Fender Custom Shop '60 Journeyman Stratocaster
A Fender Custom Shop '60 Journeyman Strat just landed — and I want to know what you think needs changing. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Fender Custom Shop 1960 Journeyman Relic Stratocaster takes center stage — clean tones across all five pickup positions, gain tones with the Meris Mercury X, and Fuzz Face tones with the R2R Electric Si Distorter TFK through the Benson Amps Monarch.
As we all know, I love to mod guitars. What does this one need? What do you think I'll change first? Drop it in the comments.
The Journeyman Relic is Fender Custom Shop's middle ground in the relic lineup — less aggressive than the Heavy Relic, more broken-in than the NOS or Closet Classic. The goal is a guitar that looks and feels like it's been played seriously for 30+ years: aged finish, worn hardware, slight checking and fading, but still solid construction and no damage. The Faded Aged Surf Green nitrocellulose lacquer finish on this one is exactly that — the color has shifted and faded from what Surf Green looks like new, and the body has the kind of subtle checking and age marks that come from decades of temperature cycling.
Full specs: Light weight Alder body. Quartersawn Maple neck — quartersawn for dimensional stability and a slightly brighter, stiffer neck feel. Dark AAA Rosewood fretboard, flat lam. 21 Jumbo 6100 frets. 60 Style Oval C neck back shape. 9.5" radius. 1.650" nut width. Hand Wound Texas Special Pickups — the same overwound single coil voiced for clarity and output that became famous as Stevie Ray Vaughan's pickup of choice. Reverse Wound/Reverse Polarity middle pickup for hum cancellation in positions 2 and 4. American Vintage Relic bridge. 3-Ply Green/Black/Green pickguard. Vintage clay dot position inlays. Limited Edition engraved neck plate. Limited Edition headstock decal.
The wiring configuration is the most interesting detail for Strat players: 5-Way Selector, 1 Volume, 1 Tone, and a Blender knob — the third knob blends the neck and bridge pickups together, giving access to pickup combinations not available on a standard Strat 5-way. Neck + Bridge blend is a thick, complex voice with the neck's warmth and the bridge's snap combined — explored in the demo throughout.
🎸 Fender Custom Shop: https://shop.fender.com/en-US/guitars/stratocaster/ 🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 Fender Custom Shop '60 Journeyman Relic Strat | Faded Aged Surf Green | Texas Special | Blender Pot | Alder / Quartersawn Maple / AAA Rosewood 🎛️ R2R Electric Si Distorter TFK | Meris Mercury X 🔊 Benson Amps Monarch
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Sennheiser E906 | Ableton Live 11
