Fender CS neck relic process :(

[Intune]

I wondered about one thing..
In 30 years down the line, how "worn out" will a heavy relic guitar (that was heavy worn to begin with) look like.?
Will they be unplayable?

Well it’s just the finish that’s aged. If the finish is removed from the neck or body, in a lifetime I don’t think one would wear through the neck to make it unplayable. Frets maybe but that’s any played guitar really.

 

[knh555]

Totally agree with all your comments here. I hate the look of the belt sander blasted neck from fret1-17. Played several and they do feel good. But I can't see myself buying one like that. I recently pulled out my nacho Blackard book, and almost none have that kind of wear pattern. I can't believe fender basically does one relic style, or essentially none.

So this could be a good finish option for a neck that at least some people think plays well and feels good, but not if you care more about it looking like an old, well-loved guitar.

Form or function?

 

[CigBurn]

I much prefer a neck with no finish along the back side. Just feels so much nicer to me. Its a bonus that it also looks good with a well done relic body.

 

[budglo]

I bought mine in 2015. First year of the journeyman relic. It has a heavy relic neck. I have to LOL at the belt sander comments. If you were blindfolded you would not be able to tell where the finish line is. It’s one of the nicest necks I have played on a Fender. They put a heavy relic neck on the journeyman because the heavy relic neck is so popular and they would sell more guitars that way. Smart people those Fender people. Here is a pic of the back of my neck. I feel kind of ripped off as i have finish at the 10th fret instead of starting the at the 17th.

 

[Emilio Olivas]

I'm just here to express frustration with the almost uniformly lazy neck relics coming out of the custom shop. "Sand all the finish off in a straight line from the 1st to 17th frets" Every time. Same look.

Very few old guitars look like this. I love the feel of an old neck - but these fel like "Larry had a Scotch Brite pad" pawnshop necks.

Am I alone here?

 

[Bladesg]

Road worn are much better

 

[stratman323]

Could you correct the spelling in your poll please? The correct spelling of the word in the English language is "relicking". You missed out that vital "K".

 

[stratman323]

Road worn are much better

Road Worn necks (the one place you want nitro!) are 100% poly. That's why they look so awful.

 

[Bladesg]

Road Worn necks (the one place you want nitro!) are 100% poly. That's why they look so awful.

Obviously my sarcasm wasn’t obvious enough…

 

[stratman323]

Obviously my sarcasm wasn’t obvious enough…

Obviously. Why would it be obvious?

 

[Wulfrik]

I’m not a fan of the look of abrupt transition between laquer and none either, but it feels nice.

Interestingly, I visited Andertons for a look around last year whilst I was on the mainland, and they had some CS strats that they’d spec’d for themselves which had a much more subtle and graduated lacquer removal. They were just gorgeous… but way above my means, sadly.

 

[Intune]

I’m not a fan of the look of abrupt transition between laquer and none either, but it feels nice.

Interestingly, I visited Andertons for a look around last year whilst I was on the mainland, and they had some CS strats that they’d spec’d for themselves which had a much more subtle and graduated lacquer removal. They were just gorgeous… but way above my means, sadly.

Yeah I’d definitely agree that the bare back on a light relic doesn’t really look the part. I think they do it because that’s what people want. People in this thread obviously but I think once you play one of these bare back necks it’s a different story. It’s more of how good it feels versus how it looks. I mean there’s load of people deglazing or removing the finish from all sorts of neck for this reason.

 

[Lonn]

Both of mine are nitro and were done by Tricked Out Guitars. Both are Allparts. They’re different from each other but pretty realistic IMO.

 

[Intune]

Both of mine are nitro and were done by Tricked Out Guitars. Both are Allparts. They’re different from each other but pretty realistic IMO.

View attachment 621997 View attachment 621998 View attachment 621999

They look really good. The whole “it doesn’t look authentic” to me doesn’t really make any sense.

 

[Butcher of Strats]

I much prefer a neck with no finish along the back side. Just feels so much nicer to me. Its a bonus that it also looks good with a well done relic body.

This seems to be debated, but "no finish" is probably not correct.
Some sort of sealer is almost certainly used, and/ or the neck is finished in nitro which soaks in a bit and seals the maple, then sanded back but still sealed.
A finish called a sealer is still a finish.
Removing the tinted nitro and adding dirt style staining, may make it look like the maple is bare, but if bare, how did it get discolored?
The shop had to add some tint or stain tonget the aged coloring, and add it in a way it would not just wipe off, somehow permanently attaching the aged coloring to the maple.

Sweetwater refers to a "razor-thin nitro backing" indicating the relic has some nitro on the back to seal the wood.
Bare maple with no finish at all, will grain raise if it gets wet.
Then the grain stays raised when it dries, and you need to sand it smooth again.
For a maple neck to stay smooth, it needs some sort of finish to seal it so it does not absorb sweat, beer whiskey and blood like a sponge!

Fender Custom Shop 1967 Time Machine Relic Stratocaster - Aged Firemist Silver

Solidbody Electric Guitar with Alder Body, Rift-sawn Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, and 3 Single-coil Pickups - Aged Firemist Silver

www.sweetwater.com

 

[Butcher of Strats]

Maybe part of some of us disliking the transition, is how orange Fender tints the nitro since whenever it was they switched from new being their thing to reissues of old being their thing.
The overly orange tints vary and the most orange looks bad to me, but shoppers who were not alive in 1965 when no more pre CBS Fenders were being made and the used ones were still pretty new, may never have seen how NOT orange Fender made their necks back then.

Same with BSB, the classic Tele color I cannot stand!
Fender never made a single BSB Tele ever not a single one!
Fender sprayed them white, and the white yellowed with age.
same with the old nitro neck finish, it was not orange, but as it aged it got more amber and not really as orange as many current necks are sprayed.
Look at the non vintage necks and maple is kind of ugly with no tint at all, amber is beautiful on maple, but orange goes to the ugly side.
FCS does not seem to spray the really ugly orange, but they do look too orangey to me, and if the player worn surface is kimd of gray, the headstock and heel might be better if less contrasting, less brightly colored.

 

[Intune]

Maybe part of some of us disliking the transition, is how orange Fender tints the nitro since whenever it was they switched from new being their thing to reissues of old being their thing.
The overly orange tints vary and the most orange looks bad to me, but shoppers who were not alive in 1965 when no more pre CBS Fenders were being made and the used ones were still pretty new, may never have seen how NOT orange Fender made their necks back then.

Same with BSB, the classic Tele color I cannot stand!
Fender never made a single BSB Tele ever not a single one!
Fender sprayed them white, and the white yellowed with age.
same with the old nitro neck finish, it was not orange, but as it aged it got more amber and not really as orange as many current necks are sprayed.
Look at the non vintage necks and maple is kind of ugly with no tint at all, amber is beautiful on maple, but orange goes to the ugly side.
FCS does not seem to spray the really ugly orange, but they do look too orangey to me, and if the player worn surface is kimd of gray, the headstock and heel might be better if less contrasting, less brightly colored.

I agree about the orange neck tint doesn’t really look great, neither does bone white. I r tried 100 times now to get a balance between bone white and amber but my necks always seem to turn out brown!! I need to find the right mix.

As far as the BSB tele, they were white but blond. Which has a yellow to it anyway. All the 50’s teles until they started doing a bright white blonde always had a yellow hue to them. Here’s my 20 year old CS tele, it’s slightly faded but I’d imagine a 20 year old tele in 1970 would look similar. So not sure they were ever white.

Here’s my failed neck attempts. They just look brown.

 

[Wulfrik]

Not sure what’s going on with my tele, but it appears there’s some sort of relic job been done on it.



It’s apparently nitro… certainly the acetone test bears out, but hardly anything else that the eBay seller said about the original guitar that it came from in the description seemed to be true.

Feels nice though, although I wish it was fatter. One day it will get some jumbo frets fitted.

 

[Intune]

Not sure what’s going on with my tele, but it appears there’s some sort of relic job been done on it.

View attachment 622028 View attachment 622029 View attachment 622030

It’s apparently nitro… certainly the acetone test bears out, but hardly anything else that the eBay seller said about the original guitar that it came from in the description seemed to be true.

Feels nice though, although I wish it was fatter. One day it will get some jumbo frets fitted.

Whatever’s happened to it, it looks great. Warmoth neck?

 

[Rufustelestrat]

Sometimes