Rock N Roll Relics Lightning Goldtop Heavy Aging (2020, Private Stock)

`20 Rock N Roll Relics Lightning Goldtop Heavy Aging, DiMarzio '36 Anniversary PAF PU´s, only 3.88kg – one of Ede's tour guitars from the Private Stock and more

Lightning-bolt f-holes and a goldtop that looks like it has played countless club stages: this Lightning stands out before you have played a single note.

Rock N Roll Relics was founded in 2005 by Billy Rowe. Born in San Francisco, he grew up on 70s rock and lived through the 80s explosion around the Sunset Strip. For decades he worked as a touring musician and technician before building his own custom shop in Los Angeles. Gilby Clarke, Bruce Kulick, Rick Nielsen and Billie Joe Armstrong are among the fans of his instruments.

The Lightning is a semi-hollow with a mahogany body and neck and a maple top. The neck, in a ’59 profile with a 12" radius and a Macassar ebony fingerboard, sits wonderfully in the hand. The guitar resonates with life, and the cream-colored DiMarzio '36 Anniversary PAF pass that straight on to the amp: fat, with plenty of attack, bite and midrange.

Billy Rowe really went to town on the finish: Heavy Aging with cracks in the goldtop finish, small and large nicks, wear in the characteristic areas and a matte vintage patina. Particularly striking is the artificial verdigris that spreads mainly across the back. Beneath the cracked finish lies a Custom-Shop-level instrument with Kluson tuners, an Advanced Plating locking ABR bridge and Emerson Custom pots.

This heavy-aging version is hard to find on the market today, neither new nor used. The new price back then was €4,224; today a comparable example is around €5,500. With us, it is one of Ede's tour guitars. The live photos by Tim Bachmann show it at a Höhner concert in Mannheim.

Included are the original case, the certificate, the spec sheet, a polishing cloth and case candy.

A semi-hollow with patina and PAF sound from Ede's Private Stock.