy a Squire strat and put the custom shop neck, wiring and hardware on it.
Relic Jobs. Fender does it and it somehow adds value. You do it (even if you do a better job), kills all value of the instrument. Can’t fake old. Sounds great and may also play like a worn in guitar. Wouldn’t buy a new Porsche made to look like a barn find either.
Damn, she sound heavier then I anticipated at certain times, in a very cool way though. Nice guitar. I don't mind the relic look so much, sweet. How much did this puppy cost?
I am also open to trade offers on this instrument: For Sale / Trade: reverb.com/item/24896290-video-2018-fender-custom-shop-1969-heavy-relic-stratocaster-olympic-white?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly
This was my first custom shop Stratocaster. I liked the tones, but I'm not really big on this relic job - the neck felt nice though! A little bit more of the story of this strat will be coming later...
Uh oh, I'm nervous
The Trogly's Guitar Show, hey, how about doing a review on the new Epi George Thorogood model, or if you trip across one, and Ace Frehley Les Paul? I’d like to hear your thoughts on either. I had an Ace that got stolen, and since Epiphone came out with the Thorogood model, I’ve been leaning heavy toward checking one out.
it is dumb a relic, means the guy always plays in his bedroom and try to show he's abdass with a worn out guitar LMAO :D and relic show the guy didnt care thru the year . it is a joke ; a guitar is precious, you take care of it, for a guitar always scream, never get fat, never betray you and always stay by your side :))
If I can ever afford a custom shop guitar, that thing will be super clean and I’ll relic it by playing until I’m dead.
The way it's meant to be
That won’t ever happen, the lacquer is too thick, so nothing will happen anyways.. unless it’s a flash coat
@@norwegiansniper9713 Die Lackdicke hat er ja in der Hand, wenn er sie vom Custom Shop anfertigen lässt.
It will never get relic. Even after 50 years after your death. Do people not understand that modern guitars are nearly impossible to relic naturally?
At least have them relic the back of the neck and heavily roll the finger board edges
Fender Worker: Sir, this body has a blemish on it, we have to repaint,,,
Manager: Send it to the custom shop, let's relic it.
Funny you mention aged Gibsons looking they've been cut with a razor. That's exactly how they're done.
I’m ok with the relic look in general but I HATE what they’ve done for those fake wear marks between the frets. They all look identical which makes it look cheesy.
I agree to a certain degree. To me it seems like whatever happened at Fender when they stopped the Vintage reissues / Pure Vintage series and brought out the Original Series , they lost track of wtf their own real vintage guitars actually look like nowadays. That fretboard darkening next to the frets is usually more obvious on a 50's Tele or Strat, not late 60's for sure.
@@primeDecomposition Idk if you've ever held a well made guitar but they're not sticky LOOOOOL
@@cameronmason4452 they are. that's why the majority prefers rosewood fretboards
@@TheNastyPS sure thing mate, the only expensive sticky guitars are shit old gibsons
LOVE the big headstocks
The “big” headstocks are called LHS standing for “large head stock”
Or large head staak if you will
Looks like somebody dropped it down the stairs and into a trash can.
Awesome!
I think the aging process is really over the top. I have a 1990 fender 62' jazz bass I've been in punk bands classic & rock bands that played in crap dive bars outdoor restaurants near water and it looks a hell of a lot cooler than that thing. They over do it to a point where it's looks juvenile.
It's like buying jeans with holes in the knees already, I'm fully capable of making stuff look old in time.
I can appreciate the relic'd guitar idea,but the heavy relic'd is not for me either. If I was going to drop that kind of money on a guitar it would be a journeyman.
Looks totally unnatural
Sorry i can't see the heavy relic CS guitars they just go to far . A closet classic i can dig that is to much imo for the price. Just me. Sounds good though thanks.
I have been playing guitar for 57 years, currently in year 58, and have been around and playing Fenders since 1961. I've played in bands for 35 years and worked in several music stores and seen A LOT of Fender guitars. I have NEV-ver seen a Fender guitar or bass with that kind of wear on the arm bout. I have a 1991, '62 reissue finished in Vintage White, that is now downright yellow. I will admit that I can see a bit of Fullerplast showing through. But seriously, I do not believe that arm bout-to-the-wood wear is a common thing across the Fender years. I am personally not a fan of heavy relicking; but to each his own. And maybe someday EYE will have a Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster. But at those prices, I am not holding my breath. I would rather put that much money into a really good Gibson ES-330, as I know my days of playing through amplifiers are numbered.
Why does everyone complain about the prices? Relic guitars are the same price as regular custom shop guitars
The clean tones are heavenly!
69 Strat pickups are among my favorites from the Fender Custom Shop. Definitely a nice first Fender Custom Shop guitar!
I miss being addressed as a Troglodyte.
Just a heads up on why the different degrees of wear feel different on the body - Nitro finish is generally shot in 3 stages. First a clear or slightly yellowed sealing layer sprayed over the raw wood, then the colour layer, and finally the protective clear coat layer. Obviously this isn't indicative of the amount of coats of each, but I digress. I imagine what you're feeling is the difference between actual raw wood (which has been further artificially darkened to simulate the effect of oil from our skin etc) and the places where the paint layer has been worn away, but the sealer remains. At least that's what it felt like on the last official Fender relic I took a look at, but that was a passing inspection at a music store so I could be wrong.
I also imagine that while the parts of the body where all the finish has been removed probably didn't receive an additional coat of sealant (warping isn't really a huge concern with the slab at this point), the back of the neck and those wear points on the fretboard were likely resprayed after being distressed with at least a coat of sealant to prevent undue moisture (sweat, humidity, etc) from causing an issue down the line. I can't imagine they'd feel terribly confident in offering a warranty on something like a completely raw maple neck.
Then again, I could be entirely off base, I'm by no means a professional painter/relicer.
The feel of a relic neck is incredible, even if you don't like the relic look.👍😎🎸🎶
After playing custom shop fenders, it’s the only thing I play now. You can find really good deals on them if you know where to look. I bought a medium relic burst version of this exact guitar for less than a new gibson USA Les Paul. I also have a HSS for those humbucker tones. Love the relic, because it doesn’t make these expensive guitars feel so fragile.
I still just can’t bring myself to like such a heavy relic job. Lol it looks like it fell out of the truck on the highway. Still cool to take a close look at it and hear it. Thank you
Cool video. Nice looking guitar. Also Austin, I picked up a Lead ll. If you want to borrow it for a review, let me know.
I pick up a lead too every time i play. Why would anyone need to review your lead? is it a special one? superconductors and shit?
If you think the 57 Fender CS is good...wait until you play a Masterbuilt... wow. They are that good I own several! Regarding the saddles in 2014 they found all the original tooling and press machines in creates in an old warehouse which they thought contained "junk" so basically, anything made mid-2014 and onwards used the exact machines that made the original hardware in the 1950's... Just a bit of info from a 51-year-old Fender freak! Peace from Australia.
Custom Shop should change its name to Relic Shop, nothing comes out looking new anymore form there
Exactly Whenever I order my custom strat it will be NOS. That whole relic stuff is kinda dumb in my opinion. If I buy an actual vintage guitar and it has marks and stuff then fine but I ain't spending 3k$ for someone to artificially age my guitar lmao. That would be like someone going and getting a complete skateboard and paying and extra 50$ for someone else to ride it and make it look beat up and used smh.
Love your videos. This Strat sounds so much better on laptop speakers than any gibson you have done
well what else would you expect? A great guitar needs a great sound system to hear it properly while a junk guitar sounds good on anything because there is not much to expect... ( cmon you're in a Gibson room you KNEW someone would come at ya lol).
Ron Just Ron humbuckers are pretty lame... but in certain cases they sound great. Nothing beats the raw power of a Strat in my book. I’ve got probably the cheapest Squier you can get, but I wouldn’t trade it for a Gibson. If I had that kind of money, I’d modify my Squier to what you could truly call a custom guitar.
I also have an old mid 70’s naturally relic’ed Aria SG, which oddly enough I would also not trade for the real deal. It’s got a bold on neck and SG custom styled headstock, what’s not to like?
@@NotDingse - to each his own. To my ears the Strat just sounds like a wounded duck lol. Like I said it's each to his own.... I won't convince you and you won't convince me otherwise. I have a lot of guitars,some with doubles and some with singles and in every one with the singles I just never like them as much as anything with doubles. Even my Tele, it has a double at the bridge and then two singles, guess which position it gets played in the most lol.
@@NotDingse Both wrong! It's all about P90s!!! Nah each pickup has it's own application. For me, nothing beats a neck strat style pickup. But humbuckers are good in their own right. Different pickups for different applications. Just an excuse for more guitars to have!
AntmanFelix that is true. But could you imagine a guy like clapton or jimi hendrix would play exclusively humbucker?
I should start a business relicing guitars. I’ll charge $100 to drag a Strat behind my Ram Truck. I’ll call it Hemi Relic’d. 🤣
Blkjakk Will you spray it with nitrocellulose lacquer , afterwards ?
Michael Worse No, It should just be left alone for mother nature to take it’s course, LOL.
I like reliced guitars. Had a Road Worn Tele that was great. Also a relic 64 - but this relicing does not seem right to me. The fretboard looks too precise in its war and the body too looks wrong - like it was dragged at just certain areas
GodDAMN Trade Tuesday went by fast this season!
Great language skills. And YES. God does damn those who reject the perfect sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for our sins.
Amazing axe, very Hendrix-ish. Would look better with a lighter relic job though.
This is pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty cool
I have a 78 and it actually does have the dings on the bottom side of the headstock. Original owner gigged it to hell. So yes, those marks do occur in the wild
Don’t like any type of relic, but the guitar really sounds great.
Great sounding guitar, but the relicing is too much for me
It looks like a leftover object from a flood damaged house
I wish people would actually just play the shit out of a guitar instead of ruining it with fake relicing
@@primeDecomposition dude fake relic is lame. want to break in a guitar play it....sand paper really?
It's funny, I cant afford shit, but the relic Idea is somewhat appealing. I'm with the " I dont need holes put in my new Levi's" crowd. But, I also dont want to fret all over some cherry guitar I'm afraid to scratch or breath on it the wrong way. The idea that it would look shitty out of the gate is funny. At least knowing all the parts are new and sturdy would be nice. I started riding motorcycles on a rat chopper bike my brother made for me out of an old Yamaha 650. It was a rockin little beast, turned heads, cool as all get out. Wasnt afraid of hurting it, it wasnt worth much, monetarily. I want a tough unpretty guitar that will take a beating.
Just heard a rumor from fender cs that for the 2021 relics they are going to make optional a scent that comes with the guitar and case from actual dive bars,beer joints,roadhouses...that will mimic all the smells one encounters when patronizing such establishments......sort of a hanging Christmas tree for your car if you will......it's just one more step in getting the poser that much more in touch with living out their fantasies of a actual life long musician who put the time in to get a guitar to look like yours without actually putting in the 1000 hrs of sweat equity ...
I thought 69s had a maple cap for the neck. Hendrix's was a 68 (I think) and didn't have the skunk stripe.
I agree. Should have a maple cap for the fret board. No skunk stipe. I hate that truss rod spot on the headstock too, they weren't like that on vintage 60's strats.
Sweet looking Strat, I want one of those with the bridge humbucker tho.
Great 👍 guitar , big sound to it ! One can clearly hear 👂 how it can breath , sounds so ...open !
Austin is correct about the difference in the feel of the neck. After playing a relic guitar like this most players will agree the neck has a superior feel to it. These are strange guitars to both look at and play. Seeing them on-line is different from actually playing one, the necks alone make them pretty good players.
Totally agree a relic guitar isn't for everyone. I think every guitar player will agree there must be a balance of feel, tone and appearance when selecting a guitar. To some people the feel of the neck alone tips the scales in the guitars favor. I have a couple friend who have guitars they purchased new in the last Century (1970s - 1980s) and they look like this now from everyday use, those guitars being the real-deal are ridiculously cool to look at and play.
To me a Stratocaster is a totally different type of instrument compared to a Les Paul. The Stratocasters seem more like a tool where as the Les Paul guitars seem (to me) more like "Tools and Art".
But that argument of neck feel doesn't hold water: you can basically get the same thing on any guitar by sanding the neck lightly with sandpaper. It takes 5 minutes, I've done it to all my instruments and they feel way easier to play and yet don't look fake and cheesy.
@@lptomtom I'll agree with you 100%, it's what I would do!
I know people that won't even adjust the bridge on their own guitars, they pay a person to adjust the instrument. Those individuals would never sand the back of the neck! Everyone is different, I totally get what you're saying lptomtom.
The yellowing plastic is achieved with UV light exposure.
Meanwhileinthestudio actually,they soak the knobs in coffee grinds......have a buddy that works at the Fender custom shop in Corona CA
Why would you want a beat up looking guitar?
It looks older
Because they feel better to play. The necks on the CS guitars are amazing.
why has a " '69 " reissue got a skunk stripe? In 1969 they used a maple cap neck and did not have a skunk stripe or the little cap on the headstock...
I think (this is just me btw) that when the strat is in the middle+neck and middle+bridge its almost fighting to get back to clean. Its a really unique characteristic and it's one of the reasons why I love the strat so much
Blues sounds amazing on Strats when using the neck pickup at overdrive.
Not questioning the Custom Shop, but why would the smooth wear be where the dings happen in reality (under the input jack, and on around the bottom and High E side of the guitar) and then the rough wood is where your arm over time would sand it down so finely that despite it being raw wood should be smooth and oil sealed by years of "sweat"? This relicing just seems backwards to me.
"Relic" guitars are so jive. My Jaguar and Electric XII came by their dings and wear honestly.
I love Fender guitars but this I find a bit of a stretch to understand their logic here. Ok , Custom Shop guitars more often than not have the modern 9.5" neck radius, regardless of what year it's meant to emulate, so I accept that ,but just look at it ! Fender, under CBS, transitioned from nitrocellulose lacquer to Polyester during 1967 (As stated in A R Duchossoir's 1991 book , The Fender Telecaster) . I have never seen a '68 onwards Strat or Tele looking like that !
It is a tad bit overly worn. But she's a beauty! 😍
Sounds good but I've never understood why the heavy relic thing. To me it's just fake & I couldn't own one
I have to say, I find the show more interesting and refreshing when it’s not yet another Gibson being looked at. Thanks
Bought n played all the gibsons... now off to the fenders
Please do more Fender high-end guitars!
that sounded really good with distortion.
Beautiful video, very in-depth, unlike 90% of them.., beautiful shots and measurements. Thanks bro!
I think Strats suit your playing style better.
What I dont understand is the skunk stripe and the walnut dot. is it sure this is the original factory neck? The 69 guitars and reissues are usually 2 maple caps with no skunk stripe or walnut dot which was only produced in 71 for a short (cbs) period with the big headstock.
I Love Fender Friday my Strat looks like that but it's just had the Shit beat out of it Cheers!!♍️♋️♏️
The way that a used guitar should really be in my opinion.... Each to their own on the relic thing I guess....
Funny, I just got my first MIA Strat a couple days ago. Love it! Like you though, I don't like relic jobs. Looks like trash, but I bet it is great to play. Oh well!
Sweet strat i still have my 1st lawsuit super strat from 1980 got a 2nd one has a gift in 2006 working on relicing it my self cant get my self to do it to the neck lol.
massimo Bargagna just play the guitar and let it relic itself
Demo starts at 6:08
I usually don't like relics but that works for me. Sick.
Sorry, I just don't get the relic thing
Love my old 2000 closet classic 60’s strat, Paid $1,300 artist. Relic finishes were the new thing then. Passed on that...too weird, especially back then....just seemed very strange to me. A pre beat up guitar? What?
They only did three models then by the way as I recall. Two strats and a Tele in NOS, Closet Classic and a Relic. I got the right one. Thanks Bruce Bolen jr and M. Stuart.
I like the idea of the relic but they go way to far with wearing away the paint. A little goes a long way? Right? Maybe it’s just me. Don’t get me wrong I would still play the shit out of this!!
Love the look of this guitar. Would definitely get one with the humbucker in the bridge.
How would you know if it had been damaged in shipping 😉
Nice axe, Austin! Great tone. I'll ROCK that!
First relic guitar I ever saw was in a music shop hanging up in the shiny new expensive section. My first thought was I thought the shop was playing some sort of joke to it’s customers and when I saw the price tag 🏷 was 3.5k I laughed and then someone told me it’s a real guitar it’s been made to look old it’s called relicing. I couldn’t believe it and still don’t. I live in denial
I do love strats but never got into relics at all. If I had that kinda money to spend on a new guitar I'd just get something new.
A 69 with Truss rod adjuster at headstock?
*NO BLACK LIGHT!?* Hehe but it would be fun to see.
Wouldn't it !!! I like the way that you think !
Truss rod through the front? Didn't know that.
I have what would be considered an unreasonable hatred of relic guitars. I think it is the musical equivalent to buying a new pair of jeans with holes in them. Wear & tear should be earned. If someone wants to spend $3K on it, great for them. I'll never understand it.
I went to see, Govt Mule a few days back and Warren Haynes was playing a 12 string Gibson Les Paul, never knew they made them, a review from your good self would be interesting.
I tried to buy a gold top 12 string about 3 weeks ago, but was unsuccessful. I'm sure one day we will see one
I'm not a stratocaster fan, but that guitar sounds awesome. If I was going to hork up that kind of cashloaf, I'd go for a journeyman relic.
3:41 is it normal for the string to wound so much around the tuning peg ? I’m assuming that it’s for a proper break angle from the nut (due to the absence of a string tree). I find it rather odd I have never seen that, did restring the guitar or is this a factory setup?
I’d rather buy new and have it get honest wear and tear as time goes on. I’ve got a Jimmie Vaughan strat from 97’ so it’s 22 years old and the neck is where it really shines but it has some honest mojo and I have a great peavey predator from 92’ (my first electric) that was made in the USA with a poplar body, maple neck, and nitro finish and it looks great but again has that honest wear and tear that makes it my guitar and some day when I’m gone someone will get some truly well played and great sounding guitars. I have Gibson’s as well but I just can’t justify paying for custom shop relicing no matter how cool it looks. These are what I call doctor/lawyer guitars because they were too busy in school to play their guitars so they all look new so these guitars are for them to make up some story about the guitars history. They’re also artist guitars who no longer want to bring a real 59’ strat on tour but a $5000-$10000 custom shop works just fine plus their resale value holds up when they’re done with them
Relic jobs are probably just rejects from the production line and old stock bridges that have tarnish on them. And a lot us are suckers in buying them with even more money as they area labelled custom shop.
Fender Worker: Sir, this body has a blemish on it, we have to repaint,,,
Manager: Send it to the custom shop, let's relic it.
As much as that would seem plausible, they cant.
Its stamped "Relic" into the body under the pickguard. Before they apply finish. Which makes it quite the issue to repurpose it as a custom shop instrument.
Seems more likely that they'd just try and make the blemish look better, then sell it as B-Stock.
personally, i think one of the reasons fender does relics better than gibson is because really worn in fenders look better (to me) than really worn in gibsons
also i adore fender relic jobs cause they REALLY feel like a players guitar
Just can't understand why you would pay that much for something new to make it look wore out
yeah lots of us wonder that , sounds good though
@@marknorris3769 sounds good
ACE Champion because it’s cheaper than buying a real Strat from 1969 and plays a lot better
No sticky inch of finish to slow you down.
@@mattrogers1946 I can understand the neck,I get that but the whole thing? It does sound good
I think the finish is acrylic lacquer not nitro. Well that’s what Fender used back in the day. Perhaps they use nitro now on the relics.
A 4K custom shop Fender strat that has "RELIC" stamped on it. Meh.
I've had my strat since 98, bought new and I have put days of playing through it over the years. It doesnt look anything like that. There are a couole of dings from hitting into stuff but it polishes up and looks good as new.
How much playing and carelessness does it take to make a guitar look like that naturally????
The thing is, even if you played it religiously, and I mean really went at it like Eddy van Halen, playing it every day for thirty years… It wouldn’t have the back plate still on, no way in hell
That's probably because this is finished in nitro, which wears really easily compared to the poly on yours. Fender used nitro only on early guitars
Lol I have a whole rack of beat up guitars I will sell as relics lol.. I will never understand why people buy these fake guitars. I bet you half the ones who do will stand on a stage somewhere and let people believe his guitar is really that old lol. Yeah I remember that black Les Paul with the primer showing through, that would have been OK had the blue not been such a huge patch lol.
This Fender sounds pretty good, it takes me about 20 minutes of playing a Strat before I can feel comfortable and I manage to stop turning down the darn volume as I play lol.
I don't think I've ever seen a wear pattern like this neck has. Just imagine your basic pentatonic shapes, there would be almost no wear between some frets. So unless this imagined owner played nothing but chromatic runs for years this is just wrong. Not to mention the 60 grit sand paper right arm to get rough radiused wear on the arm contour. If you've ever felt real rubbed off wear on a body it's very smooth. And I don't have a problem with relic guitars but for what they charge for them they should at least look and feel right.
Or if you play in different keys? I'm not saying it's the best relicing but you don't need to noodle chromatically to achieve something like that.
Did you get the scarmyguitar guitar?
Yeah.what happened to the les g?
No, I haven’t yet
If you like the feel of the neck, check out one of Dean Zelinsky's Strat type guitars (yes, THAT Dean).
Lets face it. Trogly definetly stole his new intro (Welcome to your daily dose of guitar) of Daily Doss Of Internet
This is a _nice_ episode
I believe a guitar should earn its relic marks. From pick stretches, to fretboard markings, to arms rubbing off the finish, etc. it’s just something that only years of playing and abuse will do. That being said, that neck does look great.
I like gibson's but a strat just has that great clear sound. This strat sounds better than the gibson's you have done.
Agreed, that is why you need a Gibson AND a Fender!
The neck is not to spec. There was never a brownish plug on the truss rod area on the headstock.
Thank you for doing a fender.
Please do a tele.
ua-cam.com/video/sSCW1dVLht0/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/tcSR3jvcvOY/v-deo.html
It’s named as a 1969 model but the neck is spec’d out like a late 70’ or early 71’ model.
She is a beauty.
I like that there is a truss rod adjustment on the headstock. That is what always turns me off about these custom shop jobs.
Please watch video again. There is no truss rod adjustment on the headstock.
@@216trixie yeah my bad. Why have the Walnut insert then?
@@m.stewart8094 Not sure. It's a holdover form the 50's. I think it has to do with the choice of having the truss rod adjustment at the head or not, but I dunno'.
I remember back in the mid-1970s the real thing could be had for $175-$200. Fender is still selling two pieces of wood and some wire for outrageous prices … Custom Shop be damned.
How do you know its mint when you get it brand new?
Hi guys. I used to watch on youtube a guitarist wearing a beret testing great strat guitars. He used to use the word cats for those who like some kind of music. But I can't find it anymore, do you know who I am talking about? Thanks!
im fuckin convinced. Time to take a razor blade and a sanding block to my Les Paul Custom. Who wants paint anyway?
Artificially reliced guitars are not for me. This thing does sound good!
I will never, ever, ever, ever understand this concept. If I want a beat up guitar, I'll either wear it out myself, or buy it used that way. And for the price, you may as well go on a search for a real vintage Fender. It's a good thing I don't have the money to blow, because the first thing I would do is buy a Squire strat and put the custom shop neck, wiring and hardware on it.
Who on Earth has ever used their guitars to this point? Ridiculous.
Relic Jobs. Fender does it and it somehow adds value. You do it (even if you do a better job), kills all value of the instrument. Can’t fake old. Sounds great and may also play like a worn in guitar. Wouldn’t buy a new Porsche made to look like a barn find either.
That thing sounds amazing btw
Damn, she sound heavier then I anticipated at certain times, in a very cool way though. Nice guitar. I don't mind the relic look so much, sweet. How much did this puppy cost?