New Guitar - Tribute to a Tribute

This entry is a partially tribute to a budding local artisan named Chis (last name kept out unless the man himself adds it for yall) and his tribute to the guitar of Joe Strummer, and partially showing off my new Guitar. As you all probably know, Fender® did an official Joe Strummer Tribute guitar this year which probably inspired our man, and definitely led me to purchase the guitar of which I write. However, instead of a collectors item costing enough to keep it in a display, this one was done as a simple fun and playable Fender guitar.

This is a 90’s Made in Mexico, Fender® Telecaster that was relic-ed into a real DIY vintage Joe Strummer Tribute, which was done along the same lines as the official Fender® item (which is also a Made in Mexico Telecaster).The guitar start its life … well .. probably it start in a Fender® factory someplace but as far as your author and this story is concerned it start as a project guitar on eBay.It seems it was pretty beat up as the original owner (before Chris) had tried to start relic-ing it but might not have had the best idea of how to do such a thing. Luckily that relic project was abandoned and the remains put up for sale.Once our man procured the subject, he stripped down the body and then slowly added paint. He added 2 coats of a standard grey primer, 2 coats of a black, then 1 coat of polyurethane before doing the relic on the body (simulating the ware on it). Then he added 2 light satin polyurethane coats on top of that, once the sanding was done.This is nicer, in my opinion, than the official Fender® product in that their’s seems to simulate a REALLY worn down guitar, e.g. no coating over most of it, whereas this one appears to be worn at a distance (or even quite close) but it actually has a nice smooth and even clear coat over the entire surface, including the areas that appear to be bare wood. Then the neck was also worked to look vintage with some light sanding on the fret board and some nicks and scratches, “everything except the old cigarette burn..” says Chris.Not that I was looking to get another guitar right now, but I just could not pass this up. I had (as yall know) got a Strat recently. At that time I played a bunch of new Guitars (mostly Fender®s) and as I always had played a Telecaster of some sort, I had of course tried the current models of these in my testing. However, the ones in the stores that I tried under $1000 (so the Made in Mexico versions) for either a Strat or a Tele, just felt bad. Tall frets, with sharp edges and lots of buzzing all over the neck. As I was not looking to spend more at that time I kind of gave up on that and got a Strat at Subway Guitars .Anyway, I had heard then that the 90s Telecasters had nicer necks than the current offerings and kind of watched for an inexpensive one from then on. Then I got a flyer in the mail from Fender® when the Joe Strummer guitar was released and, well “oh man!” I was suddenly dreaming of this thing I could no way afford, or should not afford at least. So when this DIY tribute appeared, it caught my eye, being labeled as a Joe Strummer Tribute, thinking at first that it was the real deal, maybe a pre-production model or some Magazine reviewer etc. that was being sold used already. However looking into it I saw that it was a DIY tribute and relic, and then I decided to look closer to pick it apart and mock it. But looking closer, well … there as nothing at all to pick at and of course nothing to mock. This guy did a great job and made a really fun, and playable Guitar. Oh, the neck, is much much nicer than the current offerings BTW, just as folks online are saying. So if thinking of a new Tele, you might want to check out eBay first. The frets are nice and low, and the ends are nicely shaped and smooth. This one came super straight too, maybe a little two straight, causing a little buzz, but changing from the 9s, that came on it, to 10s gave it just the slightest relief, which turned out to be perfect.I hear he actually made this for himself, but things come up ya know and well luckily for me, he had to part with it. I hope to do the thing justice and intend to play it a lot, really take those Jazz lessons I keep talking about with it and take proper care of it of course. Maybe I will still get one of the official Fender®s someday, but that would most likely see little use. This on the other hand … well it is sure to get much love.Chris is not in the business of relic-ing guitars but I think it might not be a bad business for him to get into, if this is an example of an early attempt. The link posted above to explain relic-ing is a company that does this kind of thing and there are others out there if you google a bit, but also check back here. Who knows, maybe this local guy will post a comment when and if he decides to do more.*** NOTE: Gallery of images at Flickr, including much larger versions :ETON ***