# Home built '65 relic strat



## davesvintage (Mar 31, 2009)

Hi there,
I thought I would post some pics of my new '65 style relic strat. I needed an eye catching relic to showcase my handwound pickups at the recent Vancouver guitar show. I started with a very beat to crap '89 Fender Japanese reissue body from Ebay and went from there. I had to fill some serious damage and I went for a home paint job kind of look. I deliberately didn't match the blue paint to create a do it yourself repair effect that I have seen on real vintage guitars. The neck was an unfinished Allparts SRO-21 that sprayed in amber nitro tint. I spent a few hours sanding the sides and the fret edges so this baby is smooth. I aged the Fender USA reissue bridge and also a set of new double lined Klusons. There is a mixture of real aged Fender screws and also some new reliced ones. The jack cup is from an '80s Fender. The pickguard and plastics are new and I aged them myself. The pickups are my own handwinds and I also aged the poles. I also stuck on '65 decal for effect.

The guitar was a hit and so far there have been lots of good comments. I figure if you can't afford a real '65 then build something that at least looks a little like one!!

Here are some pics of "Old Blue" 65 Relic strat pictures by davesvintage - Photobucket

Cheers Dave

Dave's Vintage Guitars


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Looks great! Nice job.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Nice work man... not a fan of blue..but in this case it turned out damn well. is that Acrylic?....ONLY thing i can say i "personnaly" don't like is the NASH style relic on the neck, wich i never saw on a real old gutiar. Otherwise..looks damn good.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

al3d said:


> Nice work man... not a fan of blue..but in this case it turned out damn well. is that Acrylic?....ONLY thing i can say i "personnaly" don't like is the NASH style relic on the neck, wich i never saw on a real old gutiar. Otherwise..looks damn good.


The neck isn't that far off my 66' Alain.


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## davesvintage (Mar 31, 2009)

Thanks, the body finish is actually the original Fender so I am guessing it is poly. It had all the dings and scrapes and such already, alll I needed to do was fill that massive hole and wet sand the shine off. I used car touch up paint to paint that patch. 

I looked at a whole bunch of pics of different real vintage and also relic necks backs and made my own interpretation. There is always room for improvement and this was is first I have done. The style that I don't like is the straight up and down finished in almost black, that to me is a bit off.

I liked the sea foam green strat you did a while ago, by the way.

Cheers Dave.


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## davesvintage (Mar 31, 2009)

Thanks, this was the first. I am working on a Gilmour style black strat. I have an '83 SQ strat body cut for a Kahler that I am going to fill so that should look good. I will use an Allparts pre tinted nitro neck, I have a real '95 USA reissue neck that I was also thinking of using. I have the 1 ply bevelled pickguard and I have wound the pickups, all I need is time.

Cheers Dave.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Looks great - I love that colour. The only thing which doesn't look quite right to me is the back of the neck. The transition from the finished part of the neck to the worn, unfinished part doesn't look genuine. But, that's a very minor criticism - looks like a great vehicle to demonstrate your pickups.


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## davesvintage (Mar 31, 2009)

Thanks for the feedback. This the first relic Strat I have built so I might improve the neck back on the next one. The guitar was and still is a hit with the customers so it has served me well. The colour was a fluke, it just popped up on Ebay for the right price and saved me from painting one. I had a beat old real '62 in my shop about 6 months ago and it had been sanded back to selaer in the '80s, it was pretty rough. I think I might do a body like that next, back to sealer with a few flecks of burst. I like that '60s Strat the Andy Alledort plays for the Guitar World vids.

Cheers Dave.


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