Fender Custom Shop - anyone ordered a guitar from them?

[Jakem]

Has anyone had a custom guitar made for them by Fender Custom Shop? How was the experience? I've heard one can order a master built or a team built guitar from them, is this correct? How are the custom order prices compared to the other big guitar manufacturers?

 

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had a custom guitar made for them by Fender Custom Shop? How was the experience? I've heard one can order a master built or a team built guitar from them, is this correct? How are the custom order prices compared to the other big guitar manufacturers?

How many years are you willing to wait for a guitar?

Steve

 

[Jakem]

Has anyone had a custom guitar made for them by Fender Custom Shop? How was the experience? I've heard one can order a master built or a team built guitar from them, is this correct? How are the custom order prices compared to the other big guitar manufacturers?

How many years are you willing to wait for a guitar?

Steve

So the wait times are long...

 

[tripstan]

Long wait and over priced IMO. Saw one in GC the other day for 3,800 bucks.

 

[TeleBlaster]

How many years are you willing to wait for a guitar?

Steve

This^^^^^

Wanted a Cabronita soooooo bad.. glad I waited, the Mex one I just got is great!!!

 

[rupe]

Over ten years ago I was quoted over $4K for a simple black tele with white binding and P90s...its probably double that now.

 

[Les Zombie]

I own nocaster and a hbs-1 strat, both custom shop and are really nice. i havent owned a master built yet but i played a few and they are really nice but very expensive.
go try out some team built stuff and see if you like it, then you can have your dealer submit a quote for a masterbuilt based on your specs, i was happy with the team stuff and never needed to go masterbuilt.
ive owned 6 or 7 fender custom shop guitars and never had any issues, you can expect a long wait.

 

[thiswaythatway]

For the love of GOD, if you're going to spend that kind of money do yourself a favor and call up Anderson or Suhr.

 

[Little B]

Heres my story.
I ordered a masterbuilt and it was just under a years wait for it..I had them do a second neck for me and after that neck went on,I was happy w/ the guitar.Correspondece w/my masterbuilder was excellent,although the price was even beyond what I suppose its competition would be- Tom A or Suhr, BUT, I will say if you go to sell it, it will hold a tad better resale value over the "super strats" out there.Its a fender strat, the real deal-from Leo and gang....Also, Ive recently demoed 3 fender selects that had pro setups, and have to say that for a 3rd of a master built price,you get an excellent guitar.-If youre an all fender guy and cant live w/out the real deal-these are great bargains..Im actually gonna nab a few myself....On the flipside of things, I'm into 2 years + waiting on a customshop charvel strat,which I think is gettin rediculous...im bout ready to cancel-theres 12 of us that ordered from a store and one guys been waitin since 09 for his!...and were seein custom shop stuff comin into this store all the time from charvel...just not our orders..hummmmm....lots of choices and lots of good builders out there...

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Yeah the wait times on Charvel's and Jackson's is incredibly long, I know why this is, but if you want a Fender/Fender, the Masterbuilt's are excellent, sure they are more than the Suhr's and Anderson's , I don't know much about Tyler's and what they cost.
It's all depends on what you want.
I have a great friend who has relocated to LA from Texas by the name of Matt Lee Phillips and his company is called Bunkman Guitars.
He made his name building uncanny superb replicas of the USA Steve Stevens Washburn's, but can build any type of guitar...by hand, no CNC, ect.
Matt is setting up to have go time this September and watch for him, as he is a great player as well and understands so much for one so young.
My Hamer SS-3 replica/tribute with the EVHEBMM asymmetrical neck profile and a killer maple cap neck is beyond incredible. It was a joint project where we had access to real SS-3's dimension wise, ect and try finding one of those!
John Cruz a few years ago built a 1961 Fiesta Red Gary Moore unofficial tribute Strat that went to Germany and was relic'd ect and was one of the finest looking Strats I have ever seen.
It just looked to be dripping with tone.
The Blackie that I had the pleasure of playing at GC when they came out, it was already sold but they let me have a go, was really nice and had the feel and sound of a real vintage Strat that's for sure.
The Fender Custom Shop under Mike Eldred does it right and they have more builders than the Jackson/Charvel outfits.
Frankly personally for me, my 1983 '57 reissue Fullerton guitar I ordered back then, I A/B'd it to the mega buck Blackie, mines a Blackie too and besides all the wear and the pickups being aged more, and besides obvious neck profile differences, I liked my factory guitar just as well!
Atomic Playboy

 

[rupe]

I was told from an inside source at Fender that the team built guitars are typically of a higher overall quality than the masterbuilts. His reasoning was that on a team built, they use the individuals' strengths...one guy may build the neck, another will do the fretwork, another the finish, etc, as opposed to one guy doing everything who may have a slight weakness in one or more areas. He said they jokingly referred to the MBs as a "jack of all trades, master of one". This was one guy's opinion, but it makes sense if you think about it.
I personally haven't played enough of them to have any meaningful thoughts of my own.

 

[threadkiller]

For the love of GOD, if you're going to spend that kind of money do yourself a favor and call up Anderson or Suhr.

This. Get as good or better guitar as a Fender masterbuilt, probably for less money and have it in your hands sooner.

 

[Little B]

For the love of GOD, if you're going to spend that kind of money do yourself a favor and call up Anderson or Suhr.

This. Get as good or better guitar as a Fender masterbuilt, probably for less money and have it in your hands sooner.

....that is right...well, most of the time..my masterbuilt buried most of the superstrats ive tried, not all, but most...but I will say itll be a lot smoother and more enjoyable and somewhat easier when you deal w/ TA or Suhr.....also, In my area anyways,resale value on the superstrats never seem to quite make the same level or hold thier value as an all original custom or masterbuilt strat...perhaps thats area dependant, i dunno...all the makers are crankin out some good stuff if ya look around a bit..

 

[carlygtr]

For the love of GOD, if you're going to spend that kind of money do yourself a favor and call up Anderson or Suhr.

This. Get as good or better guitar as a Fender masterbuilt, probably for less money and have it in your hands sooner.

....that is right...well, most of the time..my masterbuilt buried most of the superstrats ive tried, not all, but most...but I will say itll be a lot smoother and more enjoyable and somewhat easier when you deal w/ TA or Suhr.....also, In my area anyways,resale value on the superstrats never seem to quite make the same level or hold thier value as an all original custom or masterbuilt strat...perhaps thats area dependant, i dunno...all the makers are crankin out some good stuff if ya look around a bit..

Only problem is no Suhr or TA SOUND like a good ol' Fender Strat. I've owned enough to decide for myself.

 

[thiswaythatway]

For the love of GOD, if you're going to spend that kind of money do yourself a favor and call up Anderson or Suhr.

This. Get as good or better guitar as a Fender masterbuilt, probably for less money and have it in your hands sooner.

....that is right...well, most of the time..my masterbuilt buried most of the superstrats ive tried, not all, but most...but I will say itll be a lot smoother and more enjoyable and somewhat easier when you deal w/ TA or Suhr.....also, In my area anyways,resale value on the superstrats never seem to quite make the same level or hold thier value as an all original custom or masterbuilt strat...perhaps thats area dependant, i dunno...all the makers are crankin out some good stuff if ya look around a bit..

Only problem is no Suhr or TA SOUND like a good ol' Fender Strat. I've owned enough to decide for myself.

Maybe it's the pickups? I say Suhr or TA because everything they make is top notch while with Fender they are not so consistant. But I know the Anderson single coils are not going to sound like a vintage Fender pup, although haven't tried his V series, but lot's of people report that while his single coils are nice, they really don't have that single coil quack. I do love his humbuckers though.

LSL is another line that's not that popular but a small shop near me has them and they feel incredible, like an old air of sneakers.

I would never buy a Tyler since the headstock looks like an abortion.

 

[carlygtr]

For the love of GOD, if you're going to spend that kind of money do yourself a favor and call up Anderson or Suhr.

This. Get as good or better guitar as a Fender masterbuilt, probably for less money and have it in your hands sooner.

....that is right...well, most of the time..my masterbuilt buried most of the superstrats ive tried, not all, but most...but I will say itll be a lot smoother and more enjoyable and somewhat easier when you deal w/ TA or Suhr.....also, In my area anyways,resale value on the superstrats never seem to quite make the same level or hold thier value as an all original custom or masterbuilt strat...perhaps thats area dependant, i dunno...all the makers are crankin out some good stuff if ya look around a bit..

Only problem is no Suhr or TA SOUND like a good ol' Fender Strat. I've owned enough to decide for myself.

Maybe it's the pickups? I say Suhr or TA because everything they make is top notch while with Fender they are not so consistant. But I know the Anderson single coils are not going to sound like a vintage Fender pup, although haven't tried his V series, but lot's of people report that while his single coils are nice, they really don't have that single coil quack. I do love his humbuckers though.

LSL is another line that's not that popular but a small shop near me has them and they feel incredible, like an old air of sneakers.

I would never buy a Tyler since the headstock looks like an abortion.

When a friend brought over a Fender American Standard Strat years ago and it kicked ass on my Suhr Scott Henderson model in terms of TONE, I saw the writing on the wall. The Suhrs sound thin, IMO so do the TA's. With humbuckers, a different story, but once humbuckers are involved, it's not a Strat (tonewise)

The Tylers got their own sound as well. I dig the headstock. I think it's cooler than the Suhr or TA headstock to tell you the truth....plus it's a fatter, woodier tone as well.

When I need pure Strat tones I got a CS Robin Trower and the ''97 Hendrix Strat

 

[rupe]

For the love of GOD, if you're going to spend that kind of money do yourself a favor and call up Anderson or Suhr.

This. Get as good or better guitar as a Fender masterbuilt, probably for less money and have it in your hands sooner.

....that is right...well, most of the time..my masterbuilt buried most of the superstrats ive tried, not all, but most...but I will say itll be a lot smoother and more enjoyable and somewhat easier when you deal w/ TA or Suhr.....also, In my area anyways,resale value on the superstrats never seem to quite make the same level or hold thier value as an all original custom or masterbuilt strat...perhaps thats area dependant, i dunno...all the makers are crankin out some good stuff if ya look around a bit..

Only problem is no Suhr or TA SOUND like a good ol' Fender Strat. I've owned enough to decide for myself.

Maybe it's the pickups? I say Suhr or TA because everything they make is top notch while with Fender they are not so consistant. But I know the Anderson single coils are not going to sound like a vintage Fender pup, although haven't tried his V series, but lot's of people report that while his single coils are nice, they really don't have that single coil quack. I do love his humbuckers though.

LSL is another line that's not that popular but a small shop near me has them and they feel incredible, like an old air of sneakers.

I would never buy a Tyler since the headstock looks like an abortion.

When a friend brought over a Fender American Standard Strat years ago and it kicked ass on my Suhr Scott Henderson model in terms of TONE, I saw the writing on the wall. The Suhrs sound thin, IMO so do the TA's. With humbuckers, a different story, but once humbuckers are involved, it's not a Strat (tonewise)

The Tylers got their own sound as well. I dig the headstock. I think it's cooler than the Suhr or TA headstock to tell you the truth....plus it's a fatter, woodier tone as well.

When I need pure Strat tones I got a CS Robin Trower and the ''97 Hendrix Strat

Funny how that works. My TA Hollow Classic and my new Suhr Standard both sound "Strattier" to me than my Custom Shop Strat. All of them sound great, but I prefer both the TA and Suhr.

That Tyler headstock is an affront to good taste IMO, but I wouldn't let it stop me from owning one if I dug the tone, feel, and response...function over form...Tyler builds great guitars.

 

[carlygtr]

For the love of GOD, if you're going to spend that kind of money do yourself a favor and call up Anderson or Suhr.

This. Get as good or better guitar as a Fender masterbuilt, probably for less money and have it in your hands sooner.

....that is right...well, most of the time..my masterbuilt buried most of the superstrats ive tried, not all, but most...but I will say itll be a lot smoother and more enjoyable and somewhat easier when you deal w/ TA or Suhr.....also, In my area anyways,resale value on the superstrats never seem to quite make the same level or hold thier value as an all original custom or masterbuilt strat...perhaps thats area dependant, i dunno...all the makers are crankin out some good stuff if ya look around a bit..

Only problem is no Suhr or TA SOUND like a good ol' Fender Strat. I've owned enough to decide for myself.

Maybe it's the pickups? I say Suhr or TA because everything they make is top notch while with Fender they are not so consistant. But I know the Anderson single coils are not going to sound like a vintage Fender pup, although haven't tried his V series, but lot's of people report that while his single coils are nice, they really don't have that single coil quack. I do love his humbuckers though.

LSL is another line that's not that popular but a small shop near me has them and they feel incredible, like an old air of sneakers.

I would never buy a Tyler since the headstock looks like an abortion.

When a friend brought over a Fender American Standard Strat years ago and it kicked ass on my Suhr Scott Henderson model in terms of TONE, I saw the writing on the wall. The Suhrs sound thin, IMO so do the TA's. With humbuckers, a different story, but once humbuckers are involved, it's not a Strat (tonewise)

The Tylers got their own sound as well. I dig the headstock. I think it's cooler than the Suhr or TA headstock to tell you the truth....plus it's a fatter, woodier tone as well.

When I need pure Strat tones I got a CS Robin Trower and the ''97 Hendrix Strat

Funny how that works. My TA Hollow Classic and my new Suhr Standard both sound "Strattier" to me than my Custom Shop Strat. All of them sound great, but I prefer both the TA and Suhr.

That Tyler headstock is an affront to good taste IMO, but I wouldn't let it stop me from owning one if I dug the tone, feel, and response...function over form...Tyler builds great guitars.

Yeah, whatever sounds like a good Strat to the person playing the guitar, well, that's the one. Way too many variables and opinions on what constitutes a good "Strat" tone to make a definitive call.

 

[cnote]

I ordered a team built one. Takes 8-10 mos. The waiting list for masterbuilt varies by builder and in all cases is measured in years. I ordered mine in January. I would have it by now but they are making a new neck. I am now told I would have it before the end of September. It is a black HSH with specs like Dave Murray's.

 

[Jakem]

Cheers for the comments!