Buy If...
you’re looking for a good-sounding relic’d Strat with upgraded
pickups that doesn’t come with a
Custom Shop price tag.
Skip If...
you prefer to inflict scars on
your guitar all by yourself.
Rating...
4.0
ONTHEWeb
Head online to hear sound clips of
the ‘ 60’s Stratocaster in action at
premierguitar.com
parts on the back of the neck didn’t really
feel different from the areas where the
lacquer is easily visible. Although there
are heavily worn areas on the neck, the
un-worn areas felt exactly the same, as if
the finish had been worn away, then sealed
over again. It seems to detract from the
purpose of replicating those worn areas
for comfortable feel and grip that players
used to have to work so long and hard to
create. Up close, the worn away portions
of the back of the body seemed a little
contrived, as well. This might have more to
do with the fact that it was white, as the
Tele seemed more accurate with its worn
yellow-to-white-primer areas (more on that
in a moment).
Fender ‘60s Stratocaster
Street $949
fender.com
Tonally, the Road Worn Stratocaster sounded
a little more open than the Mexican Standard
model we compared it with. Structurally,
the guitar is similar to its Mexican Standard
brethren, except that the Road Worn Strat
sports a set of Tex Mex single coils with
Alnico magnets, vintage style tuners and
a nitrocellulose finish. The combination of
upgraded pickups and thin finish allows the
sound to bloom and sustain more. The guitar
just seems more vibrant and responsive, and
the vibrations through the wood are more
noticeable than with the Mexican Standard.
This could also be due to the additional
wearing of the finish—a great side effect of
the distress treatment. Fender really did an
excellent job in crafting this instrument. It
may not beat its Custom Shop Relic cousins,
but it can certainly hang in there with them.
’50s Telecaster
Next on the block was the Road Worn
Tele, based on a ‘50s model. Removing the
Telecaster from the gig bag, we discovered
quite a visually arresting guitar. I chalked this
up partly to the fact that the fingerboard is
maple, instead of rosewood, and the body
sports a blonde finish—both of those traits
really set off the worn treatment. The body
exhibits a great attention to detail, such as
small ganks on the rear edge of the guitar and
an area worn down to the white primer on the
back, where belt buckles would normally rest
against it. Also instantly noticeable were the
worn areas on the fingerboard. After sitting
down and plugging it in to test out said fingerboard, another thing became instantly evident:
the neck felt different in certain areas, notice-ably different, in fact. The worn areas had a
smooth satin finish, but the fretting hand was
slowed as soon as it met the clearcoat. This
neck felt much more like a vintage, worn-in
neck than the Strat’s did, and it was a blast to
play. Both the Strat and Tele were run through
a 1967 Marshall Superbass head into a Bogner
4x12 cabinet. While the Strat had excellent
sustain and punch, the Tele, of course, had its
own voice… and unexpectedly more.
Once in a while, you come across a particular
guitar that exemplifies a model you’ve played
what seems like a few million times—one that
rises above the others of its kind and truly
