An homage to SRV's #1 Strat, heres my home made tribute.

Clete Ritta · Post by **Clete Ritta** » 12 Feb 2013 1:23 am

One evening recently, I bought this MIM sunburst strat in like new condition for about $260 that played great. It came with a Peavey amp and a decent cable too.

I already have a couple Strats, and I really love relic' ing and modding inexpensive guitars these days as a hobby. So a day later, after applying the heat gun, scraper, hammer, chisel, dremel, sander, files, and other assorted dyes and stains, I came up with what I thought was a fairly recognizable representation of one of the most famous Strats in its long history:

There are many cheap guitars these days that actually play very well, and with a few inexpensive parts and mods, can sound really great too! I might upgrade the pickups in this, but the stock ones sound pretty good. This one had a maple neck though, which wasnt the right fretboard color to match SRV's #1 look, but it sure plays easy with all the new sanded off it. New = poly anything that is on the wood.

I later used a rosewood neck from a Squire. I was using it on my Frankentele at the time. I decided to take off the truckstop reflector initials on the bottom, but on the top horn I kept his original white paint initials that wore off there now in black. I can always get more truck stop reflector letters.

I just got some gold tuners with pearl buttons to match the lefty bridge and output jack, and this is now a great sounding and looking guitar to play! I think of Stevie every time I pick it up, and Ive already gotten quite a number of comments on this one!

Like the 1959 clay dots, theres a few details missing that aren't correct as far as an exact replica, but hey this cost me $300 and a Sunday afternoon.

Clete

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 12 Feb 2013 8:09 pm

Relicing guitars is cool I guess, its the new thing, and you have done a great job of it. It does look good.

But I'm 71 years old, so I've been a musician for a long time.
In all my years and guitars, I have never had one that looks like even the most scratched guitar. If we had one that was even a little bad looking, we repainted it, or did something to make it look better. Relic guitars are a new thing, and in no way represent the real world of old.

That said, maybe I'll try it on one of mine.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 13 Feb 2013 8:55 am

You want a brand new guitar to lool like a relic pretty quick? Loan it my nephew for a month and it will look like the Bruins skated over it.

Lenny

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 13 Feb 2013 8:57 am

You want a brand new guitar to lool like a rekic pretty quick? Loan it my nephew for a month and it will look like the Bruins skated over it.

Lenny

Clete Ritta · Post by **Clete Ritta** » 13 Feb 2013 4:21 pm

Len Amaral wrote:...Loan it my nephew for a month and it will look like the Bruins skated over it...

Ive seen this method already, no thanks! I prefer a less haphazard, err, more controlled manner of destruction. If you need to fix a fret or gouge its just extra work, IMO.

Ken Lang wrote:Relicing guitars is cool I guess, its the new thing, and you have done a great job of it. It does look good...Relic guitars...in no way represent the real world of old...

Ken, I cant agree with you more. Ive been following this trend for a while, and guys like Tom Murphy at Gibson who are experts in the field. He started out repairing very old guitars and masking the repairs to match the age of the surrounding areas. This skill led to making new guitars look aged. The rest is as they say, history.

My old guitars never really looked old. I was always worried about scratches and nicks on any guitar. Polyurethane is really tough on Fenders, almost bulletproof, and they can be kept in like new condition for a long long time. But theres that Strat on the cover of Derek and the Dominoes nicknamed Brownie that always looked so cool!

Sanding the finish down on the neck does make it actually feel smoother to me, so this is an instance where an improvement in the playability occurs with age. The older nitrocellulose lacquer finish is what really ages a great deal more than poly. It checks, wrinkles, cracks and fades all on its own and is much more susceptible to scratching and denting.

The thing I admire about these old guitars besides how they have been worn out is that more than a few of my guitar heroes have customized their own guitars when starting out. Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Morse, Stevie Ray Vaughn etc. etc. So these are tribute guitars that I enjoy building. Fender Custom Shop built a limited 100 of these SRV #1 replicas years ago that sold for a lot of money.

When SRV bought that used 62' Strat second hand it was already worn in and he just continued to wear it out. Especially the neck from a 59' that eventually did wear out! Im almost 50 and dont have time to wear out guitars like Trigger, or the money to buy expensive replicas, so I enjoy these relics as the next best thing. Plus, I dont worry about scratches and dents anymore!

Clete

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 13 Feb 2013 5:07 pm

Years ago when I bought a new guitar I would agonize over putting a scratch or nick in it. Now, the feel, balance, tone come first and if it has some finish character flaws, scratches or dents, it does not bother me.

Lenny

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 14 Feb 2013 8:38 am

When I first heard of relicing I thought "insane!" and nothing has changed my mind yet. I've assembled and finished most of my own guitars and basses with USA Custom and Warmoth wood, and there is definitely a skill to making a neck feel comfortable - but it has nothing to do with age or damage.

There are identifiable stages that a culture goes through during it's rise and decline. There's an obvious peak, and the following stage is called the "classic" period. In this context, "classic" doesn't mean the very best the culture could produce, it's the following, first-declining period when the populace are desperately trying to reproduce the peak. Woefully clutching at the peaky artifacts is a major symptom - like the Romans writing & performing crappy imitations of the best Greek plays, like the later Egyptian pharoahs making crumbly little pissant pyramids, in total imitation of the real ones erected by the big boys. Or, like Hollywood making $50,000,000 movies out of some deeply retarded 60's television sitcoms, or like you can't hardly purchase a guitar knick-knack without it promising to "use modern space-age technology to perfectly imitate some crumbly little pissant 60's amp!!!"

But good luck there.

In an ideal world we're supposed to say it looks really nice, right? OK - it looks really nice.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 14 Feb 2013 10:54 am

I wonder if you have noticed any difference in sound before and after, Clete? I could imagine with the less paint (and sealer) on the wood that the tone changes a bit. Nice job anyway!

Clete Ritta · Post by **Clete Ritta** » 15 Feb 2013 3:07 pm

Joachim, I have not noticed any change in sound. It seems to me that the sound of an electric guitar does not get affected by the finish nearly as much as acoustic instruments, if at all. I did have to bore out a small section of the body to install a left handed tremolo bridge, but I can't hear a difference from before. The pickups and wiring are stock. I would probably just buy a pickguard preloaded and wired with some better pickups and pots to change the sound on this. I will tell you that the neck does feel better to play. Its like the difference between walikng in a brand new pair of shoes and ones that have been well broken in.

I do certainly understand the negative opinion on this subject too. Its the opposite of restoration, which really is an admirable craft. This relic trend really hit the mainstream years ago when jeans were sold brand new with holes already in the knees. Im just waiting for it to catch on with cars, so I can pay extra for an old rusted junk heap.

Clete

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 16 Feb 2013 1:50 am

It seems to me that the sound of an electric guitar does not get affected by the finish nearly as much as acoustic instruments, if at all.

Clete here's here's a little story, feel free to laugh

:
I once did a very silly thing to my old blonde Tele from '71. I wanted a red color with bindigs on top.
I started to take of the laquer with paint remover and scrapers. Since I had the idea of putting red stain on the wood, I found that there also was a very hard polyesther coating to be taken off also. Here I had to use a belt sander!
When it was finally finished, it's sound became so murky, that I couldn't use it anymore, maybe at home, but not in a band situation. It didn't cut through the overall sound anymore, which a Tele normally does.
I finally trade it for a Gibson J-50. I warned the guy about the ruined Tele, but he still wanted it.

Clete Ritta · Post by **Clete Ritta** » 16 Feb 2013 3:23 pm

Maybe some of that polyester dust got in the electronics?

I try to avoid sanding plastic/poly whenever possible. Its a very unhealthy dust.
That thin coat of white sealer underneath the paint is called Fullerplast I believe.

To strip a thick poly finish to the wood fast with no chemicals or dust, use a heat gun (or hair dryer) and scraper. You will be done in less than an hour and ready to respray.

Clete