So I've got a special birthday coming up and it seams to be a good excuse for me to finally tick off the bucket list list to order myself a Fender Custom shop. I've always dreamed of owning one since seeing them hanging on the wall in Gak when I was a teenager and now I'm finally now in a position I could treat myself.. Albeit with a few contributions from family.
My question is does anyone know what the pricing system is? I'm guessing a heavy relic would cost a fair bit more than a NOS specialist woods would be more ect.. Do they start at approx £2000 for a bog standard guitar and then X amount for nitro finish X amount for dark rosewood X amount for an ash body and so on...?
Also once I get a quote back can you haggle over the price or will it be set in stone? I'm guessing profit margins are fairly tight on a CS guitar due to the nature of them being for the most part one off guitars and It seams to be quite rare to see them with a substantial discount in a sale.
Comments
might be by finding a similar spec one to what you’re after.
Im guessing what I have requested a quote for would come in around the 3.5k mark as it’s not heavy relic and not roasted and AAA flame woods ect..
looks like the next week I have to wait for the price is going to be a very loooooong week.
Based on 2021 delivery schedule you'll find very little change from 4K now and maybe even more - 6-8 months order time and maybe a bit longer at the moment as California is having it worse than many for covid, so staff shortages a plenty at the moment
http://www.fmicassets.com/sites/fender.com/themes/img/customshop/2020/2020_Custom_Shop_Design_Guide_V2.pdf
Fender don't issue a price list as such but the above will show you many of the options you can spec - Effectively an ala carte menu - Some options like a bone nut carry no surcharge, ditto different frets, neck shape, radius etc - But choice of ageing, AAA rosewood and AAA maple will be extra as are hand wound p/ups - As @Whitecat mentioned above, then existing new stock will give you a guideline on pricing
As a guide line unless you know exactly what you want, then I tend to look at new stock, or indeed used, that is currently available at any dealer, or indeed any private ads - Look at the full spec of that guitar and then use that as the base of your custom order - You might see one you like in every aspect, other than the colour, so easy to spec and edit accordingly - Again you might see one you like but just wish to change the relic details - Hope that makes sense
Both John/Doug have enough experience to be able to help you - Once spec'd they can get you the price - But make sure both parties agree the finer detail, sign it off, and pay the deposit accordingly
Let me know if I can help further
The thing with the custom shop experience is that a design can sound great on paper but it may result in a guitar you won't like.
Also if you get it wrong and face a resale you might find your dream setup isn't particularly liked by others and may result in a long drawn out sale at great financial loss.
In short, unless you really know all the details you like for certain (neck profile, woods, radius etc) you could end up with a duffer
It's also worth bearing in mind that you may find a neck shape that you ruled out that fits the bill, this is not uncommon at all..
Both myself and John at Peach have plenty of experience with specing up guitars and you're more than welcome to contact me for a price and a chat about specs and I'm sure John would say the same.
We've just put in a pretty meaty order for delivery later this year (hopefully) and I'm sure all of the other Custom Shop dealers have as Fender Europe have managed to secure some build slots for quicker delivery than normal ... so fingers crossed there will be plenty of guitars around the country with different specs for you to check out , your ideal guitar may be already on order with someone.
We all spec them up a bit differently with pickups, neck sizes and fret sizes so you're unlikely to find the same spec in 2 shops which really opens up the choice for you. If you want an indication of price our Relic Strats with handwounds will be £3299 and NOS with the same spec £2999, heavy relic and super heavy relic more.
Hope this helps...happy hunting!
If you're set on Fender custom shop, run the racks - Coda have 81 guitars in their inventory at the moment.
Otherwise you face the risk of spending £4k on a well executed, but ultimately underwhelming lemon.
If you go down the custom order route, you won't get a 'duffer' in that the guitar is badly put together and/or a bad example - But agree that what looks good on paper might not equate to the dream that you had
If the basis of your order is something more traditional/routine, then I'm sure something can be found on a dealers wall
I probably should make the effort to go around a few shops and try some more CS guitars to get a feel for various specs I probably wouldn't have come across otherwise.
After all I've waited over 15 years to get the chance to own a CS Fender a few more weeks or months isn't going to hurt to get the right one.
"confused metaphors"
(one for the cruciverbalists)
My band, Red For Dissent
But if you're suggesting somebody else can build a similar quality "S-Type" guitar for a lot less then I would say you're not comparing like with like.
Personally, I'd be looking at K-Line.
Absolutely. To each his own!
My band, Red For Dissent
Granted, a very exciting thing getting your own one built though.
And say hello to resale value of 300 to 500 quid if you don't like what you have ended up with
I’m unlikely to sell it as it would be kinda sentimental. But If I really couldn’t get on with it at least a CS guitar would be a hell of a lot easier to sell on.