So this is how you do it your self. Go out and play as many as you can. Till you find THE ONE FOR YOU. Buy it take it home and play it as much as you can. Change the strings every week or 10 days, play out as much as you can play with others. Drag that thing everywhere with, you love it ,sweat on it play it till it hurts your fingers. And lo and behold in a few years you will have your own genuine Road Worn strat. One that you can remember ever ding ,worn spot from you arm worn spots on the neck from hours of you playing it.. And along the way you will prolly become a smoking hot player.. Just my 2 cents Markdavid

Right on!!!

_________________
60th Anniversary AD Strat, Deluxe Nashville Tele, Player's P Bass. Mesa/Boogie Mk IV combo, Marshall JCM800, 1960A cab, Genz Benz El Diablo 60, Genz 2x12" cab, too many neat little practice amps and kit projects!

Wow, what a break through... I think you are honestly the first person to ever come up with this idea... playing your guitar to produce wear.. You sir are revolutionary [ Extreme Sarcasm].

This whole Relic hate is getting just as old as the saturation of the market with the relics. If you like your guitars shiney or reliced the old fashioned way, then do it. They haven't stopped making shiney new guitars. They make the relics for the people who like them. You don't understand it but there is a market for them nonetheless. I don't like Britney Spears but some people do and they buy her records. So let the relic lovers buy em and play em, and you play the guitars you like. See, not so hard...

also i've heard those artificially relic'd necks play like butter

Let's all just not voice any opinions on here at all then. How about that? Oh wait, this thread about relic hate! Game on!

Five letter word for fake relic: POSER!!

_________________
60th Anniversary AD Strat, Deluxe Nashville Tele, Player's P Bass. Mesa/Boogie Mk IV combo, Marshall JCM800, 1960A cab, Genz Benz El Diablo 60, Genz 2x12" cab, too many neat little practice amps and kit projects!

why so much hate?

My post was not to hate on Roadworn guitars. Just to find one and make it yours. With all of the fun things that come with playing a good guitar for years and years.. No hatein here.. BTW I have a bad case of G.A.S. Live and let live.. Just Play guitar.. Aloha from Maui, MarkDavid

What does changing the strings have to do with it?

_________________
Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

It's like clothes made to look worn.

_________________

The thing to consider is that a modern poly finish is not going to wear like an old nitro one. You could play it every day for the next 10 years and unless you deliberately abuse it, the body is pretty much going to look like it did the day you bought it.

And to the guy who commented - yes they do play like butter. That relicing somehow is echo'd in the feel of the things in your hand.

If there is any hate, it seems to be directed at the players of relics rather than the guitars themselves. It doesn't bother me at all, but some folks seem to object to the ready made look look that implies you're a veteran with yrs of playing behind you, when you might actually be a newbie struggling with your open chords..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Yep - for some reason it reminds me of the Marines on Guadalcanal. When the new guy replacements came in, they all wanted to look 'salty', so they wanted to swap their nice crisp dungarees for the veterans' old thread-bare ones. The vets of course were thrilled to have nice new BDUs to wear after so much time in the jungle, and didn't give a $@!& that soon the groups looked reversed in appearance...the vets just knew better.

Relics? Not for me. I couldn't take my 'new' guitars purposely being abused to look 'beat up'. Or paying for it either. YMMV.

My CS Relic strat means a lot to me. If you want to go out and buy a REAL 1960 Strat, that's your problem. If you think you can wear down a Poly finish, then by all means, LOL, go ahead. However, if you want a guitar that looks like one you've always wanted, but could never afford, then go for it. I say more power to the Road Worn series, it means that younger players are actually paying attention to the history of the Strat, and aren't out buying those POS guitars with the 1970's huge logo that brings nothing but terrible memories to those old enough to have played a real 70s strat, or god-forbid, the Hello Kitty Squier series.

the heads of young John Mayer fans everywhere are spontaneously combusting at the thought of this blasphemy! Relic a guitar the right way? Well that would take years!! No way!

Agree with topic starter, play the guitar and relic it naturally. Seriously, $900 for a MIM guitar someone else reliced?

_________________
I got a black cat bone, I got a mojo too.

personaly i feel the whole Relic thing has
played itself out. it realy all started with the
highway one's. then the road worns. customshop Relics.
Fender please stop with the Relics! there anoying!!!!

Hello strat2004! I say play and let play!