We've gotta tip our hat to the good folks at Wildwood Guitars in Colorado. For years now, they've been teaming up with Fender to produce some extremely cool guitars based on their shop's ideas/specs. This Thin Skin "Relic Ready" '61 Stratocaster is one of those guitars, and the idea behind it is extremely cool.

The concept is based on relic'd guitars - specifically - some players love 'em, some hate 'em. For those that are put off by any artificial aging on their guitars and prefer to do all the aging the old fashioned way, Wildwood and Fender thought it'd be cool to take a soon-to-be-relic'd guitar from the production line just before it goes through the relic'ing process, allowing you to age it yourself. Since these guitars were meant to be relic'd, the finish is thin enough that these "Relic Ready" guitars will age at a much faster rate than a "standard" production guitar because, let's face it, it takes decades of hard playing before a guitar takes on that lust-worthy patina we all love in a vintage guitar. Pretty cool, yeah?

So....how's the guitar, concept aside? Classic Custom Shop attention to detail and quality - super resonant, slinky feel, a fantastic 60s Oval C neck carve (.79-.93), and classic snap, cluck, & bite thanks to a set of Josefina hand-wired WW10 Strat pickups. 

Condition: Excellent. Very light fret wear, a few indentations on the body - side and back - finish is sinking into the grain like an older guitar (very cool). The setup feels great.

If you've been in the market for a Custom Shop Strat, give this one some serious consideration. This is a very cool guitar that embodies all we love about a great Stratocaster, period. Priced with hardshell case, case candy, and certificate.

• Inca Silver, Relic Ready / Thin Skin nitro finish
  
• 2-piece Alder body, sorted for light weight
• Maple neck, quarter sawn
• Rosewood fingerboard, flat laminate
• '60s Oval C neck carve (.79"-.93")
• 1.65" nut width, bone
• 9.5" radius 
• 6105 Frets, 21
• Josefina hand-wired WW10 Strat pickups
• Vintage modern #2 wiring
• 10-46 Strings 
• Fender Hardshell Case
• SN R98446
• 7lbs 5oz