So I'm expecting to park a bit of money on a new guitar in the next month or so, not a huge pile but my budget will stretch to used CS Fender territory.
Of course, the responsible adult with a mortgage part of my brain has kicked in, asking me why I don't spend one half on a nice AVRI and sock the other half away. The part of my brain that knows how hard I work, however, is putting up a good fight.
I realise it's a very personal thing, but I wonder if your input might tip the scales:
Those of you who have been faced with a similar choice, which way did you go, what made you choose one or the other, and do you have any regrets or affirmations?
Comments
It's like why buy a Rolex when the Omega costs half the price
P.S I've got a 57' 2003 AVRI
Buy the CS - you won’t regret it !
More than 5% too in my experience of CS and others, but impossible to quantify really. And I do love Relics so I am biased in that regard.
If you can afford it, then often getting a CS and nip that upgrade bug in the bud is cheaper than move your way up the range one by one.
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Custom Shop gives you a wider choice of neck profiles, fret sizes, fretboard radius, plus the option of a relic finish (from mild to extreme). I know lots of people hate relics and don't care about neck shapes etc, but it's nice to have options.
Plus the fretwork and general attention to detail is that much better on the CS models.
I’ve opted for one high end guitar (2017 r8 in my avatar) and ‘downgraded’ everything else. Sold a CS 63 strat w Abbys and bought a lovely MIJ st-54 80am, replaced a CS 52 tele and bought a nice light Baja tele, also have a Peerless hardtail as my 335 (w Bigsby added). All fantastically well made guitars capable of the same sounds as the more expensive ones that are moved on and for at most 1/5 of the price. Put some money into a nice champ clone and a Marshall Astoria Dual and am happy as Larry with this setup. Also have the budget options on my acoustics - Johnson Carolina jo-27 as my ‘Clapton’ and a Recording King RD-36 as my Martin Dred. Am perfectly happy with my lower budget/high value for money options given I’m more hobbyist than pro, tone is in the fingers (& pups) and have extracted the thousands back out of the wood n wires previously scattered around the house. Tried the CS option, acknowledge that with unlimited funds they’d still be here but absolutely no regrets at the downsizing.
of course if I were ordering a custom shop it’d have the same spec as a 62 AVRI (not current original series though). If I couldn’t get the spec I wanted from the off the shelf stuff I’d go custom shop for sure.
Personally I like 7.25" but a lot of the factory guitars are 9.5" now. The American Original is 9.5". The American Original frets are taller than vintage ones as well.
I do also like the AVRIs and the Mexican Classic series - if fact, I often like the Mexican ones better.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
That said, as a hobbyist, I wouldn't feel comfortable spending more than about £750 on a guitar but I can absolutely understand why some would.
G&L if you want to play it safe, otherwise try a few cheaper models until you find a gem.
The best strat I've played was a Tokai TST50, that just blew me away at random, as I wasn't looking for it and I didn't want one in that finish; however, I should have bought it at £650 and now regret it.
I have two quality cheapies now, one with a trem and one with a hardtail, but I used to have two strats coming to £3k - The latter isn't needed for a good Fender tone.
Use the other £1k for an SA2200.
When one day you're on your death bed you'll be glad of any happiness you got yourself in life and won't wish you hadn't spent money. Not true for every situation of course, but it doesn't sound like you're putting yourself in to hardship, just thinking you should "be sensible".
You won't really get any functions that you won't get with any other Fender but you already knew that, it's about the pleasure it would bring you and the CS will bring you more.
So to me, the suggestions to maybe buy a cheaper Fender plus an additional second guitar might be good, but cutting down on your pleasure purchase to be sensible with the rest - nahhhh.