 | One of the customisations we like to offer is custom relic'ing guitars. The owner of this Mexican Relic Strat brought it for a very cheap price from a car boot sale. The previous owner had tried to further relic the guitar very badly. So the owner booked it in with us for a relic customisation to make it look like John Frusciante's 62' strat! With any custom relic work, we do everything by hand, working closely on the guitar with reference photos and our experience of working on vintage guitars to ensure every scratch and mark is done to match natural wear on the guitar! |
The guitar as it was brought in, you can see on the left bottom shoulder the previous customer had repeatedly hit the guitar, making very unnatural marks. The back of the guitar, lightly reliced by Fender, though this often looks faked due to the methods they use.
The reference photos the customer supplied, we discussed the addition damage from the previous owner and the relic work would encompass the damaged area, deviating from the reference photos but would ensure a better looking result. The guitar stripped down ready for the work to begin, slowly working on the guitar by hand to match the reference photos.
The reference photos the customer supplied, we discussed the addition damage from the previous owner and the relic work would encompass the damaged area, deviating from the reference photos but would ensure a better looking result. The guitar stripped down ready for the work to begin, slowly working on the guitar by hand to match the reference photos.
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Below photos showing the completed front of the guitar and the completed back of the guitar.
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Next step was the neck to match it to the relic'd body. The customer also wanted the frets polished, with the edges rounded and the finger board smoothed off to give a very played in feel. The fingerboard and nut was also stained to give a darkened vintage look.
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The neck was treated in the same way as the body, the finish was carefully worn away and aged as would be found on a vintage guitar.Here you can see the worn in edges of the fingerboard and the frets.
At the customers request he wanted the serial number removed too, this wear would not normally be found on a vintage guitar but we blended it in with the rest of the relic work to try and keep it as natural looking as possible.
At the customers request he wanted the serial number removed too, this wear would not normally be found on a vintage guitar but we blended it in with the rest of the relic work to try and keep it as natural looking as possible.
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The customer also wanted the wiring rewired to vintage spec wiring, all completely hand wired with new seymour duncans 50's fitted too, complete with a cent capacitor found on 60's guitars.
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 | Last the scratchplate was lighted stained and worn in along with the pickup covers and the knobs. The rusted screws supplied by the customer was fitted, the rest of the metal hardware was carefully stained to match in to the look of the guitar. Restrung and setup, the guitar was then ready for the customer to collect! |
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