Fender Roadworn Strat set up

In my head I tell myself 'I don't care much for deliberately relic'd guitars'; I'm not that kind of person. But then I get one in my hands and even though it's obvious that the big chunks of finish scraped back to the wood are not the result of years of genuine play wear, I can't help but like it. It's probably more to do with the overall scrubbiness of the finish (which does look and feel more credible), the faded looking scratchplate and hardware... the feel of the neck and the tone. Thankfully the most obvious relic'ing, while clearly deliberate, is live-able-with. From 3 feet away you stop noticing and to be fair, it IS a lot better than, say, Vintage's relic'ing on their Icon strats and Double cuts.
So altogether, this does work because the feel of it, then the tone, and then the look of it add up to more than the sum of its parts. Funny how I dread the sight of most USA and Mexican maple-boarded, gloss-finished Fenders because of the risk of their poly finishes flaking off during the set up & fret levelling process. Here the finish has been helped! Of course, the difference is that this is a nitro finish and the regular Strats are a poly (or more correctly a 'urethane') finish if I'm not mistaken.

[@jmakc3541]

Tex Mex pickups are tough to beat for the $. There's definitely something about them. Very versatile. EDIT: On builds, I always enlarge the neck mount holes on the body simply to make neck alignment adjustments easier. I found that if those holes are too tight, you'll never get some necks completely straight in the pocket.

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Knowing my customer I don't think he'll be removing the neck for any reason so it was less of an issue. But ideally, yes, they should be 'loose tunnels' for the screws to go through AND move slightly if necessary.

[@henrykobee]

I've got one from 2012 in sunburst, best guitar I could ever buy. Found it NOS in a store 2 years ago. It took me 6 months to set it to my string gauges and my tuning with the floating bridge. But now it's incredible, such a marvelous guitar

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

I can understand why you stuck with it. It is a well done guitar.

[@ranman58635]

I have to say, stratocaster is my favorite. I'm about to get my vintage series back the way it was supposed to be. It had a blonde neck. I'll go roasted. Good video

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

I'm the same; a Strat man at heart!

[@ranman58635]

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars , I wish I could come there. I just got offered a guitar shop. Bet you didn't know, I'm not allowed to play guitar in my own home. Sick of it!

[@strumminronin]

Thanks Sam! This is spooky, I have been casually looking at these Road Worn Vinteras recently AND not one but TWO youtubers have shared what I have been thinking, you, and another guy in the past couple of hours! I don't technically know you or the other youtuber! It's not even Halloween!

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

It's a SIGN! :D (Disclaimer: Reloved Guitars accepts no liability for the accuracy or otherwise of the views contained blah blah blah...)

[@strumminronin]

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars LOL and Thanks Sam :) It's a sign of what... that's the fun part!

[@stephenlohnes7924]

When you adjust the string height at the saddles what height do you aim for each string?

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

I set the saddles to give a spread of heights of the string above the last fret ranging from 1.5mm low E last fret across to 1.25mm high E last fret. The in-between strings increase by a tiny amount moving up from the low E to the high E. It's partly measurement and partly done by eye (which you can get used to over many years!).

[@ronnielopez9644]

Greetings Sam!!! Is string bending the reason you start fret leveling on the high e string?

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

@@ronnielopez9644 hi Ronnie - more force of habit, but it is also useful as a ‘diagnostic’ of the general condition of the neck. Most, if not all, of the chokes on bends occur when pushing the high e and B across into the ‘G track’ so I like to take care of the treble side of the neck first. Once in over the hill (the centre line of the neck) then I’m coming down to the bass side, looking to alleviate or remove ‘fret slap’ from those thicker, wound strings. You could do the whole thing in reverse if it suited you that way :)

[@gold94wing]

Hi, Sam, that Fender amp sounds great. What model is it?

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Hi @gold94wing (I wonder what motorcyle you ride?) :) It's a Fender Mustang III amp.. you're right, it was sounding good. I keep thinking "Oh, I'll take this back for band practice / gigs and bring the Katana to the workshop..." and once I done it, I then think the opposite and reverse my decision lol. I do think it's a very powerful, capable amp... I think that its complexity tires me out. It's SO tweakable, adjustable... yet I still end up with a whole set of patches with crazy different volumes that I can't use in practice, even if I like the tone I've made. I keep reverting to a bizarre mix of my MicroCube (as a pre-amp / pedal) into a clean channel in my Katana because it gives me as much control as I want from as few (very familiar) amp models and knobs. Simplicity is what I need!

[@gold94wing]

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars I appreciate the time you spent sharing these great insights. Much obliged. Unfortunately, the Mustang III is no longer available in the United States, although I may still find a used one. It apparently was replaced by the Mustang GTX, but it does not have the same projection as yours. Oh well. And yes, I still have my old GoldWing, although I do not ride as much anymore. The Texas heat and my "evolving" age have made me a recluse at home. No complaints. Thanks for all your great work. It is mesmerizing to me.

[@18robsmith]

Fly spray? In the past I've been known to use gloss varnish, gloss black, or whatever paint rattle can that's to hand. Gives them a really shiny ending ;-)

[@johnbuell8035]

Sounds really clever, spraying gloss black over everything in your workshop. No downside to that…

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Oh man. Many years ago I was working in Germany and renting a little apartment. One summer's evening there were a ton of mosquitos in my window so I thought I'd do the James Bond trick and light a deodorant spray at them. Being a smoker I had the lighter to hand and whoooosh a jet of flame rushed out, fried the mosquitoes, hit the window pane and spread out sideways, setting the net curtains on fire immediately. I had to explain to my landlady (in very broken German) what exactly had happened. I don't think she ever understood what I'd done! It was AND wasn't very James Bond at the same time :)

[@ericcrawford9827]

'Road worn'. Which road, which band, how much amount of playing takes the paint finish off. Call a fake a fake, nothing else.Other than, thanks Sam, I'm running out of heroes.

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Rocky Roadworn. I think most of us wish that we'd had a lifetime of down-to-earth nightly rock and roll grind, the kind that puts real wear on our instruments.

[@hazymous]

the way you stretch the string is useless they only need stretch at the tuners ! , oh my don't use these files they are garbage you even bite into the wood ...

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

1) Wrong completely 2) When you have a very low action at the 1st fret (which I do) AND you have a slope backwards (which you need) you can't avoid touching the wood IF the manufacturer has put more wood behind the nut. Some do, some don't. If you're ruled by cosmetics and either don't cut a good low 1st fret action or don't angle down the slot just because you're afraid of cutting into the wood (that you have no choice over) then you're nowhere near the super-duper expert luthier you seem to think you are. BTW next arrogant stupid comment from you and you're hidden from my channel, understand. The key is the the words 'MY CHANNEL'

[@TheWGLOVER]

And the bridge.

[@hazymous]

@@TheWGLOVER ? who are you talking to , and what are you talking about ?

[@hazymous]

@@TheWGLOVER can you make a full sentence subject verb complement ? are you a fucking AI or something ?

[@hazymous]

@@TheWGLOVER make a full sentence is so hard fapping yourself is to easy