"Modern" relic

redrighthand

Is it just me or does this look awesome?

http://guitars4you.co.uk/fender-custom-shop-heavy-relic-strat-plus---taos-turquoise+++1347

I'm more used to seeing 50s / 60s style relic - not 90s style - but there's something ace about this.

stonevibe

Looks horrible to my eyes.

richardhomer

Given you can buy a 'real' one of these for next to nothing, I'm afraid I really don't get this.

stonevibe

richardhomer said:

Given you can buy a 'real' one of these for next to nothing, I'm afraid I really don't get this.

Exactly.

ICBM

stonevibe said:

richardhomer said:

Given you can buy a 'real' one of these for next to nothing, I'm afraid I really don't get this.

Exactly.

And it will look like a genuinely worn guitar instead of having been savaged by a giant beaver.

A_T_W

But that guitar, if it was naturally relic'd and just had a horribly aggressive owner, would look so sweet. That colour is perfect for a bit of roughing up :P

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM said:

stonevibe said:

richardhomer said:

Given you can buy a 'real' one of these for next to nothing, I'm afraid I really don't get this.

Exactly.

And it will look like a genuinely worn guitar instead of having been savaged by a giant beaver.

Originally lol'd, then saw the pic and realised you really meant it.  

stonevibe

ICBM said:

stonevibe said:

richardhomer said:

Given you can buy a 'real' one of these for next to nothing, I'm afraid I really don't get this.

Exactly.

And it will look like a genuinely worn guitar instead of having been savaged by a giant beaver.

Giant beavers are the way the Custom Shop gets that authentic 'belt sander' finish. They cost a lot to feed and have a dietary requirement of ash and alder three times or more a day.

redrighthand

Well I'm pleased to have been proven correct.

In the sense that it's just me!

WezV

they have even included the authentic strat plus razor blades down each side of the fretboard, although the dots should have turned grey by now due to lacquer seperation

ICBM

I wonder if it has holes in the back where the Trem-Setter has been removed?

benmurray85

I like it. Aside from the pickups I think it looks great.

Ché

It looks like someone has been gnawing at the base of it. Relic'd guitars are superficial in my eyes. With age comes experience, making your guitar look old doesn't hide the fact you haven't played it for that long. If you can naturally relic your guitar just through playing it then it'll make you a far better musician in the long run. My old Jag got beat to shit (AVRI nitro finish) and when I was selling it people noted how they liked the subtle relicing on it ... Wtf? I agree buying a guitar with a history is interesting (it also proves the guitar has lived, breathed and can survive the road) but damaging your guitar just to make if look "cool" is beyond me.

jonnyburgo

just see it as another finish option, kind of like those distressed denim jeans, some like some don't. Neither look very realistic.

axisus

I generally like relics, but I have to admit that one doesn't really move me. I don't think it's particularly overdone, but I see that we are still getting the same old tired arguments out.

ICBM

axisus said:

I generally like relics, but I have to admit that one doesn't really move me. I don't think it's particularly overdone, but I see that we are still getting the same old tired arguments out.

What I don't understand is that even if you like the look, why does someone go to the trouble of deliberately making the damage look so unrealistic? It takes quite a lot of effort to do it - quite possibly more to do it wrong than to do it right. (In fact mostly so, since one of the usual mistakes is to do too much, to the point the wear pattern becomes too even.)

I don't mind the concept of that 'modern relic' at all, and from a distance it doesn't look bad, but when you see the close-up of the body it really does look like it's been chewed by an oversized rodent.

guitargeek62

I love it! And in one of my favourite finishes no less!

*edit* It actually reminds me a lot of a couple of an early 90s strat that I really should have bought in Toronto about 6 years ago. The wear on the body wasn't quite that far gone, but the rest looks about the same.

Bogwhoppit

I went into my local Ferrari dealer today and asked if I could have a relic'd F12berlinetta. I parted with my £239,352 and as if by magic a nice new F12berlinetta was brought around to the front of the dealer where upon 20 kind folk attacked it with hammers, sandpaper, a grinder and then let lose a pack of hunting hounds to cock their legs up the side.

 

I was most pleased. Tomorrow I'm going to wash and polish it

fretfinder

I don't think it's a particularly bad relic job tbh, but I can't understand why they would relic a Strat Plus. Not exactly one of the most desirable guitars in Fender's back catalogue... :-S

bluechargeboy

I've got a 1990 Strat Plus and the finish is such that you would have to drop it off Blackpool Tower to damage it that much.

ThePrettyDamned

As it's not 'vintage', surely a 'real' strat plus that's been damaged a would be significantly cheaper?

Even factoring in a full set up and any odd bits that need replacing, like a dodgy saddle, or vibrato bits and bobs.

Or even buying a regular one and just playing it with very little care would get the job done a fair bit cheaper, there are a few around for a fair bit less than a grand.