Went to GC this weekend for some strings and happened upon one of those David Gilmour relic strats. That thing costs 4k? Really? Beat to hell - seriously, almost like somebody tied it to the back of their car & drove to work. Anyway, I messed around with it for a couple of minutes. Didn't like the feel - the neck was too shallow for me. Just my opinion, but I don't get how Fender can charge so much for these. I think your money is better spent on a new upper-end Fender.

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'10 Gibson LP Studio Faded
'09 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
'08 Fender Classic Player 60s Stratocaster
'07 Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster
'05 Breedlove AC 25 SR Plus

Relics are an "acquired" taste.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I thought the Gilmour Relic was a "new upper-end Fender" ?

Point taken - I meant something along the lines of an American Deluxe, or the Hot Rod series. 4k is definitely upper-end - I was referring to regular production models.

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'10 Gibson LP Studio Faded
'09 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
'08 Fender Classic Player 60s Stratocaster
'07 Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster
'05 Breedlove AC 25 SR Plus

Its all in the eyes of the beholder.You have to remember the Gilmour strat is a Custom Shop piece and reflects the Custom Shop price.I believe its also available in the "non reliced " version. I have 2 upper production model strats and am pretty happy with them.

I also played this guitar and I wasn't wowed by it either.

As for the price, well you're basically paying for the hours and hours of workmanship and attention to detail.

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1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus

The dumbest part of the relic'd Gilmour strat, is that his actual strat looks nothing like it, its not nearly as beat up looking as the relic. Plus, a $4000 copy of a guitar that any regular non celebrity would be lucky if they got $500 for the actual guitar. Being a CBS era garbage body, that's been routed and filled in so many times that only about half the wood in the body is original.

I own an NOS version and consider it a nicely done piece. Can't please all the people all of the time.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I'm with you Doc! Some might not be used to the 7.25 neck and the vintage frets but I like them. I also find the combination of pickups on the guitar are exactly what I wanted. Like you said,not everyone likes the same specs, but for me it fits the bill!!

Im not into the Relics much either but man I would love me a Jeff Beck white strat

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I agree, it's a really cool/unique looking guitar, and I'd definitely prefer the NOS version to the relic - I just can't see spending that kind of money on a new guitar designed specifically to look all beat up, but I know/appreciate that others can. What I could not get over was the feel of the neck, and I've never really studied the specs on the guitar. So THAT'S what a 7.25" neck feels like? Got it. To me, it felt like a neck I might find on an Ibanez. But as you mentioned, there are people out there who definitely prefer that. I take it you have one - cool; enjoy it.

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'10 Gibson LP Studio Faded
'09 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
'08 Fender Classic Player 60s Stratocaster
'07 Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster
'05 Breedlove AC 25 SR Plus

I have tried these out as well - I wouldn't say that a Gilmour is the "typical" 7.25" radius neck; the Gilmour neck is a copy of a specific 1984 USA-built '57 reissue Strat neck that was really slim and kind of between a "C" and a "V" shape - Gilmour had bought 3-4 '57 Reissues and a couple of '62 Reissues right before he toured for the "About Face" album; his two favorites were a candy apple red '57 reissue (that now has the EMG pickups on it) and a vintage white '57 reissue that he used on the Paul McCartney "Give My Regards to Broad Street" tour. As he was putting the "Black Strat" back together he wound up using the neck from the vintage white one on it; that is the neck that the CS copied for his signature model.

Back then both the '62 and the '57 used the same neck shape and it has been called a "slim-shouldered C". The back shape does come off as being somewhat closer to a current Ibanez Joe Satriani signature than a current Fender AV '62 and it is certainly not close to the small V shape used on the current AV '57s. As you say it would be a very acquired taste.

John, that's a great summation. I never cease to be amazed at what members bring to the table here. I've often thought I'd come to expect it but then someone comes up with something like yours, or another one of Chromeface's pics, I'm impressed all over again.

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"Another day in paradise!"

It's a great summation! There is a lot of great information in the book about the build and life of the guitar that came with the case candy. Excellent read! I do own a NOS Gilmour strattastic and like I said it fits the bill for me. You should not be surprised anymore Doc, although I know of what you speak my friend!!

You and I took the leap around the same time three years ago and were pleased, as were many others. No arguments there. As for John's commentary, somewhere else in these pages is a narrative as to how many necks were actually on that guitar from its inception. It may actually be his post. Can't remember exactly where I read it but I did.
The reference was made to the fact that the information therein, though not made part of Taylor's book, was indeed fact.

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"Another day in paradise!"