Overkill or on point from the Fender Custom Shop? 🤷🏼‍♂️

Never understood the relic thing. To quote Frank Zappa, "shut up and play yer guitar."

I like some relics because the guitar feels broken in and has nicks and dings—eliminating the ‘weeks of grief after the first ding’ feeling.

guitar/vocals/chill

Overkill. Fender is overwhelming its own market and these prices are not sustaining. I have 4 custom shops and forget making any $, I can’t sell them for 60% of what I paid.

Same with all the new amps. 40% depreciation off the lot.

I prefer to get the weathered wear n' tear from actual years of playing, gigging, etc. Especially if I'm going to pay upwards of a couple thousand dollars. If I'm buying an expensive guitar, I want it to be prestine when I get it and let it wear down naturally from playing.

Relic'ing a guitar does not add any true value to the guitar. It's like paying extra for a pair of jeans that looks ripped. Just buy a normal Strat, if you're Strat, and let those dings come from your playing.

Matter of taste. For me? Overkill. I recently bought a lightly aged Murphy LP and like it because the neck paint is slightly cracked and it allows me slide my neck hand up the neck easier when sweating. That Strat is overly aged to me.

That aging would never happen on a poly finish in the 80s, but for someone that guitar is the holy grail.

why bother with the back plate at all if you're going to leave it pristine like that? to me it looks like a pair of brand-new "aged" jeans with perfect little holes and fades all over, but the denim is stiff as a board

Relics are ridiculous stepdad blues boomer junk already, but that one is just so poorly done