THE BEATEN PATH
Neville Marten shares his own Relic history...
“My first Relic was also one of the first in the UK. I was editor of this fine tome at the time and saw it on the Fender stand at The London Music Show, in 1996. I recall it was in a glass case and surrounded by serious mystique. It was a one-piece swamp ash, black-guard Nocaster in classic Butterscotch. It looked amazing and would have been one of the early ‘Vince Cunetto’ jobs, created at his facility in Colorado. I was told at the time that it was ‘this guy out in the backwoods that does it, not Fender itself’.
“I ‘got’ the whole Relic thing immediately, and implored the Fender guys to sell it to me there and then. After a bit of argy-bargy they agreed, provided I pick it up at last knockings on the Sunday. I believe it was here that I heard the, now debunked, story of how Keith Richards had ordered 10 Vintage Reissue Teles for a Stones tour but sent them back saying, ‘They’re too ‘new’ – can’t you bash ’em about a bit?’
“As it happened, I had a gig that Sunday night with Marty Wilde, down in Bognor Regis, and determined to use it straight out of its oblong tweed, orange-lined case.
“It had been pretty awful weather and the trip down to the south coast was a bit of a slog. So I arrived with little time for soundchecks. But when I produced the guitar you can imagine the response: no-one had ever heard of the ‘relicing’ phenomenon, let alone seen anything like it in the flesh. Marty adored it, as did everyone else. Those early Cunetto guitars had a certain authenticity that, when the Custom Shop later took over the operation they initially struggled to get them looking quite so ‘right’. They totally nail it these days, though, and offer several levels of distress – I’m a big fan of the Journeyman and Light Relic finishes, less keen on the really bashed-up Heavy Relics, and don’t get the ‘custom colour over sunburst’ thing at all. Fender only ever did this to mask substandard bursting or unacceptable timber flaws anyway.
“I’ve probably owned 15 or so Relic Strats and Teles since then and still love them to death. I currently have three: a ’53 Tele, my custom-ordered faded Fiesta Red Strat [pictured above], and a John Cruz ‘breathed on’ ’56 Two-Tone Sunburst that I call my ‘Buddy Holly Strat’ and is my current stage axe. The Murphy Aged Les Paul Goldtop seen above in this feature is mine, and it’s without doubt the best (of many) Les Pauls I’ve ever owned. But back to Fender… I might get the Custom Shop to build me a Daphne Blue, rosewood’board Tele. So watch this space…”