Could someone please explain the Fender Relic series to me?

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Thursday Jun 09, 2005

Not to sound unhip or anything, and please no offense to anyone who owns one, but what is the point of the Fender Relic series? If I wanted to own a dinged and worn pre-CBS Fender, then I would go and buy a dinged and worn pre-CBS Fender. Why would I want to pay over a grand for a brand new guitar that looks old and used?

TJ Kelly · Post by **TJ Kelly** » Sunday Jun 12, 2005

Paul:

The Relic Series is for the players who want that vintage vibe but don't want to pay mucho cash. Mainly I would guess that alot of name players that have the real deal vintage pieces that they paid several thousands for would rather take a relic on tour and keep the real vintage pieces locked up safe and sound. Yeah it would bite to lose a Relic series axe but it would really suck to lose a '59 P-bass or '56 Strat. Plus I think there is alot of snob appeal in using a relic model. I've seen several manufactuer that offer a relic type of finish.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Monday Jun 13, 2005

I don't know why you'd want to pay custom shop prices for an already beat up guitar.

You won't get the sound of a 50s or 60s classic, because the wood is not aged. There is nothing that sounds like 50 year old wood. They use the same wood as in the American series--alder or ash with maple neck.

You will get most of the sound of the pickups. Of course, they were all unpotted single coils that produced tremendous amounts of noise and unwanted feedback. I would prefer modern potted pickups that will give you that classic tone but are drop dead quiet. I like Duncan Vintage Rails for Strat. Nothing beats Barden for Teles.

That pre-rubbed off finish where your pick arm goes isn't going to make a hoot of difference in tone, so why pay them to paint it and then the more labor intensive work of rubbing it off?

This is Fender's tribute to P.T. Barnum.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Monday Jun 13, 2005

Tim, that's what I figured the reason was, but as Jeff put it, I can't see paying those prices for something that's psuedo-vintage. I like vintage instruments as much as the next guy, but if I purchase a guitar or bass that's been dinged, I want it to be dinged from years of gigging, not treatment and fake weathering that was done at the factory. I guess I'm just old school like that.

Of course, one must also keep in mind that the reason many older Fenders look the way they do is not due to normal use or even abuse, but the paints and primers that they used. 20+ years ago, it wasn't uncommon to have a brand new Fender's finish start flaking off after a year or so.

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Tuesday Jun 14, 2005

I've bought a handful of guitars that are factory seconds, and love 'em for two reasons: 1) you don't have to worry about your pretty new instrument getting dinged, because they are pre-dinged; and 2) they are cheap.

So explain this to me. If a guitar is accidentally damaged at the factory, it's $100 cheaper. But if you want a guitar INTENTIONALLY damaged at the factory (a Relic), the price starts at about $2500.

A bunch of us should start a Relic knockoff business. We'll buy some Mexican Strats (nice instruments, those), scuff them up with sandpaper or whatever, upgrade the electronics, sell them for half the price of a Relic, and still make a nice profit.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Wednesday Jun 15, 2005

I love that idea, even more so than my idea to scalp prom tickets (don't ask).

But aren't the Relic models MIA? We would have to change the tags that say Mexico. It's going to kick ass. We could sell Relic knockoffs and then get out of the business before Fender knew what hit them. And it would serve them right for all of their mergers that screwed up what were originally excellent equipment lines i.e. Guild/DeArmond, SWR, ect. Though nothing is worse than what Gibson did with Kramer.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Wednesday Jun 15, 2005

bassist_25 wrote:I love that idea, even more so than my idea to scalp prom tickets (don't ask).

But aren't the Relic models MIA? We would have to change the tags that say Mexico. It's going to kick ass. We could sell Relic knockoffs and then get out of the business before Fender knew what hit them. And it would serve them right for all of their mergers that screwed up what were originally excellent equipment lines i.e. Guild/DeArmond, SWR, ect. Though nothing is worse than what Gibson did with Kramer.

I like the idea they had with those jeans awhile back. Take them out on a firing range and do some guitar plinking. One model could be a shotgun strat with a spray pattern of shot. A saturday night Tele could have six .38 holes.

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Wednesday Jun 15, 2005

lonewolf wrote: I like the idea they had with those jeans awhile back. Take them out on a firing range and do some guitar plinking. One model could be a shotgun strat with a spray pattern of shot. A saturday night Tele could have six .38 holes.

That's a flippin' brilliant idea, and less likely to get us massively sued by Fender. If we used Mexican guitars, we can say they got shot trying to cross the border.

So what we need here is an expert on firearms and wood. We need to make a nice hole without overly compromising the structural integrity of the guitar body . . .

ToonaRockGuy · Post by **ToonaRockGuy** » Friday Jun 17, 2005

Simple ball ammo should do it to maintain the wood's structural integrity. You won't want to use any hollowpoints or fancy high powered ammo. Look for something that has a low muzzle velocity and lower FPS rate. I'd suggest getting some of the aforementioned types of ammo and testing it on 2x4s first to make sure that the ammo will pass all the way through. If your FPS is too low, you'll get your balls stuck in your guitar.

paul · Post by **paul** » Friday Jul 01, 2005

I believe that the Relic series Fended does comes from their custom Shop in the states and it was basically set up for guys like Keith Richards whos 50's Tele is worth close to 6 figures, and he won't take it on the road. They are way overpriced for what they are. I have reliced guitars for guys before and I think its sort of stupid. Take your guitar out and play it and beat it up yourself and have more fun that way than paying 3 time as much for a relic which was done in a guitar factory by a minimum wage kid. Here is one I did a while ago for a guy in NY, before I shipped it I got my hands dirty off of my car engine and then played the thing for an hour or so. The neck was an unfinished maple neck so when I was done it looked like it was 25 years old. I even burnt the headstock by laying a lit cigarette on it, and went as far as leaving this guitar sit in the shop for a week of sanding guitars and when you opend the case before it was shipped it was like a time warp. The thing was covered with dust, dirt, grime, chips, dings and scratches and it really looked 25 years old. But there wasnt a part on it that was ove 6 months old.

It just goes to show you that you can never understand what some people will spend money on. (paying $3500 for a $700 guitar makes no sense)But if you can find that right thing and you do it right it will prevent you from working for the man.
Paul