Adrian Belew is known for playing an array of Fender , but one of his most notable examples is a heavily relic’d brown sunburst model. The beaten-and-busted Strat – which once featured on the cover of magazine – was purchased in the late 1970s by Belew, who was in need of a new axe ahead of an upcoming tour he was set to undertake as part of Frank Zappa’s band. However, the rather unsightly Strat wasn’t deemed fit for purpose until after a rather adventurous and experimental cosmetic overhaul that was carried out with the help of one of Belew’s famous friends.
As Belew reveals in the latest issue of , such relic’ing isn’t the result of natural wear and tear over the years: it was an ahead-of-its-time DIY job instigated by Seymour Duncan. “I went to a local used guitar store and was poking around, and in the back they had this kinda ugly Stratocaster hanging on the wall – like a brown sunburst,” Belew recalls. “I said, 'How much for this one?' They said, 'It doesn’t have a case, so we’ll give it to you for $285.
' A pretty good buy, I thought.” The guitar itself wasn’t too pretty, though, and Belew quickly turned to Duncan, who helped him overcome his grievances..
. with some screwdrivers, spray paint and lighter fluid. “I called up Seymour when I was back out in California, and I said, 'What am I gonna do? I have this ugly-ass guitar.
' He said, 'I know what to do.' He got in the trunk of his car and took out all these things – files and a scr.
