Hey guys I was just down at the local guitar store drooling over the 60's white road worn strat, loved the look of it, played pretty well and it sounded more like a strat than my Am Dlx ever has.

But an issue I noticed with the few Road worns in the store was that the strings were misaligned with the upper end of the fretboard on all of them.

They varied in severity, one had the high e string right on the edge of the board almost hanging off. The others weren't so bad but it still seems a big flaw in the design. Has anyone else noticed this?

And they sound better than MIA Deluxe? I've never heard a bad sounding Deluxe. Seen some that were set up badly.

Oh, Welcome to the forum!

This is a known issue with some of the Road Worn Strats. You could probably send it back to Fender for warranty repair and then it would be ready to go.

That is a problem that should not happen on a $950 guitar, or even a $250 guitar. It is a shame to hear about that. I have always thought that the MIM Strats were very good values, and I own several. But to charge almost MIA prices for that guitar with a major problem is not acceptable.

I agree, considering the new MIM strats come out as good a quality a the MIA these days too.

I just dont get it , why pay high Dollar for a new guitar that looks like it's been drug around behind someones truck. I would much rather put the road worm look on it myself. Over a peroid of years.

The quality control on the RW guitars is plain lousy.I played one that the pickgard was so warped that the bridge pickup was almost hitting the strings.I have yet to play a rw that played good off the wall.The Americans are a whole other story.I ended up buying an American Standard for 100 dollars less , witha case and couldnt be happier.

I take it you mean the higher frets 12-21. If so its a neckpocket allignment issue and quite common, especialy on old guitars. So their in keeping with the period. Its an easy fix, the ultimate answer isnt rocket science though. Its not even mechano.

RULE#1 If you see a guitar in a shop with something wrong with it, DONT BUY IT.

Never mind any of that warranty repair garbage, leave that for some idiot who doesnt spot it to have the hassle of. All that will happen is that the neck will be creaked round by the shops repair bloke and you'll be handed back the same guitar. They may make you wait a couple of days to make it look like its been off somewhere to be fixed. The allignment only has to be a smidgen off for it to happen. It can be put back straight in most cases without a shim and without anyone knowing anything.

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No no and no

Yes. I just opened my 57 American Vintage Hot Rod Strat and the first thing I noticed was the high E string was veering off the fretboard. It looked like all six strings were leaning too far to the right. After bringing my guitar to my technician he yanked on the neck and it immediately solved the problem.

It's not an uncommon issue for sure. They should really drop the price on those Road Worn Strats.

I am still trying to figure out what a strat is supposed to sound like I thought the reason for different models was they are too sound different as much as play. Plus I guess you need a strat certified amp to get the real strat sound. Just joking around but that statement. I can go along with someone saying a strat sounds like the old traditional ones when played through an old style amp. But come on they make so many different ones now with varied controls and pots and caps, pickups and they are all strats. Even I say a HWY one sounds nothing like a traditional strat. Its still a strat so my guess is you thought the Roadworn souned more like a 60's version 3 sng coil strat of the past and your deluxe sounds different.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

A quick question from a new member, owner of a '91 Mexican Strat....why are these artifically worn Teles and Strats being marketed, and what EXACTLY, is the appeal of these guitars, i.e., why would anyone want a fake-used axe?

Some people like the look of battered guitars. Keith Richards pretty much invented it. He was about to pick up some new guitars for a tour in the 90's. Complained they all looked too new and asked the builders to knock em around a bit.

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No no and no

There's nothing wrong with any of them. It's all part and parcel of the, "Road Worn" shtick.

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You dig?

If you follow eBay like I do then you've no doubt seen the massive influx of "Relic Guitars". Production series like the "Relic" and "Road Worn" or "Vintage Vibe" has caused a lot of sellers to try to pass off an old and battered guitars of little or no actual value as a "Relic". Not that I mind since I wouldn't buy one anyway but think in terms of the boom in the Vintage market. Seems to me that prior the the market crash people were snapping up anything "Vintage" and inflating the prices. People are trying to sell their Squires and Bullets for over a grand! To me, scars on a guitar don't mean nuthin less I put em on myself.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

These are, as always, just my own personal opinions so please use them for what it's worth.

I think the idea here is that to some people, the look of an "older" guitar that has been well played has some sort of appeal. When it comes a guitars, a lot of people associate "vintage" with "desirable" and RWs and Relics tend to appeal to those who like that aesthetic but don't have or aren't willing to fork out the cash for the real McCoy. Second to that, I think there is something of a trend right now for "retro"...look at the new Plymouth Challengers or Ford Mustangs for example. For a lot of folks, style and aesthetics is important...often more so than functionality. Who cares if it actually works just so long as it looks good right?

With guitars specifically though I think there's also a tendency to associate the aesthetics with concepts such as "vibe" and "mojo". It's not something that's all that easy to describe really...both are about as real as astrology or religion. However as with those two examples, if a person "believes", that is what they tend to experience. For example, if someone thinks that such and such a guitar or amp or something sounds better, to their ears it probably will.

That said, I'm not one of those people. First and foremost, I try to keep my instruments looking as nice as possible. I'm not as meticulous as some and most of my guitars do have a few bumps and bruises here and there (albeit some more than others) but over-all I like them looking as shiny and new as possible. Personally I associate the mentality of buying something like a Road Worn with the idea of buying a "new" car that comes pre-beat up from the factory. Let's face it, I don't think most people would buy a new car where someone at the factory took a sledge hammer and busted out a tail light, keyed the drivers door, ripped the seats and painted 1 rim school bus yellow. I don't think ANYONE would actually pay nearly 50% more for such a vehicle. What about your TV or your stereo system or your computer? Are most people really going to buy the computer with the sticky keyboard that has cigarette burns in the plastic or are they going to buy the nice new one sitting next to it that's less expensive?

Guitars are, quite obviously different. Some people seem to think that playing something that looks old and beat up some how makes them look "cool". It's a rather strange stigma if you stop and think about it. Either way, personally I've played a couple of RW's now (as well as some Relics) and I really have not been impressed. Because they're mass produced, there's nothing really unique about them, as other's have stated, they do seem to have a few issues and other than the aesthetic considerions which are obviously a bit subjective, they don't really play or sound all that great comparatively speaking.

I guess ultimately people are welcome to waste their money any way they choose and certainly everyone's tastes and priorities are different, but personally I'd rather have something that looks nice, plays nice and sounds great rather than something that's going to be perceived as "cool" or "expensive". As a guitar player, I'd much rather be judged by my playing and my music as apposed to how I "look".

BTW...I have a '96 Mexican Strat and I love her! Yea, I've done a lot of work on her over the years to personalize her but she's my "#1" and I would take her over a Road Worn, let alone a Relic -ANY- day.

Again, just my own personal opinions.
Jim