Love it. My used 1960 NOS strat has quite a bit of natural relicing through normal play wear. Looks much closer to an actual vintage piece than anything you see in a “heavy relic” version of the same guitar.
@@Flexible_Olive yeah, me too lol! I’d have both honestly. Brand new experience and a 50-60 year old looking guitar. They feel really nice and broken in, plus they look cool, man!!!! I’d just have both or go with a journeyman which I have. Right in the middle, aging started but not noticeable and in a few years it’ll look aged and molded due to my interaction with it for years.
Absolutely, NOS CS is better than an actual 1959-not worth as much I know- but why anyone would pay for guitar with a super heavy relic that isn’t actually from that year is beyond me
@@donnix1192 I do like the look of some of the relics.. strats more than teles or les pauls .. but I prefer a new looking guitar .. Each to thier own .. whatever makes us pick it up is what's important 😎
Completely agree. Journeyman is as far as I’d go in terms of relicing. Anything beyond that is just performative. I’ve never seen a vintage guitar that looks as damaged as the fender custom shop reliced guitars.
Nah, there are a ton of vintage guitars that look like the relics. I follow many instagram accounts of vintage Strats and the relics get close but not the same. Like there is no way to make the wood like it’s been a guitar for 60 years. Same goes for the paint. And I find that the wear on the back of the neck is usually too exaggerated. Wear on well played vintage guitars doesn’t look like that, but still look cool on the relics in my opinion. I’d prefer to have my guitars show the wear caused by me and to tell our story together lol. But good old vintage guitars with tons of marks and wear, probably means that guitar has something special that it’s been played so much to cause that much wear
@@MSE9107 That’s not true. The vast majority of guitars from the 50s and 60s do not, unless they’ve been dragged behind a bus, look as damaged as fender custom shop. I have many friends in the second hand vintage resale market. There might be some as damaged as that, but they are the very small minority. And if you don’t believe me, ask the people who work at ATB Guitars, a leading seller of vintage guitars, they will confirm this.
Maybe my Sherwood Green Metallic ’59 NOS needs a matching Fiesta Red Brother ! It’s such a great guitar. At first I thought I had made a mistake because the neck is so thick, however I’ve now adjusted and gotten used to the thicker neck and I love it!! It sounds incredible too.
Those pickups are so bright I had to put my sunglasses on! It certainly looks like a great guitar, and with the exception of the hardware colour and the headstock logo, is very similar to my Squier CV 50s Strat... I don't agree with what Cooper says at 10:04. The specs are _not_ identical to the '59 Strat, so it's not "to a T". e.g. 9.5" radius, 5-way switch.
Journeyman relic is the nice balance for me too. I wish they had some of the two color layers of something on top with sunburst underneath that aren’t heavy relic.
I recently sold a R9 Gibson Les Paul that was ten years old, VOS, but lightly used. The potential buyers could not evaluate wear, due to the aging treatment. Took a big hit on resale value
FRom the first chord you can hear the quality. The clarity is amazing. Wonderful and yeahhhh non relic. Fender have gone too far the road of relicing. I ended up getting a 1996 custom shop as I couldn't find a non relic. Nice simply demo Cooper.
As usual, excellent content. If I could make a suggestion, it would be nice to include mention of what amp is used for the electric guitar demo's. The amp often plays as much of an important role to the final sound we hear.
Do away with all fake relic new guitars. Pretending like you have a worn and well used guitar instead of taking the time to wear out and use your own guitar is lame. It’s one of the silliest trends I’ve seen musicians participate in.
It IS an option on all of them except for the ones that are replicas of specific instruments. Most dealers just choose to order Relics because that’s what they think will sell.
I guess I’m covered then. My car just turned 10 years old and it still has every dent, ding, or scratch it has accumulated over those years. Including the scratch it got when I was sideswiped two weeks after I bought it.
I get this. I have the Vintage 2 ‘61 in Fiesta Red, & I love it. However I couldn’t understand why they put a mint green pick guard & aged plastics on it, when it’s brand new without relicing. They didn’t come with mint green in 1961. I’ve replaced them with pure white as it would’ve looked in ‘61. I also have a 1982 ‘57 AVRI Strat which is well played and well reliced naturally. You can’t replicate 41 years of playwear.
I`m thinking what has happened is Fender built a supply of Custom Shop guitars, the best went to NOS and the lesser or spoiled finish models were sidetracked for Relic release or what ever they wanted to market them as. Waste not, want not, a method of marketing factory seconds was created by the degree of relic process applied. This would reduce factory waste, by recycling spoiled issues of popular models by renaming and selling as something unique. I see the relic process as harm to the secondary market. Who can estimate the value of a used relic. I mean how can one of those carry the moxie of a NOS kept in fine condition?
When these came out I always thought the closet classic and NOS models were the coolest Everyone else seems to prefer heavy relic which is not for me. I don’t think a guitar of mine would ever look that way, even if I played hard for 60 years! I do like how natural play wear looks though!
They just relic them like that because of the time it adds to the production of each guitar, which means they can make less of them and sell em for more. Instead of making a bunch of actually nice guitars that would end up tiring the one making them
You're taking it too literally. They are terms to describe the aging _style_ Closet classic doesn't mean they've been kept in a closet and new old stock doesn't mean they are actually old stock. It's _as though_ they were old stock or kept in a closet...
Paying someone else to put fake wear on a guitar so as to appear authentic is about as cringe-hipster as you can get. If you want the neck to feel broken in, take some sandpaper to it 'til you're gripping driftwood with strings. Paying someone thousands to complete a phony look shows the extremes hipsterism has taken us to. Now we know there's no harm in it, people want it & are willing to buy it, can't blame Fender for making money on this. Can we put these 'artists' to work on creating better quality guitars rather than reproducing everything that evokes nostalgia? How about making the new body design of the Ultra the new default?
The problem with the relic'd thing is us who don't want the relic'd stuff end up seeing guitars we would of otherwise bought but... FFS it's relic'd so we don't want them. Can't the people that want there guitars too look like shit just do that themselves when they get home?
I think the relic thing is very stupid and rediculous! Hey, let's take a mint condition '57 Chevy and beat the shit out of it and make it look like twenty owners had accidents with it! As for this orange Strat, it's nice to see Fender offering a'59 style Strat right before they went to rosewood fretboards however they've been building reissue vintage Fenders for years. Again though this one is very tempting and very nice
The relics guitars are just not my thing. I cannot understand why somebody would pay top dollar for somebody to scratch up a perfectly good finish if I’m going to spend $5000 I want my guitar to look pristine! Just like kids buying blue jeans that I already have holes in them it just does not make any sense!
Wow a brand new guitar that looks brand new ! Love it !
now yer talkin', That is stunning :)
Love it. My used 1960 NOS strat has quite a bit of natural relicing through normal play wear. Looks much closer to an actual vintage piece than anything you see in a “heavy relic” version of the same guitar.
Lovely guitar, amazing tones coming out from a simple configuration: guitar + amp. Great playing by Cooper as always
Making a guitar look aged yourself is the real feeling
Yes. Non relic. Who wants to pay that much money for a new guitar that looks like it was run over by a tank.
me
@@Flexible_Olive yeah, me too lol! I’d have both honestly. Brand new experience and a 50-60 year old looking guitar. They feel really nice and broken in, plus they look cool, man!!!! I’d just have both or go with a journeyman which I have. Right in the middle, aging started but not noticeable and in a few years it’ll look aged and molded due to my interaction with it for years.
I have a telecaster that went through ww3. I even tucked some nuclear waste in the control cavity
Agreed
Very Hank Marvin looks for this Fiesta red NOS. Although a Custom Shop would be overkill for me, this gets my attention.
If you look at any of the stuff at Norm's Rare Guitars, none are heavy relic. This one is beautiful.
That was great! I had to plug in my headphones and run it through two more times. Beautiful.
I'm so happy I found an awesome squire
I seriously wonder how many of the heavy relic ones will end up refinished in the future?
This is the best custom shop guitar I’ve ever seen
8:53 idea for a video: compare this guitar to the AV2 1961 Strat.
Or the ‘57 with its maple fingerboard
NOS all the way 😎
Absolutely, NOS CS is better than an actual 1959-not worth as much I know- but why anyone would pay for guitar with a super heavy relic that isn’t actually from that year is beyond me
@@donnix1192 I do like the look of some of the relics.. strats more than teles or les pauls .. but I prefer a new looking guitar ..
Each to thier own .. whatever makes us pick it up is what's important 😎
Completely agree. Journeyman is as far as I’d go in terms of relicing. Anything beyond that is just performative. I’ve never seen a vintage guitar that looks as damaged as the fender custom shop reliced guitars.
Nah, there are a ton of vintage guitars that look like the relics. I follow many instagram accounts of vintage Strats and the relics get close but not the same. Like there is no way to make the wood like it’s been a guitar for 60 years. Same goes for the paint. And I find that the wear on the back of the neck is usually too exaggerated. Wear on well played vintage guitars doesn’t look like that, but still look cool on the relics in my opinion. I’d prefer to have my guitars show the wear caused by me and to tell our story together lol. But good old vintage guitars with tons of marks and wear, probably means that guitar has something special that it’s been played so much to cause that much wear
@@MSE9107 That’s not true. The vast majority of guitars from the 50s and 60s do not, unless they’ve been dragged behind a bus, look as damaged as fender custom shop.
I have many friends in the second hand vintage resale market. There might be some as damaged as that, but they are the very small minority.
And if you don’t believe me, ask the people who work at ATB Guitars, a leading seller of vintage guitars, they will confirm this.
Reliced guitars are Fender's answer to designer-torn jeans.
Thank goodness
Maybe my Sherwood Green Metallic ’59 NOS needs a matching Fiesta Red Brother !
It’s such a great guitar.
At first I thought I had made a mistake because the neck is so thick, however I’ve now adjusted and gotten used to the thicker neck and I love it!! It sounds incredible too.
Lol. A brother ? I’ve always considered my guitars as a she. My girls hahaha
Oh wow the Fender Custom Shop finally figured out how to paint guitars.
I've got a '59 Closet Classic Wildwood 10/Custom shop in faded Shell Pink. It's fantastic.
Gorgeous guitar, killer chops.❤
Very cool!!!
Those pickups are so bright I had to put my sunglasses on! It certainly looks like a great guitar, and with the exception of the hardware colour and the headstock logo, is very similar to my Squier CV 50s Strat... I don't agree with what Cooper says at 10:04. The specs are _not_ identical to the '59 Strat, so it's not "to a T". e.g. 9.5" radius, 5-way switch.
Journeyman relic is the nice balance for me too. I wish they had some of the two color layers of something on top with sunburst underneath that aren’t heavy relic.
very well played!
I recently sold a R9 Gibson Les Paul that was ten years old, VOS, but lightly used. The potential buyers could not evaluate wear, due to the aging treatment. Took a big hit on resale value
❤❤❤ I have one!!
a real one?
FRom the first chord you can hear the quality. The clarity is amazing. Wonderful and yeahhhh non relic. Fender have gone too far the road of relicing. I ended up getting a 1996 custom shop as I couldn't find a non relic. Nice simply demo Cooper.
You played it at our house!!
You've got the best collection!
As usual, excellent content. If I could make a suggestion, it would be nice to include mention of what amp is used for the electric guitar demo's. The amp often plays as much of an important role to the final sound we hear.
Check 4:50 a Blues Junior ..
@@bobdelair02 Thanks, Bob. Damn, how did I miss that? Totally my bad, my apologies to all.
Do away with all fake relic new guitars. Pretending like you have a worn and well used guitar instead of taking the time to wear out and use your own guitar is lame. It’s one of the silliest trends I’ve seen musicians participate in.
It is for those Gen xers that never got to save the original like we boomers did!
@@gosman949 I am Gen X and we called people who pretend to be something they’re not ”posers”. They still are.
Nice 👍
NOS is BEST🔥
Journeyman relic is cool
Finally! Can't stand the relicced stuff. VOS/NOS should be an option on all CS.
It IS an option on all of them except for the ones that are replicas of specific instruments. Most dealers just choose to order Relics because that’s what they think will sell.
BY Law, anyone that pays a lot of money for a brand new 'reliced' guitar, should be forced to relic their cars.
I guess I’m covered then. My car just turned 10 years old and it still has every dent, ding, or scratch it has accumulated over those years. Including the scratch it got when I was sideswiped two weeks after I bought it.
Amazing playing🫡
I get this. I have the Vintage 2 ‘61 in Fiesta Red, & I love it. However I couldn’t understand why they put a mint green pick guard & aged plastics on it, when it’s brand new without relicing. They didn’t come with mint green in 1961. I’ve replaced them with pure white as it would’ve looked in ‘61. I also have a 1982 ‘57 AVRI Strat which is well played and well reliced naturally. You can’t replicate 41 years of playwear.
Started the video NOS. Ended the video as demo model.
NOS FTW, I'm not a fan of relic jobs either. Nice playing!
I`m thinking what has happened is Fender built a supply of Custom Shop guitars, the best went to NOS and the lesser or spoiled finish models were sidetracked for Relic release or what ever they wanted to market them as. Waste not, want not, a method of marketing factory seconds was created by the degree of relic process applied. This would reduce factory waste, by recycling spoiled issues of popular models by renaming and selling as something unique. I see the relic process as harm to the secondary market. Who can estimate the value of a used relic. I mean how can one of those carry the moxie of a NOS kept in fine condition?
And Fender guitars are soooo hard to build. No wonder this costs $4550.
Relic is a horrific disease on new guitars. I’ll be glad when fake relic goes to disco heaven.
When these came out I always thought the closet classic and NOS models were the coolest
Everyone else seems to prefer heavy relic which is not for me. I don’t think a guitar of mine would ever look that way, even if I played hard for 60 years!
I do like how natural play wear looks though!
Where is Chris?
👋🏻- Chris
relic'd = wrecked
Hank Marvin
Eat something then.
Relics are just like the emperor's clothes. We are duped into thinking damaged is good......
relic is some bs
They just relic them like that because of the time it adds to the production of each guitar, which means they can make less of them and sell em for more. Instead of making a bunch of actually nice guitars that would end up tiring the one making them
If we need more non-relic Custom Shop guitars then that’s what more dealers need to order. Problem solved for all the relic haters.
I think they should be called NEW OLD STYLE there is no way they have any old 59 stock parts on them. they are nice guitars
You're taking it too literally. They are terms to describe the aging _style_
Closet classic doesn't mean they've been kept in a closet and new old stock doesn't mean they are actually old stock. It's _as though_ they were old stock or kept in a closet...
Bro…this guy plays like Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knophler combined
A real guitarist plays regularly, he will chip it,scratch it...does not need the fake glory!
Paying someone else to put fake wear on a guitar so as to appear authentic is about as cringe-hipster as you can get. If you want the neck to feel broken in, take some sandpaper to it 'til you're gripping driftwood with strings. Paying someone thousands to complete a phony look shows the extremes hipsterism has taken us to. Now we know there's no harm in it, people want it & are willing to buy it, can't blame Fender for making money on this.
Can we put these 'artists' to work on creating better quality guitars rather than reproducing everything that evokes nostalgia? How about making the new body design of the Ultra the new default?
The problem with the relic'd thing is us who don't want the relic'd stuff end up seeing guitars we would of otherwise bought but... FFS it's relic'd so we don't want them. Can't the people that want there guitars too look like shit just do that themselves when they get home?
I think the relic thing is very stupid and rediculous! Hey, let's take a mint condition '57 Chevy and beat the shit out of it and make it look like twenty owners had accidents with it! As for this orange Strat, it's nice to see Fender offering a'59 style Strat right before they went to rosewood fretboards however they've been building reissue vintage Fenders for years. Again though this one is very tempting and very nice
Buying a relic guitar is like buying a new car and crashing it on purpose just foolish
I am not a fan of relic guitars either. That is how to overpay for something new, that looks like 💩.
The relics guitars are just not my thing. I cannot understand why somebody would pay top dollar for somebody to scratch up a perfectly good finish if I’m going to spend $5000 I want my guitar to look pristine! Just like kids buying blue jeans that I already have holes in them it just does not make any sense!
Not a fan of the reliving either. I would never buy one.