I'm not usually a fan of artist series guitars but ...

[TheIronBeast]

I walked into Guitar Guitar in Glasgow yesterday and hanging on the wall was a Fender Custom Shop Rory Gallagher Stratocaster. This was the first one that I had actually seen in person and as a huge Rory fan and Strat fan I had to try it out.

I was actually really impressed at how close to the original spec that the custom shop guitar was, it has aged 5 sperzel and 1 gotoh tuner, bone nut, aged custom shop 60's wound pickups, nearly all the finish taken off the back of the headstock and needless to say the extreme beaten up look of Rorys guitar.

The guitar felt like it belonged in my hands and it had a very nice played in feel to it, it was just an absoloutely stunning guitar! If it didn't have the custom shop logo and Rory's signature on the back of the headstock I think it would be quite hard to tell the difference between the CS and his actual guitar.

I came home yesterday and I was thinking about it, talked it over with the missus and used the fact that I had a 25% off Guitar Guitar voucher to justify buying one.

I phoned up Guitar Guitar this morning and placed my order for the guitar that I played yesterday and they went and had it setup and threw in some freebies (strings, strap etc) and had it boxed up and shipped, so it should be arriving by carrier tomorrow!

Needless to say I am very happy and excited at the moment!  :D

[Afghan Dave]

Congrats!

Tell us all about it as soon as it arrives.... with pictures or else.  :)

[Philly Q]

 :o  Wow!  You must show us pics ASAP.  :D

I saw one in Turnkey a few years ago and I must admit I thought the ageing looked pretty phoney, but the Fender relics seem to vary a lot, presumably depending on who actually did the work.

[blue]

that sounds great, hope you're very happy with it.

like Philly, the one i saw didn't look great, and it played terribly!  it had really light strings on, and action so low that every note choked out.  it sounds like yours is infinitely better!  enjoy

[Ian Price]

Sounds ace!!! Pics please!!

[FernandoDuarte]

:D AMAZING!

[tomjackson]

Killer guitar, well done!

[AndyR]

Yep, I wanna see pics too :D

I've lived and breathed Rory since 1980 (I've even touched the real one three times! :lol:), and I have considered one of these. But like Philly and Blue, I didn't like the look of the ones I've seen close up. I've also heard tales of some of the relicking wearing off! (The cracks on the pickguard were etched/painted on the ones I've seen).

Added to that, I've still not paid over £1K for any guitar yet, and a Rory-look-a-like guitar seems a bit of a strange thing for me to have...

BUT!! Having said all that - very jealous here! :lol:

I've had the "what if discussions" with my missus as well, and she'd go for it if I did buy one. But I'm not sure I want to, so out of the three I've seen, I deliberately didn't ask to try them, just in case...!

Looking forward to hearing more about it - nice one :D

[Philly Q]

I've also heard tales of some of the relicking wearing off! (The cracks on the pickguard were etched/painted on the ones I've seen).

Yeah, I've also heard that the dirt on relic scratchplates and pickup covers sometimes comes off.  Weird concept - a guitar that looks newer the more you play it!  :lol:

[CaptainDesslock]

I've also heard tales of some of the relicking wearing off! (The cracks on the pickguard were etched/painted on the ones I've seen).

Yeah, I've also heard that the dirt on relic scratchplates and pickup covers sometimes comes off.  Weird concept - a guitar that looks newer the more you play it!  :lol:

wel duh anti-relics are in with the kids these days!

[TheIronBeast]

I will definitely post pics tomorrow once it gets here. I think the relicing on this one looks pretty good, this is the only Gallagher strat that I have seen in person so don't have anything to compare it too.

Very jealous that you have seen (and touched) the real thing, Andy!

Can't wait for it to arrive tomorrow!

[Ian Price]

I will definitely post pics tomorrow once it gets here. I think the relicing on this one looks pretty good, this is the only Gallagher strat that I have seen in person so don't have anything to compare it too.

Very jealous that you have seen (and touched) the real thing, Andy!

Can't wait for it to arrive tomorrow!

Has this one got the bit of mould growing under the scratch plate? I'm pretty sure one of Gallaghers strats had this feature.

[hunter]

Wow!

This defo needs some Irish Tours then!

[Ted 'N' Leo]

God damn you man! I was gonna go in there and try that out next time i was in Glasgow!! They had one in last year, and my friend and i used to go in just to stare at it, every week (we were students back then).

Congrats though, i'm sure you'll love it!

[38thBeatle]

Congrats on your purchase. Like Andy, I have touched ( and played but don't tell anyone) the original. I look forward to seeing the pics too.