Fender Road Worn Stratocaster
| Posted in Guitar
The Fender Road Worn 50′s Stratocaster may have incurred mixed reactions when it was launched, but its fans are many. Nevertheless, the whole subject of whether a guitar should be deliberately damaged before it leaves the factory gate is the subject of endless discussion on guitar websites worldwide. Is the whole point of getting a new instrument, much like buying a new car, that it’s beyond pristine when you open the case for the first time? We all know how that first ‘ding’ feels; again, who hasn’t felt gutted for weeks about scratching their new car? Or is the allure of an instrument that looks aged from the get-go – much like a well worn-in pair of trainers – enough to dismiss the purists’ concerns?
As we know, ‘reliced’ or ‘aged’ guitars have been around for some time but who do they appeal to? Why do we want a guitar that looks like an old one, with artificial scratches and dents? I know some guys who are horrified at the very idea of this and simply reject the whole business, and that’s fine. But there are a whole lot of us, and I don’t just mean those of us on the ass end of the boat, who get a big thrill out of seeing, holding and playing a vintage instrument. Now, by vintage I don’t mean just the usual suspects, but anything that has history, some baggage attached, some stories of beer soaked dressing rooms and smoke filled cellars where the real rock and roll takes place.
This is what these Fender Road Worn guitars are really about, and it’s not just dreamy nostalgia. The range in which the roadworn 50′s Strat sits also includes a Fender Road Worn 60s Stratocaster, a Fender Road Worn Telecaster, a Fender Road Worn Jazz Bass and a Precision Bass, all in various classic finishes. These are serious instruments, with hot pickups, big Dunlop frets and nitro finishes. Pick one up and it feels friendly, as though you’ve already owned it for a while. Plug it up and there it is! Fender! The piano-string bottom end, fruity middle pickup and instant SRV neck pickup sounds, and Layla era Clapton, ‘in-between’ sounds, are all present and totally (tonally!) correct.
Both versions of the Road Worn Strat – the 60′s model with its rosewood board, and the 50′s version with a maple board – have the typical tonal characteristics of the different woods, from the brightness of the maple to the depth of the rosewood. Moreover, alongside the lived-in look, the guitars boast that familiar played-in feel. Lovely stuff.
The next time you go out on a gig take an old, road worn friend with you.
Tags: fender, Stratocaster