Ordering a Fender Custom shop

adam1990

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.

Whitecat

They start around £3k now for bog standard 55-60 model reissues and most options add an upcharge. I think a dealer is unlikely to work with you on the price much - go to one you’ve spent a lot with already if possible and they will hopefully do the best deal they can but with a 9-12 month wait on builds at the moment they haven’t got much incentive to cut the price. You can get a feel for price differences by browsing a big dealer’s inventory - Peach, Coda etc... you can sort of guesstimate maybe how much it
might be by finding a similar spec one to what you’re after. 

adam1990

Whitecat said:

They start around £3k now for bog standard 55-60 model reissues and most options add an upcharge. I think a dealer is unlikely to work with you on the price much - go to one you’ve spent a lot with already if possible and they will hopefully do the best deal they can but with a 9-12 month wait on builds at the moment they haven’t got much incentive to cut the price. You can get a feel for price differences by browsing a big dealer’s inventory - Peach, Coda etc... you can sort of guesstimate maybe how much it
might be by finding a similar spec one to what you’re after. 

I’ve had my eye out for the last year and nothing has made me pull the trigger on one yet ... However some of the Anderson’s stuff the last few months has been hard to resist.  I’m just put off by the 4K price tag, would rather spec it myself for that price to make it more personal.

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. 

CFH

Are you totally married to the idea of going CS? Plenty of other fantastic builders out there will build you a guitar which is going to be as good, and you'll probably get more input into the specs, probably at a better price point. 

guitars4you

John at Peach or Doug at Coda are 2 good guys to contact - I use to do it but no longer a dealer for new CS models

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

meltedbuzzbox

I would recommend you go to a shop like coda and peach and play as many as you can. There are some great cs guitars hanging on the walls already (especially in coda)
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

DougCoda

It's good to play a few different neck shapes to see what suits you if you can, failing that chat with whoever you want to order with about what you have now and like and what the Custom Shop offer that will be the same or similar , there are a few variations on the 60's C for example, the standard one being .790-.930 but you can get them thicker as well, more recent variations have been .820 at the 1st fret, there are plenty of neck shape options so you should fine something there that will work .
 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! 

Jackobean

Have to agree with the previous posters.
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.

guitars4you

meltedbuzzbox said:

I would recommend you go to a shop like coda and peach and play as many as you can. There are some great cs guitars hanging on the walls already (especially in coda)
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

Good advice on 'buying off the shelf' - You know what you are getting and as an overview IMO a better option

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

adam1990

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to wait and see what figure the quote comes back hopefully next week and go from there.

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. 

SteveRobinson

"confused metaphors"

(one for the cruciverbalists)

imalrightjack

For my money, find a British luthier and save a bloody fortune.

clarkefan

imalrightjack said:

For my money, find a British luthier and save a bloody fortune.

If you're suggesting spending something like £4,000 on a non-vintage Fender Strat is possibly questionable then I would agree.

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.

Whitecat

These threads are always bound to descend into "save your money, buy luthier built!" from one corner and then another corner saying "just make one yourself, it's only parts!" but it's the guy's birthday and the guy's own money and perhaps he won't be happy unless he has the genuine article - that's fine. He's allowed that.

Personally, I'd be looking at K-Line.

imalrightjack

clarkefan said:

imalrightjack said:

For my money, find a British luthier and save a bloody fortune.

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.

Is one Fender the same as another?  It's worth considering, for sure.

Whitecat said:

...perhaps he won't be happy unless he has the genuine article - that's fine. He's allowed that.

Absolutely.  To each his own!

Hattigol

I'm conscious I have a horse in this race and I'm not touting, honest! But would you not look at used ones? You're going to be losing sizable sum as you walk out the door...

Granted, a very exciting thing getting your own one built though.

adam1990

Hattigol said:

I'm conscious I have a horse in this race and I'm not touting, honest! But would you not look at used ones? You're going to be losing sizable sum as you walk out the door...

Granted, a very exciting thing getting your own one built though.

If the right used one came up I wouldn't say no at all. All of the guitars I have brought over the last 10 years have been used apart from a Mustang PJ bass.

meltedbuzzbox

imalrightjack said:

For my money, find a British luthier and save a bloody fortune.

That still offers a limited chance of having a great end product.
And say hello to resale value of 300 to 500 quid if you don't like what you have ended up with

adam1990

meltedbuzzbox said:

imalrightjack said:

For my money, find a British luthier and save a bloody fortune.

That still offers a limited chance of having a great end product.
And say hello to resale value of 300 to 500 quid if you don't like what you have ended up with

This is partly why I would go for the custom shop.

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.

Onpar

Buying a fender custom shop for a special birthday shouldn't be about resale value or if you can find something equivalent for less money. We work hard and surely deserve to indulge if you can afford it, especially for a special birthday.  Used is always going to better for the wallet but you may have to compromise on getting exactly what you want. I agree that you should go to Coda, Peach etc and just play a boat load. There will be one that just gives you that special magical warm feeling, and that's really what want from that type of guitar. Most of us buy those types of guitars for emotional reasons. 

dazzajl

Ordering your own CS Fender is never going be a sensible option, efficient, financially prudent or without doubts at some point. That’s why it’s a bit of a dream and a fantastic thing to pursue. 

No other, more sensible option could ever come close to the experience. Hopefully you’ll be able to set a few days aside to travel and play as many CS models as you can. Partly to get really aquatinted with all the options but mostly to really wring the most out of the whole experience. Massively exciting stuff.