My favorite Mike mccreedy is the mad season album. That whole album is solid gold to me. Such a great mix of rock and blues with him and Layne

Sounds great. The signature guitar that’s on my bucket list is the Jason Isbell Tele. It’s slightly reliced with great sounding pickups too, and I’m a fan of the man’s songs.

Great vid! I ordered mine in September and I should FINALLY be getting it in 2 weeks...EIGHT months later. Gonna pick up some of that Lizard Spit too so thanks for that tip!

I'm pleased you like it, sounds amazing.

Great review. Agree with everything you say. Had mine for 6 months now and fall a little bit more in love with it everyday.

Great job dude. Love this guitar so much. I have the Isbell Tele and it just crushes. I know this one will be in the stable soon. And...you are so right...I don't need anymore hard cases. I love the Isbell came with a nice softbag.

It’s great to see you so excited about this guitar. It’s exactly how I felt getting my EVH Frankie. Guitars are all about how they make the player feel, not what the audience sees.

Just received it and I love it !!!

Just got mine 2 weeks ago and I'm blown away by it! Playability, Sound, Feel, Mojo... Kudos, Fender!

Beautiful I love that neck. I have a Dave Murray signature and it has the vintage neck and it’s awesome.

I just recently acquired the Isbell Tele and I just love the finish and vintage specs. Really good bang for your buck compared to other guitars in the price range.

Mike played the prototypes each night on the last two runs Pearl Jam went on. He was giving notes each night on the pickups and the neck and they were making the changes he asked for so essentially those are pickups that mike wanted in them. I can not wait to get one next year when they are available again!

Great review !!! The sound of these pickups are similar to another Fender CS or something like that?

I ordered one September , hope to get it may be in a few more months. I have a Mexican venterra ii 60 s Strat. it also has SSS routing, but no shielding on the pick up Guard and no paint in the cavities. But It plays and sounds great.

Great review!

Sounds great! Very cool guitar!!

good to see you so happy

Picked up a MIM Wolfgang Special in ‘22, and it instantly felt comfortable like an old pair of shoes. So, I can only imagine how good the McCready signature feels. Well, until I try one for myself that is, as I am definitely going to ☺️

I have a slightly different angle on the McCready strat. I own one and as a working musician out there using it as a tool I’ve used it as a guitar I can carry out some easily reversible mods on to ensure it works for me. One thing to note is the vintage spaced bridge pushes the strings very close to the neck edges, I’ve replaced mine with a 6 screw Gotoh made for vintage spaced fitting with a narrower string spacing, tuning it better, pretty spot on in fact, the arm can now be easily and reliably tensioned and it feels right. Also done the add tone to bridge mod and fitted slightly hotter bridge pickup.

Really enjoyed this review, I was interested when I saw these come out but being a bit of a USA Strat snob I was put off at the thought of it being MIM. You have vanquished that fear for me. I like your points regarding relic guitars, I’m 65 and have had my 1979 Strat for 43 years and it’s a bit beat up, I’ve helped it on its way myself since then with a bit of T Cut as well and it looks cool but I have newer Strats that are less heavy which I tend to play more as they are more comfortable. Would love a nice old early or late 60’s Strat but that ain’t going to happen. Also big fan of early Pearl Jam and Mike’s playing so I’m going to look at one of these as the Custom Shop Strats are also out of my price point. For some reason I recently bought a 2011 Les Paul Standard which is nice but I’ve always been a Strat guy and it just looks too clean so it may make way for one of these if I can find one over here in the UK. Enjoyed your Gibson Epiphone comparison which led me to this. You have a new subscriber!

I like it and am considering it. I'm weird, I love old broken in necks, but don't love the relic bodies. I don't mind a few scratches and dents, but the chipped lacquer isn't my thing. So I did an experiment. I priced a relic neck, a custom shop pickguard, and just a random body. I'm in the ballpark of 1800 for anyway. So I'll probably just get one of these. Thanks for the review.

i have a Kenny Wayne Shepherd sugnature strat, not because of being a fan of his but because the spes on the guitar are very unique. the body is chambered, which i thought would be interesting, The color is cool, the color matched headstock and the peal inlays all made it unique enoigh for me to try... plus i got it a Fender employee discount so approx $1300 i did replace the pickguard though

Agree with you on the ccomfort level of the relicking. I have about ten guitars from the Road Worn series and love each one of them for that reason.

My opinion. I would definitely get the American Vintage II 1961 Stratocaster in Fiesta Red, Over the Mike McCready.

I have 3 relic ‘d Strats, 2 relic’d teles along with pristine Strats and Teles. When I pick up my pristine guitars , I’m very gentle with them, when I play the relics, I play the guitar! To each his own! I love them all! Good for you Dylan!

Nice can’t wait until mine ship ordered 2 months ago.

Fender Mexico totally raised the bar with the relic on this model, especially compared to the previous "Road Worn" models, where they just removed the paint on specific places and hit it with a hard object around the jack plate. This is much closer to the Custom Shop relic. I think they found a new way of doing it, the relic on the John Frusciante Stratocaster prototype also looks very similar to this one, except the wear pattern of course. The biggest selling point to me for relic type instruments is that you are not afraid to play and scratch them! If I had a shiny, brand new guitar, I would be afraid to scratch it, but if the guitar is already beaten up, I would not care and play it more for sure! Great video Dylan!

Totally with you on the hardshell case! I mean if you have any amount of guitars( most normal people don’t I’ll admit) a hardshell case becomes a total burden. I would like personally to have one case for each shape I have and gigbags after that.

Cool guitar Dylan!

Sounds great!

Not my thing, but I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Dylan. I feel the same about my new Epiphone Firebird; maybe it’s not for everyone, but it suits me down to the ground. And that’s the whole point.

it sounds like a really awesome and worthy strat bro!

Dylan's smile says it all!

Thank you 🙏

Thank you for the video! I ve ordered one and Fender will supply it in at least one year :(

Thank you intelligent review

My strat is fairly heavily relic but the guy before me did that.

Sold. Now I want one.

After watching your video, I decided to pull the trigger on this. Oh my goodness, surely it is the best Stratocaster I’ve played so far. And mine came with perfect setup too. Thank you for the great demo.

Congrats! Glad you like it. Heavy relics aren't my thing, but all that matters is if you like it. I know that my thing (figured wood tops) isn't your thing. Variety and choice is good.

I just got one a couple of days ago. It's a really nice guitar. The playability and tone are great on this guitar. Finish is not as good as a custom shop guitar, but it's not bad for a guitar at this price point. Overall, it is a great guitar if you want great tone and playability.

Treble Bleed push/pull pot! I love it when they have push/pull pots. Saves me a lot of mod money.

I got a 57/62 loaded pickguard and it's similar to that. Does yours bridge the first tone knob so that it works on both the bridge and middle pickups, too?

I got one right when it came out and it is a great guitar. The relic thing doesn’t usually do it for me but I’m a big McCready fan so they had me the second I saw it was coming out. The relic on it is pretty good for the price point and I would know exactly which guitar they were trying to mimic if I I saw it. I will say the vintage string spacing was a little weird for me so I did get a reliced narrow spaced one. The neck is wicked thin which is a plus for me. Also a good point made was that I don’t really care of it gets hit or dented (within reason) so I just have fun with it without worrying about the first scratch.

Montypresso relicing wax will darken it up and no bleeding. Fantastic fretboard conditioner. Or the original montys instrument food fretboard conditioner great stuff!!!!

The black fingers might be from the sanding process. I had the same on an ebony fretboard on an Eastman 335 copy and contacted them to ask how to get it off it had it so bad. I thought it was dye to make it blacker. But they told me it’s dust from sanding that stays stuck to the board and will wear off. It did after a couple cleanings and days of playing.

Excellent review. For all the anti-relic people, I look at this guitar more as a McCready fan. Seen him live more than 50 times over 30 years. He’s physical with the guitar and aggressive. I’d find it more strange if Fender DIDN’T relic this Strat.

Have a good day everyone

It's in the high midpriced level, which isn't exactly a deal breaker but to me it should have a case , anything over $1k needs a case just for protection of investment. Big and bulky or not a case is better

I totally get the appeal of relic'd guitars. That being said for my purposes i think I'll spend the extra $300 on an American Vintage II 1961 Strat.

I've yet to closely examine a factory relic up close. I'm a huge fan of the way they look though. I have done the relic treatment to a couple of my namebrand guitars, as well as a couple of my self built. I've always wondered, in the areas where the wood is bare, do they have some sort of barrier? Some sort of lacquer maybe? Or is it really just bare wood?

Honestly if they’re essentially doubling the price just to relic these USA custom shop guitars or premium MIM builds I’d rather they not do that and just spray on a nitrocellulose finish. I’d rather have super nice rolled fret ends and a finish that over time will relic itself. Or you could just relic it yourself. The price we pay for essentially simulated wear that only really is cosmetic minus maybe the back of the neck isn’t worth it to me. The hours of work they do to the frets makes it feel and play amazing. If it costs 1,000 to 2,000 to relic I’d prefer to save that money personally.

I can’t get one till the new year but I’m definitely buying one. Anyone know how that finish compares to the Joe Strummer one? I have one of those and I actually love it(done play it enough of course but…) Just wondering because this strat looks like it’s a step up from mine.

It looks great but for £200 more you could get an American Vintage II 61. The relic job isn’t worth the huge markup on what is still essentially a MIM

Sounds great doesn’t matter what it cost as you love it .

I really think it looks and sounds great 👍 . Still think they could lower that price just a bit but it sounds like it's worth it

Relic guitars look amazing! I wish that Fender would do a bare bones US Strat that had those pickups, and a Nitro finish. Give me your hard shell cases, I love them?

I prefer my electrics relic'd and my acoustics pristine. I have no clue why. I fricking dig this Strat!

These are $3,000 here in Australia. I’m not sure I could justify paying that for a MIM fender and would buy USA made for that price

Dylan finally talks tone at 11:22 But mostly set up

I heard Dennis Fano saying they relic Novo guitars so that owners won't be afraid to play them, eg, "It's perfect! I might ruin it!" That made sense to me. As a fashion statement, relic-ing makes less sense to me, like new jeans with holes in the knees, but people do buy those, and i am not a snappy dresser.

Hey Dylan! Have you noticed the saddles are in different sizes? Ive noticed mine the saddles wiggle from side to side, and checked them they’re different sizes.

Sweet guitar! Is this foreshadowing of a Fender Custom Shop - Mexico? FCS-M guitar for half of the US version. Definitely would be interesting! I just got my first FCS relic guitar and the played in feel is so amazing!

The only thing wrong with the guitar is that it is not available Left Handed, but if it was available i would absolutely purchase one

It would be nice to know the Ohm readings on those pickups ?

If you want a 60’s Fender Strat that is “clean” just pay the extra $350 to get the American Vintage II Strat. lol I love mine but man, I really like that McCready Strat!

I picked up one of these guitars and it's great, with one exception...I find that the high e string tends to slide off of the fretboard. This can also occur with the low E string, but not nearly as frequent as the high e string. I never had this problem with my Player series Strat. Is this a problem with me and that I just need to get used to the guitar and its rolled fretboard? Or is this an issue with the guitar?

Personally speaking I would be happy with a light relic, just a few dings and scratches and aging of hardware just to take away that stress about keeping it perfect. The problem i definitely would have if I had bought that one would be the high fret you found. WTAF Fender! How much cash do you have to spend before they bother to level the frets properly?

I got mine. I love how the neck feels. I love how it plays. I love the pickups. But I just can't take the body relic seriously. I feel silly playing it. Any suggestions for how I can get the things I like without spending $1800 on a guitar I don't like the look of?

What are the multimeter output readings on these pickups?

Congrats! Nice guitar. $1800 isn’t cheap, but honestly for a reliced signature Fender? Not bad at all! I’ve done a complete 180 about reliced guitars. Done well, I think they’re cool. The best part? You don’t have to baby them, which means you play them differently.

Although I have a MIM 'Roadworn' , which I love, I'm not a relic fan. However that guitar really ticks the boxes for me.

can someone tell me the precise thickness at the 12th fret? Is more thin than a medium C o modern C?

Speaking of sigs, you know what we need?..........Neil Young's Old black. That would be one of the coolest sigs ever

You cleaned the black stuff off or the fretboard and you totally changed the tone! 😂😂😂😂

I just subscribed purely on your comments in this video. First, I like the guitar, a lot, I won’t buy one as I have 4 Strats. Now that’s out of the way, your comments on relic/not relic are the most sensible I’ve heard or seen. The silly argument rattles on & on. What matters is how the guitar sounds & feels to you when you play it. I have a 1982 AVRI gigged, played & generally abused by 3 owners including me which I love. I also have a new Vintage 2 ‘61, and it thankfully just got its first ding. I’m 71, and it’s never gonna feel like my ‘82, but I love it even though I’ve been treating it with kid gloves so far. So, relic/non relic, US/Mexican, - whatever floats your boat is fine.

Here for the comments… Pleasantly surprised so far!

I think Fender should do a Philip Sayce Model.. Mike McCready model is okay but not my favorite.. in terms of look ☺

Nice strat, however...Firefly strat style relics come with a bone nut, a roasted maple neck, a roasted ash or alder body, stainless steel frets and locking tuners all for $149.00 to $179.00 plus shipping (which is around $27.00) and honestly, they are decent guitars. To me, It is outrageous that fender charges ($1899.99) that much for a MIM guitar...limited or not. Just my 2 cents worth. Peace

@DylanTalksTone , you know me, and I'm a straight shooter. First, I would never think to say anything negative about a positive experience one has with a new axe. Not on your life. I think of an old piece of wood found in a junk pile strung up with a pair of old shoe laces and a pickup made from a refrigerator floats someone's boat, then that is totally awesome! I will preface this with "I don't own one, so I can only go by what I'm seeing." when I make this statement: They still look like they're being mass produced. I only say that, because there's just no way someone is hand-crafting all of those wear marks given the amount (and that thing is heavily worn) on the front and back. The only reasons I make this assumption is (A) all photos, whether stock or individual are identical and (b) that's a boat load of wear for even a craftsman at a custom shop to lay down accurately on such a large scale. Now could this be that this is why they're held up and so back ordered? That it's taking a team of skilled crafters in Mexico to do the fine details? That's possible, but I'm sure they've found a cost-cutting way to apply without too many man-hours. All that said, the upgrades of a nice case, the nitrocellulose laquer, the wear, the pickups, and the signature artist all make this guitar a fantastic buy. In my eyes, the best product coming out of Mexico (next to my EVH Wolfgang Special) money can buy. I think you landed a big fish there, and it's a keeper.

I get that it’s a Premium MIM Strat but 1800 bucks will buy a new Fender USA Professional II Strat with a TSA case with taxes payed. Unless you specifically like Mike and want his signature guitar I’d say go USA. Even consider Barely used Pro 2 to save a few hundred.

If it sounds good (it does), then it is good. Whatever you think of relics is fine, but they are comfortable to play. Who really cares who the artist is, so long as it's enjoyable to play.

Can you make a copy of these pickups?

That MAHUSIVE metal bracelet on your right hand is as good of a relicing tool as any 🤣

Do you or anyone reading this know of a good wall hanger that works ok with GIBSON’s? I understand some have chemical reactions with the nitro and Gibson explicitly says in their warranty this is not covered.

The two factories are 157 miles apart. Both plants use wood that grows in the PNW (Alder/Western maple) and the rosewood is imported. Which leads to another subject of the black fingers... I think they are using Pau Ferro and staining it dude, the laws down there are probably more loose on the honesty side. ANYWAY, back on track here: Both plants are employed primarily by Mexican people. (not that it matters, just for comparison purposes) Really the ONLY main differences are the wages are FAR less in Mexico (which typically is a businesses largest expense), AND THE BIG ONE : They are being held back from their potential down there. It is a cheaper guitar to buy from there, so typically there are less steps taken to ensure perfection. The best thing I ever did as a player is buying all the stuff to Level, crown, polish the frets, roll the edges, and understand the science behind what I'm making noise with. I just set up a Indonesian Squier Bullet for a friend, and the neck looked like a roller coaster... and after the good part of a day, The neck is amazing and nobody could tell the difference from a custom shop.. except for mine feels better yet.. There will never be a perfect product for sale that came from anyone who is employed.. especially from monday or friday

THat is a badass T-shirt

It is a MIM for $1899 sold by Sweetwater?

a cool strat but the relic job looks a bit cheap ...have an of the very early road worn strat and in my opinion the relic look a bit more authentic 😉

i have a question is the exposed wood finished or just plain wood

Definitely job security for the relic team at the Mexican fender factory

I can tell, that its worth it! Out of the box, there is plenty to improve, that anybody can do. Polishing frets and fret ends. Shaping the edges of the bone nut and polish the surface (remove the paint residue on the nut!). Sanding the back of the neck, as the " aged part" is a different tinted lacquer only. Working over the unrealistic paint chips by scraping away the edges. Sanding the back of the body (the yellow part), adding some dings and scratches, to match the rest! The bright parts of bare wood can be stained and finally the body lacquer can get the cracks by using ice spray. I did all that and in comparison to the 2 Custom Shop strats, that I owned before, the mexican mccready strat is on par with them!

is this the custom shop one or the regular one?

Almost the price of a Fender Ultra Stratocaster? That doesn't seem right.

They died the fretboard just like 80% of sub $200 strats.

I have one! It’s worth every penny in my opinion. It’s a very special guitar. Already one of my favorites.

Not a fan of small C's; sounds good though.

That sounds good 👍. That was the best explanation of a relic guitar. Just focus on playing it instead of getting the first scratch on it. Never thought of it that way. Relic has never been my thing. Maybe it should be on one .

it's just the price tag relative to the Made in Mexico, I can't swallow that, just too much $

lol, i've never heard of someone complaining about having a hardshell case!