Fender Strat Road Worn ’50s electric guitar review

With recent Custom Shop relic releases like the Eric Clapton Blackie and David Gilmour's Black Strat, Fender seems to be getting into its stride in the noir-abuse department. The 'wear' on this example's alder body is what would be regarded by Fender's Custom Shop as heavy, and is mainly concentrated around the edges. There's a large section on the upper part of the body where the paint has been taken off down to the wood to emulate years of rubbing from a strumming arm, and more dents and scuffs around the bottom corner near the jack input. These marks do look pretty authentic and not too clean like some other relics we’ve come across. The addition of smaller, more random marks on the main body add the lived-in feel that the range is all about, and the back has more extensive paint loss which, again, looks genuine.
Whereas the Joe Strummer Tele, the first relic from Fender's Mexican factory, side-stepped the tricky ageing process of the fingerboard by simply using rosewood, on a '50s Strat that would just be plain wrong. But in for a penny, Fender have aged the maple board quite eagerly. The results are passable to look at if maybe a little obvious, lacking the years of sweat to properly discolour the wood, but the reward is in the playing. With its rolled edges and smooth feel the '50s Strat is a very pleasant place to spend some time, with a played-in vibe that usually takes years to achieve. The only real gripe, and it’s a small one, is the 7.25" radius (featured across the whole Road Series range). It’s the proper vintage spec, but the 9.5" of the American Standards and Highways seems a little friendlier to the modern player.
The hardware has all been lovingly distressed, again adding to the magic, with the only questionable blot on the landscape being the yellowing single-ply scratchplate which looks a little over-cooked. The wiring is standard modern five-way, with three Tex-Mex single coils just where you’d expect them. Overall it’s a very attractive Strat that looks as if it’s seen its fair share of action.

Build Quality    18/20
Playability    18/20
Sound    16/20
Value for money    17/20
Vibe    19/20
Total    88%

50s Stratocaster
Description: Solidbody electric guitar. Relic finish. Made in Mexico
Price: £889 inc. gigbag
Build: Alder body, maple bolt-on neck, 21 narrow-jumbo maple fingerboard, vintage style vibrato, Ping vintage style machineheads. All hardware is distressed to create an aged appearance
Electrics: Three Tex-Mex Strat single-coil pickups, five-way pickup selector switch, master volume and two tone controls
Left-Handers: No
Finishes: Black, two-colour sunburst. Both have nitro-cellulose lacquer
Scale length: 648mm/25.5"
Neck width:
Nut 42mm
12th fret 52mm
Depth of neck:
First fret 25mm
12th fret 25.5mm
String spacing:
Nut 35mm
Bridge 55mm
Action as supplied
12th fret treble 3mm
12th fret bass 3mm
Weight: 3.18kg/7lbs
Contact: Fender UK
01342 331700
www.fender.co.uk