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New Roadworns for 2011?

So... much... anodization!

Look decent, except the surf in the back.

Near-identical wear pattern is near-identical. If fender expended half the energy it does on relicing stuff on giving other people more options (much like making all those rad mustang colour options available outside of japan), I'd take much more interest in stuff like NAMM.

I wish that, instead of doing the relicing for you, they simply sprayed a thinner, lighter finish that would wear away quickly. They could market them as "relic-ready" or "relicable". At least then the wear would be natural, rather than a thick, plasticy finish that's been sanded through and never really ages any further.

Like a '50s Danelectro, for example. Just a year of regular play is enough to get to the primer.

Never been a fan of the road worns, and these look the silliest. I'd be much happier if they released these guitars like new with thin coats of nitro, a vintage tint neck (maybe sanded a touch on the back), and adding a little rust to the hardware to get it on it's way. Distressed or relic'd anything is lame.

Will beats me to it.

I'm kind of with you guys, it all seems a bit silly.

Just the same, I reckon that having a beat up guitar finished in nitro for some reason would probably give me license to play it hard for a lifetime and not worry too much about what happens to it, nicks and all. But it's all a mixed bag: The 50s Road Worn telecaster body is a good example of one that I wouldn't feel too stupid about playing, although the ass'y line belt sanded "forced worn" neck might as well be a middle finger in my face.

Will wrote:I wish that, instead of doing the relicing for you, they simply sprayed a thinner, lighter finish that would wear away quickly. They could market them as "relic-ready" or "relicable". At least then the wear would be natural, rather than a thick, plasticy finish that's been sanded through and never really ages any further.

I know! They could call them "Thinskin" guitars!

benecol wrote:

Will wrote:I wish that, instead of doing the relicing for you, they simply sprayed a thinner, lighter finish that would wear away quickly. They could market them as "relic-ready" or "relicable". At least then the wear would be natural, rather than a thick, plasticy finish that's been sanded through and never really ages any further.

I know! They could call them "Thinskin" guitars!

However, they're A LOT more expensive than the RW series (US made I suppose), and the Hot Rods with "thinskins" actually have a poly undercoat. Why not put real thinskins (i.e. the pure nitro finish) on the menu for MIM, MIJ, or dare I say it, Classic Vibes? (though the CV is a pipe dream, I admit)

you're not allowed to spray nitro in large quantities in the US because it's hazardous to the environment. that's why they only ever use it in short runs. and I've heard that the poly undercoat is just a sealer, the vintage guitars had a similar sealer.

That started in the late 60's. We're talking about guitars that are trying to be 50's or 60's reincarnations (knitpicky point there). Though I respect the environmental issues.

nah, just more custom shops to make the room look pretty

Making a guitar "easily relicable" misses the point, though. Even with a relic'ed guitar I'd bet the majority of owners would be mortified if they got a chip of their own on the carefully distressed finish.

Relic guitars are fucking daft mostly. The only ones I really like the look of are those Vintage ones which makes sense to me. Why would you spend more than a few hundred on a guitar somebody has gone at with a dremel for a bit?

I don't mind them . . .

if you'r someone like me, who doesn't gig much (anymore) and you spend your time playing around the house practicing and just playing for the fun of it, I can see why a cheaper alternative to a real "road worn" vintage style tele or strat is a great thing. I can't afford a vintage strat or tele but would LOVE to own a vintage tele, so I can at least get part of the way there with these.

That said, I would NEVER use one live. That is why I ended up trading my Joe Strummer tele. I loved the way the guitar played and looked but it was my only guitar to take on tour and I just felt a fraud once I started playing the guitar on stage and getting questions like, "Man! How old is that thing?!?!" uhhhhh. "3 years old"

And the finishes don't seem as bad when they're not all shown off in a line like that or at a guitar center. Once you separate them they don't seem as repetitive.

They just released the new Road Worn Players series. Basically they are reliced but not as much as the original Road worn series.

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^ yeah, those look much better. still the belt sanded forearm contour is a little much for my taste. it just needs to have a slightly dulled finish, smoothed out neck and maybe rough it up around the edges a bit. that's it. the stuff that looks like a dremel has been taken to it is taking it too far. and it looks cheesy. it's the same thing as buying distressed jeans it is totally lame.

I wouldn't fault anyone for getting one of the maple neck S-S-S strats though. they look pretty cool.

GeorgeF wrote:That started in the late 60's. We're talking about guitars that are trying to be 50's or 60's reincarnations (knitpicky point there). Though I respect the environmental issues.

well, the late 60s guitars were full on poly. the finish wasn't as thickly applied as some newer guitars that look like they've been straight dipped in a vat of poly though. and I think this was a more significant difference than is often given credit. anyway I looked into it more and for the 50s and early 60s guitars it is a popular misconception that they were ever full on nitro, they always used a sealer of some sort under the paint. in addition to that a great deal of the custom colors were never nitro. they were acrylic. here's a thing I found about fullerplast, you may have heard of it, it's one of the sealer's fender used:

Fullerplast soaks into the wood and creates a seal that prevents following coats from soaking into the wood like a sponge. This means spraying the color coats is easier and the coats can be applied thinner (saving material, money and dry time). Even though alder is a "closed pore" wood, the first few coats of lacquer will soak in like a sponge without some type of sealer coat. Fullerplast dries in 15 minutes, and is paintable in one hour. It is also applied very thin.

Most experts agree the actual product Fullerplast actually started to be used around 1963 at Fender. Prior to that, Fender used other products as their sealer coat, but they did the same thing. The sealer allowed any color coat (be it sunburst or a custom color) to not soak into the wood. Since the sealer is essentially a clear inexpensive primer, less color would be needed (and color costs a lot more money than a cheap sealer).

so really the topcoat has pretty much always been the only nitro bit anyway. the significant differences with the vintage nitro finished guitars are that a.) nitro feels nicer to the touch. it's feels more natural, organic or wood like not as plasticy as poly, b.) again the coats were sprayed thinner back then.

Gawd I HAET anodized gold pickguards.

Mage is full of TRUTH in this thread.

Mages wrote:the significant differences with the vintage nitro finished guitars are that a.) nitro feels nicer to the touch. it's feels more natural, organic or wood like not as plasticy as poly, b.) again the coats were sprayed thinner back then.

cellulose is a plant product, so that makes sense.