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I try to remind myself I set out to try and play the thing, not collect them but I’m certainly not immune to lure of new toys.
If you have the money for a 'Masterbuilt' and it works for you, then go for it.
Surely, the argument here though is what exactly does 'Masterbuilt' mean in terms of extra man hours spent building a guitar?
Since Leo's whole ethos was make them easy to assemble and yet still perfect for professional musicians that tour and play music for a living.
Then the 'Masterbuilt' branding of these Custom Shop models suggests the person that made them really knows what they are doing and can choose the best way to bolt together premium components, whilst making them aesthetically pleasing to the eye via a choice of custom, sometimes unique, finish options.
I'm not personally drawn to marketing hyperbole and so it doesn't appeal to me. However, plenty of buyers love that mystique and exclusiveness that they can buy into.
It doesn't hurt me in anyway, I'm pretty sure Fender enjoys the revenue and the purchaser will undoubtebly love their new instrument.
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It’s not about if you have the funds or don’t have the funds...
it’s about a company freighting the price off of the back of a marketing idea and selling the idea that you are buying something special with the “masterbuilt” tag...0
This suggest to me that they get involved with the customer at the design stage, and then supervise the build to ensure quality is maintained. Note, it specifically states "......... the Master Builder will personally ensure that each guitar is built with the highest possible quality and to your exact specifications." It doesn't state that they build the instrument themselves (though for all I know, they may well do).
Cliff
Irony emoji.
(edited to add irony emoji)
edited again to say I am not interested in a Masterbuilt since seeing @StuartMac290 's Asher
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@Goldeneraguitars
If you can pick the guy and he actually assembles and finishes it then I can see why they’d be 6k or whatever they are in the current market. However, if they’re not actually building the things, let alone applying individual finishing touches then what the hell are you paying for?
The rise in prices over the last 3 years or so, has been terrifying.
My Masterbuilt cost me £2800 new, probably around 4 years ago...
Carry on much longer and there will be a few more relics reading it and typing comments
I have a Squire Tele at the mo that I personally like the feel of more than the CS guitars I’ve played. It plays really well, sounds like a tele and is plenty solid enough to gig with. At £100 it
does throw light on the value of CS guitars as tools to do a job.
None of which would stop me buying a masterbuilt Fender if I had the cash and liked the guitar enough to put that money in to it. If it brought me happiness to have it, that would be great. If it inspired me to spend more time playing then so much better again.
When I had my Steven Stern Gretsch, it was a huge thrill to have such an exquisite instrument and I felt very lucky to call it mine. I never actually liked it that much because I don’t really get on with the big bodies, much as I’d like to.
So does that make my Squier the better guitar???
However in terms of playability and sound, there’s no doubt in my mind that a couple hundred quid in pickups / possibly hardware ( e.g bridge ) and some time with a good luthier to fine tune the frets, neck angle, nut and setup can turn a decent squier / mex fender ( there are lemons out there ) into something just as good as a CS guitar.
That is if you are happy with the factory specs like radius, nut width etc of course.
I agree with your points relating to the 'real' playability & 'worth' of any good, well set up guitar, regardless of it's provenance versus it's perceived value on the 'grown up' collector market.
Be careful though, you may end up on the list of "idiots" to be ridiculed for such heresy/naivety.
On the plus side, don't worry, there are loads of us there already, still having real fun with our 'cheap' wannabe guitars & laughing like drains