This post is for others like me, who've always wanted a worn-out, vintage-looking Fender 5, but can't get one because they don't really exist. The closest things are factory relic'd Sandberg VM5s. AC's aren't ever relic'd enough for what I'm looking for, Fender CS Relics are all 4 strings, Sadowsky, Lulls, Nordstrands, Pavel don't do relics, etc. Plus, none of them say "Fender" on the headstock 
Believe it or not, my 2010 Fender Am Std V is the best/favorite jazz I've ever owned and after having it for over a year and realizing that I'm never going to sell the bass, I've went ahead and relic'd it.
I've noticed that this bass was really easy to hand-sand down to the paint because of the thin poly; other basses I've tried have been nearly impossible to hand-sand because of the thickness of the poly. Slow, medium pressure hand sanding is essential to making the wear marks look good, IMO. Tools used: Medium to fine grit sandpapers, sanding block, metal wand-looking tool that has rough grains of metal on it (not sure what it's called) for chipping the finish and paint, Bona floor polish to fill in scratches in the poly and give it a low and even sheen, Minwax Golden Pecan stain to darken raw wood areas. Anyhow, here are some pics:
Believe it or not, my 2010 Fender Am Std V is the best/favorite jazz I've ever owned and after having it for over a year and realizing that I'm never going to sell the bass, I've went ahead and relic'd it. I've noticed that this bass was really easy to hand-sand down to the paint because of the thin poly; other basses I've tried have been nearly impossible to hand-sand because of the thickness of the poly. Slow, medium pressure hand sanding is essential to making the wear marks look good, IMO. Tools used: Medium to fine grit sandpapers, sanding block, metal wand-looking tool that has rough grains of metal on it (not sure what it's called) for chipping the finish and paint, Bona floor polish to fill in scratches in the poly and give it a low and even sheen, Minwax Golden Pecan stain to darken raw wood areas. Anyhow, here are some pics:
