I don't know a lot about strats, but
 

this doesn't seem to resemble a natural wear pattern, does it?


https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net...65&oe=614E9EA9

I absolutely loathe guitars that look like they were strapped to the back of someone's truck and dragged along a gravel road.

No, that doesn't look like normal wear. It looks like a purposeful "relic" job.

I wouldn't give it a second look.

How about the ones that laid in a ditch for a couple of weeks then got played for 30 years or so?

https://i.imgur.com/XAPbaC0.jpg

Hey, if it works for you...

I've played my strat for forty years and it doesn't resemble that in anything but shape...

In my opinion there is ugly wear and aesthetically pleasing wear; the source is, to me, not terribly important. I find Willie Nelson’s “Trigger” an abomination. Rory Gallagher’s Strat (either the original or a Fender Custom shop), to me, looks great. Again, I don’t really care if it’s relic’ed or the result of natural play wear.

That's beautiful!! I'm assuming original and not reliced?

Yep, that's Rory Gallagher's Strat. Short version: stolen right after he got it (possibly the first one in Ireland) but apparently the thief couldn't sell it because of the publicity surrounding its theft (I think there was a news story about some poor kid's guitar being stolen), so he threw it in a ditch where it sat for a couple of weeks before being found and returned to Rory. I don't want to exaggerate but I think that was the only, but certainly the primary, guitar he played live throughout his career.

I didn’t recognize it! That’s a beautiful guitar!

That was my initial thought when I saw the pic - Rory's guitar. There's a beauty to that one.

I had never heard that story but he certainly made the most of it after he got it back!

Here's a pic of Rory playing his "authentic road worn" Strat. RIP.

Source: Roman Guitars
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pr...pm81huR85MgRfw