Still Kickin Blog — vintage relic guitar

You may have heard whispers about how Fender Custom Shop relics are being produced. If not, it's a disturbing rumor that seems to be gaining credence. Reports have surfaced in some chat rooms where members have compared their "Custom Shop" relics that cost upwards of $4000 only to find they have identical wear marks, meaning in essence, these buyers paid premium prices for relic guitars that were supposedly custom made, but may have actually been made on a production line with a cookie cutter appearance. If true, this would most likely mean they were made with the aid of stencils that allow any line worker to...

So you like the idea of a guitar that looks like it's been around the block and you're looking at relic guitars. Here's something to keep in mind. If you can afford that Fender Custom Shop relic for four grand, yea awesome, it's gonna look great. BUT...you're still getting a NEW guitar. That's right. It may look 20 or 30 years old, but those are new woods on that beauty. Same with those relic shops you'll find that put together "Strats" and "Teles" that they make from Fender licensed parts.

I don't pretend to understand the physics involved,...

A gallery featuring some of the past guitar relic work we've done, including Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster, Fender Stratocaster, from heavy relic to light or medium worn look.