Custom Shop Fenders - Your Reasons

impmann

I've not played a bad CS Fender.

I've played *plenty* of bad AVRIs (over heavy, dead sounding, uninspiring etc etc), to the point that I won't even bother considering them now - I'd rather try a Mexican and save the money.

That said, when I went shopping for a CS Strat I came home with a PRS...

Gassage

I've not played many bad CS guitars but equally have only played a couple of amazing ones. They're very consistant.

For less than CS money, you could get a Fullerton 83/84 RI which, IMO, will be better.

For cheap, you can get MJT everything, the best pups in the world and callaham parts and still have £1000 left over.

Ditto AVRI (the new ones).

If you're going Masterbuilt, look hard and you might get a 60's player grade vintage.

At the end of the day, a strat is a simple guitar- it's not as complex to build as a LP

EDIT: the real bargain is an Eric Johnson- IMO the best Strat you can buy.

Aidanspaghetti

It goes against every grain in my body to spend big money.on bolt ons... They were.designed to be assembled by cheap labour and in my experience you really can get very close without breaking the bank. 
Now i have owned CS fenders and small builder guitars but that doesnt stop me lusting after Tylers etc and what have you but my Mantra these days is more along the lines of, expensive amp, cheapish guitar!!
I go through a similar thing with les pauls.. I would love a CS Knopfler,  or a Gil Yaron but in my world, it will sit on the stand the same ammount of time as my japanese tokai, whichni get great pleasure from when playing.
At the end of the day, its the same old sports car thing. Lovely to own and use but other options are viable.
Im gonna spend more time getting better instead of MORE.
Imho

crunchman

impmann said:

I've not played a bad CS Fender.

I've played *plenty* of bad AVRIs (over heavy, dead sounding, uninspiring etc etc), to the point that I won't even bother considering them now - I'd rather try a Mexican and save the money.

That said, when I went shopping for a CS Strat I came home with a PRS...

AVRIs are a mixed bag.  I have a 2001, which is really brilliant.  I wasn't actually looking for a guitar when I bought it.  I went into the shop to try an amp.  They asked me what guitar I wanted to try it with, and I picked the AVRI that was hanging on the wall.  Once I started playing it, it was stunning.  I ended up going back a couple of weeks later and buying the guitar.

After that, my amp hunt continued.  I would go into shops and they would ask me what guitar I wanted to try the amp with.  If they had an AVRI 62 I would choose that because it was the "same" as mine.  They were all dead sounding in comparison with mine.

I've not played many CS Strats because I'm happy with mine.  When I have played a CS guitar, it's not blown me away.  I've played few more CS Teles.  Some of them were really good.  Some were underwhelming.

My advice to the OP would be to go and play a bunch of them (Mexican, AVRI, American Original, Custom Shop, whatever) until he finds one he likes.

ICBM

Gassage said:

EDIT: the real bargain is an Eric Johnson- IMO the best Strat you can buy.

I've played two of those... one was quite nice, and the other was hands-down the worst modern Fender I can remember (certainly US) - it sounded like it was made from damp cardboard.

GoldenEraGuitars

crunchman said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

Go and play a few before making your mind up. There’s nothing the “custom shop” can do that you can’t achieve with a cheaper model.

I can only imagine the LOLs are from CS owners in denial that a well set up fender at less than half the price will feel and sound the same  

Won't feel the same.  The poly finish on the cheaper guitars ensures that.

In every other respect though, a cheaper one can be just as good.  You might have to play 20 cheaper ones to find a really good one though.

Only if you want fenders “nitro”. Which is full of plastic anyway  

tomajoha

I echo what people say about the wood selection. It may end up making diddly-squat worth of difference when plugged in but I like strats/tele to have naturally resonance body through to neck - I have owned a fair few CS strats and I find this to be consistently far more common in CS strats than any others in the Fender catalogue.

Fifty9

I would suggest the OP just goes for it and gets the CS. It’s an itch to scratch and it’s only once you’ve done it and owned the one(s) you think you want that you know where your preference lies. Buy sensibly and you’ll not lose much if anything so give it a whirl if you can afford to. 

I had 2 really great CS guitars that merited ‘keeper’ status and ticked all of my boxes. But they just weren’t used enough & I wasn't as relaxed playing them and in the end I let them go. Was about to go a further 2k into it with a Gibby 335 to round off the collection. Horses for courses I appreciate that and I may get some again in the future but expect that for a good while, it’s just not my preference to have approx 10k in guitars vs 4k when I can tell only marginal differences. I like the variety & for me a thin poly finish, whilst it won’t age or smell like nitro, feels absolutely fine to play and doesn’t sound any different

crunchman

Just to sir the pot a bit, I think there is a bigger difference between regular factory and Custom Shop with Gibson than with Fender.  What are other people's thoughts?

Fifty9

crunchman said:

Just to sir the pot a bit, I think there is a bigger difference between regular factory and Custom Shop with Gibson than with Fender.  What are other people's thoughts?

Totally agree with this. Can’t really explain why either but the feel is v different. Had a 2017 trad as well as my r8 and whilst the former was in no way a bad guitar, the difference in feel is huge imho. 

Whitecat

crunchman said:

Just to sir the pot a bit, I think there is a bigger difference between regular factory and Custom Shop with Gibson than with Fender.  What are other people's thoughts?

100% in agreement. 

I can’t own non CS Gibsons anymore, the gulf is big and I’ve been spoiled. 

With Fender absolutely every single one is case-by-case, no matter what the country of origin even...

Philly_Q

Good to see that, as ever, we can be relied upon to reach a clear consensus.

thegummy

ICBM said:

Gassage said:

EDIT: the real bargain is an Eric Johnson- IMO the best Strat you can buy.

I've played two of those... one was quite nice, and the other was hands-down the worst modern Fender I can remember (certainly US) - it sounded like it was made from damp cardboard.

EJ can hear the difference between different liquids used to dampen the cardboard

Tex Mexico

JonHosker said:

Shameless plug, but my CS Tele (for sale here) beat all others for me! I agree you can get a great guitar for a lot less, but they are really well built etc.

Oh, I've seen it. Please expect to hear from me if it's still for grabs when my cash comes through.

Tex Mexico

crunchman said:

TINMAN82 said:

*deleted over explanation and rationalisation*

Buy the CS. You’re soul will be happier.

Depends.

Does the OP have a really great amp?

If not, buy a Mexican one, and spend the difference on a great amp.  It will make far more difference to the sound you get.

Access to quite a few very nice amps. Don't currently own one as I'm between things, but there's a budget for that, too. And it won't be a Boss Katana, put it that way.

terada

crunchman said:

Just to sir the pot a bit, I think there is a bigger difference between regular factory and Custom Shop with Gibson than with Fender.  What are other people's thoughts?

Mirrors my experience exactly 

Tex Mexico

Just want to bump this a bit as it's creeping and I'm still super not sure.

RaymondLin

Tex Mexico said:

Just want to bump this a bit as it's creeping and I'm still super not sure.

Don’t spend £4K on “I am not sure”.

tony99

RaymondLin said:

Tex Mexico said:

Just want to bump this a bit as it's creeping and I'm still super not sure.

Don’t spend £4K on “I am not sure”.

on the contrary, the only way to be sure is to spend the money

one can live with buyer's remorse, but one can't live without a good CS

Tex Mexico

I think a lot of it is option paralysis - I've got a bigger budget than I've ever had but I do want to get a good yield and value for money, plus I've got to thinking about how it might be time for that JTM45 halfstack, so then if I were to get me say a used AVRI I can get a real nice rig for under £3k, and my wife might even calm down. Or I could add another k and make it a CS...

I am honestly swaying AVRI. This is unlikely to be the last time I can put this kind of money into a guitar - it is the first time, however, so I think I'm trying to do everything at once.

Aaargh. I need to go play more guitars, don't I.