Looks shite or roadworn?

imalrightjack

50th Anniversary Strat Plus with knackered lacquer.  Doesn't bother me or seem to affect playability but what would you do with it?  Is it 'roadworn' cool or just minging?

I ask only out of interest

WezV

sadly its very common on maple fender fretboards from this period.   they are generally sharp and need fixing.  I like a bit of wear, but if you can cut yourself on it its an instant no

Fuzzdog

My old maple necked Plus did exactly the same thing - felt absolutely horrible to play, and would occasionally shed flakes of lacquer under the fingertips.

Stripped it all off in the end, felt soooooooo much better.

fretfinder

I doesn't look great IMHO although I'm sure others will disagree. I'd just ignore it if I liked the guitar enough.

It made me think of why the wear on Fender Relics is often very different from the genuine wear you see on old guitars. I reckon they make 'em with that kind of wear because they think that fits our image of what attractive wear should look like on an old guitar - rather than the actual wear you see on old guitars, that we may not like the look of at all. 

I suppose I'm saying that Relics aren't actually meant to look exactly like an old guitar. ("That's just as well because they don't" I hear you chorus...) 

johnonguitar

My strat has a little of that going on. I've had it since new for 16 years. It's earned it. Doesn't make any difference to the way it feels for me

imalrightjack

@fuzzdog - how did you remove it?

WezV

fretfinder said:

I suppose I'm saying that Relics aren't actually meant to look exactly like an old guitar. ("That's just as well because they don't" I hear you chorus...) 

definitely this.   if you actually do a natural relic a lot of people don't think its reliced enough.   It seems to be more true with chrome hardware than anything else. very few vintage guitars with chrome are as rusted as some of the aged stuff you can buy!!

jd0272

WezV said:

fretfinder said:

I suppose I'm saying that Relics aren't actually meant to look exactly like an old guitar. ("That's just as well because they don't" I hear you chorus...) 

definitely this.   if you actually do a natural relic a lot of people don't think its reliced enough.   It seems to be more true with chrome hardware than anything else. very few vintage guitars with chrome are as rusted as some of the aged stuff you can buy!!

Most chrome gear on ancient gitfiddles looks mint! So one concurs. Hence, I like nickel.

That FB wouldn't bother me a bit really.

WezV

johnonguitar said:

My strat has a little of that going on. I've had it since new for 16 years. It's earned it. Doesn't make any difference to the way it feels for me

the difference between this and the wear I like is that the finish hasn't worn down or naturally thinned out, its just chipped off in full layers.  very different to aged nitro.   

Some i have played have chipped right on the edge and the sharp bits have worn in a bit so its not too bad.  usually the dots are greyed out, maybe with some having lost the lacquer - its livable

but try bending the high e that guitar - the very distinct lacquer ledge will make it uncomortable and it is likely more will come off and actually hurt your fingers

johnonguitar

WezV;696933" said:

johnonguitar said:

My strat has a little of that going on. I've had it since new for 16 years. It's earned it. Doesn't make any difference to the way it feels for me





the difference between this and the wear I like is that the finish hasn't worn down or naturally thinned out, its just chipped off in full layers.  very different to aged nitro.   

Some i have played have chipped right on the edge and the sharp bits have worn in a bit so its not too bad.  usually the dots are greyed out, maybe with some having lost the lacquer - its livable

but try bending the high e that guitar - the very distinct lacquer ledge will make it uncomortable and it is likely more will come off and actually hurt your fingers

Yeah but this is how aged guitars from the 90's will look when it comes to their relic'd 50th anniversary models. And people will be like oooooooh look at the lacquer flaking.

Either your guitar has very different damage, frets or you have a very different bending technique from me but I genuinely don't notice anything at all different.

WezV

I thought you implied yours was not as bad as the one shown in the pic?  Most people will notice a when a fretboard has a distinct ridge in the bending area

if its just starting to do it now then its worth trying to stablise it before it gets to the stage of the one in the pic

essentially what we have here is a flaw, not natural wear.  The finish has separated from the wood and needs to be reattached or removed.  Its a known flaw, but that doesn't make it acceptable

A love a good relic with natural wear, i don't love broken guitars with impaired playability

johnonguitar

I really need to get the old girl a new nut, her frets polished and I want a vintage style trem instead of the one that's on it. Don't care if it's been there for all that time. I think some quality metal down that end would end any strat gas I could ever possibly have

Philly_Q

The key thing for me is what Wez has said - only nitro finishes really age in a cool, attractive way.  Other types of finish just chip, crack or flake off leaving unsightly sharp edges.  That's IMO, of course.

I love Fender relics, I know many people hate them with a passion.  I personally don't like the way battered poly-finished guitars look, but if it doesn't bother the owners then who am I to criticise.

WezV

the problem you have is that removing the nut, or even polishing the frets on this won't help the chipping issue.  You can see the lacquer is chipped up the side of the frets too.  

You can see the cloudy look to the lacquer near the existing chips and around the dots - its only going to get worse

you won't feel the 16th fret chip too bad, you may not feel that 18th fret chip , but do you have the same wear near the nut?

its nowhere near as bad as the on in the first pic which has totally cloudy lacquer and the shadows suggest its already lifted in a lot of places

Fuzzdog

imalrightjack said:

@fuzzdog - how did you remove it?

Sanded the board and refinished in a light poly coat at the same time as refretting, so killed two birds with one stone - it was long overdue a refret anyway so thought I'd sort the board out at the same time.  I had kind of got used to it and really didn't realise how bad it was to play on until it was nice and smooth again, totally transformed the guitar for me.

RaymondLin

There is a difference between aged and falling apart.

That is literally bits of the guitar coming off from itself, not dirty from fingers leaving the board looking well used.  Even though that is common to that era of maple, it is what it is, a maple board that is losing bits off the top. 

Elwood

@WezV

Would this just need to have the lacquer stripped off or a bit of a sand to sort the neck out?

WezV

there is always options, although simply sanding them smooth wouldn't be my preference here because its a known lacquer fault.  Lacquer is supposed to stick, on this period of fenders it doesn't.

on the top one I would just remove it all and start again.  its too far gone for me

on the other i would try and stabilise by running a drop of lacquer under every crack and then gently smoothing it in.  at least until the point it needed a refret and the refinish becomes much easier

RMJ

I was just sick in my mouth.

Jokes. Looks cool.

Lew

Have I wandered off into the readers wives part of the forum. Half expecting to see a pic of y'all taking turns with it in the back seat of a Mondeo.

RMJ

Lew said:

Have I wandered off into the readers wives part of the forum. Half expecting to see a pic of y'all taking turns with it in the back seat of a Mondeo.

Im next. Pass the wipes.