Fender Custom Shop Reality

[Lennard III.]

I have two great great CS Basses (ok, as a lefty you have to go Custom Shop if you want sth. different than an American Standart in sunburst )

Both basses are lifetime basses - sound, feel, wood selection, finish (closet classic finish which is the BEST feel to me) , etc. are just awesome.

My Jazz Bass is a Dennis Galuszka Master Built and it's the best bass that I've ever had.

The P is a Team Built and it's great too

[jfh2424]

I have no experience with CS basses.

However, whenever I read about why these basses are special (attention to detail, tight pocket, etc) I always shudder at what Fender thinks when it looks over the quality of their non-CS basses: "Well, this bass isn't that well constructed, but then again, customers know it isn't a CS instrument so I guess it's ok".

Just kinda weird that they the main thing with that they are offering with CS is the fact that instruments are well built. And a range of options.

John

[gwangi]

Originally Posted by Lennard III.

I have two great great CS Basses (ok, as a lefty you have to go Custom Shop if you want sth. different than an American Standart in sunburst )

Both basses are lifetime basses - sound, feel, wood selection, finish (closet classic finish which is the BEST feel to me) , etc. are just awesome.

My Jazz Bass is a Dennis Galuszka Master Built and it's the best bass that I've ever had.

The P is a Team Built and it's great too

Hey can you tell me the specs for both of your left hand basses, nice basses by the the way.

[Lennard III.]

Originally Posted by gwangi

Hey can you tell me the specs for both of your left hand basses, nice basses by the the way.

yeah, why not

P Bass : 62' Team Built, light Alder body, RW board, colour : Shoreline Gold (hard to see on the pic - this colour changes dramatically due to the angle of light ) , Black Pudding Pickguard, Closet Classic finish

Jazz Bass : 64' Master Built, pretty light Ash body, RW board, Blocks & Binding, colour : Vintage White w. matching headstock, Closet Classic finish, Black Pudding Pickguard

[Jawbone]

My CS '64 Fender Jazz should arrive today, but it is Veterans day so maybe not....

[Mojo-Man]

Just got a 2011 CS Relic 55 P-Bass. ( Used)
This bass is amazing, lightweight, 8 pounds.
After a quick setup, and new strings. the bass plays and sounds killer.
This bass has a "ABBY" hand-wound pickup.
I never had a passive pickup that changes so much when you add or delete the tone knob. In a good way. tight, big, defined tone.
It does the vintage old school thing to the bone.
Remember like all fender basses, there are good ones and ok ones.
Just because it says CS on the back of the head-stock. does not mean there all wonderful. Play them before you buy.
I've plays some other CS basses that were much heavier, and just seemed OK. Not worth the extra cash.
P S The old first year 1982-1983 Fender Reissue basses are as good, or better than CS. JMO.

[bassdude51]

Originally Posted by mr.mow

I've got 2, team built time machine models (nothing custom. Just reissue types).
Yes, worth every cent, love mine. On paper they are no different to the American vintage basses, but in reality it's nicer, lighter woods, 2pc bodies, quarter sawn necks, nicer fretboards, thinner all nitro finishes, better fret work, tighter neck pockets.

Refinement really..
I've seen NOS jazzes and passes selling for around $2k new (were talking the eBay seller right?) they're good guys, looked after me.

+ 1

The Fender CS seems to make the effort to use light weight wood and many of the necks are 1/4 sawn.

2 grand ain't bad for an American made bass with those expensive "little touches" that make a big difference and with that magical name Fender there's a "mojo factor", plus always excellent resale value.

[Knavery]

How is the action on the CS basses? Fit, finish, and quartersewn necks don't mean a thing without being able to play them.

[DiabolusInMusic]

Originally Posted by Knavery

How is the action on the CS basses? Fit, finish, and quartersewn necks don't mean a thing without being able to play them.

Well I imagine the action on all of these are wherever the owner wants it, world class finishing means you can put the action wherever/however you like.

As far as the lefty, those are some killer basses but I have an idea what they cost, wwwaaaaayyyyy out of my price range, so I will only be looking at CS basses.

[El-Bob]

Originally Posted by Knavery

How is the action on the CS basses? Fit, finish, and quartersewn necks don't mean a thing without being able to play them.

Well... if they were incapable of good action, then the fit and finish obviously could not be good. If the fit and finish truly are good, then the action should go where you want it, I would think.

[9mmMike]

Originally Posted by bassdude51

+ 1

The Fender CS seems to make the effort to use light weight wood and many of the necks are 1/4 sawn.

2 grand ain't bad for an American made bass with those expensive "little touches" that make a big difference and with that magical name Fender there's a "mojo factor", plus always excellent resale value.

I have two CS currently and I would not say they are especially light. They are both '59's, one trans-white ash, one burgundy mist alder. Nice basses but they (and my old Pino) are not the lightest Fender P's I've had...not the heaviest either.
My current "main" bass is a '57 AV RI that is a one-piece ash body and it is much lighter than the '59 CS that is two-piece ash.
The CS necks are really nice but not as thin front-to-back as my AV RI's. The necks feel more like my '72, a little thicker but not as Louieville Slugger as my '78.
The necks on my '59 CS's are (by feel) identical. My AV RI's are a real crapshoot when it comes to feel.
The overall "quality" of the CS basses, from a fit and finish point-o-view, is better...more attention to detail.
I think, if you shopped carefully for a nice AV RI with a neck you liked and a nice tight neckpocket and good paintjob and took some time to do (or have done) a quality fret job and setup, you could get real close to an "off the rack" CS. The hardware appears to be the same. If you really want a quartersawn neck, then the CS is the way to go IMHO.
Of course, I could be wrong...

[Art Araya]

I've owned several Fender basses (3 J and 1 P) and most needed a shim in the neck pocket to allow the type of low action I was seeking all the way from the neck to the bridge.

I wonder if these CS basses suffer from the same problem?

[C.Linton]

For that much money, they better not.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Blue Blood

They felt exactly like the Fodera 5's I've owned. Overall there's not one thing that could've been done better on them.

Which Fodera 5s? And are you comparing to a CS 5-string?

[IPA]

Our local GC had a used custom shop 55 p-bass, next to it sat a used Sting p-bass.

I played both, trying to be honest about them, and even if I had 2 grand to spend on the CS, it didn't feel or sound 1400 dollars better than the Sting. The neck felt awkward and the neck finish was not comfortable. The sound was about the same. I own the Sting now...

[pacojas]

anyone near the SF Bay Area should click this link if you want a great deal on a fresh made Relic!

FENDER CS RELICS CLEARANCE!

[Fletz]

I have a 2012 Fender Am Std Jazz. I used to own and sold a CS Jazz. I loved it, but truth be told, I can't justify the price difference between the two. Maybe the 2012s are special, but they feel light and perfectly balanced. With the CS pups, it's hard to say there's a tone difference. The build feels very close.

Just my two cents. I may be beat up for it, but it's my POV.

[pacojas]

hmmm,.. looks like i may be picking up a CS64Relic this week. so many great deals have been exposed to me lately.

[xray]

Wow, that's a killer deal on the CS64 Relics. I can't afford one right now but my gas is getting worse for a CS. I don't care what the weight is - the pure craftmanship alone will make me forget about the extra .4 lb.

[chef wong]

Originally Posted by Jawbone

As the market floods (I've never seen so many Fender custom shop basses for sale on the used market) with used basses it's definitely a buyers world. Just curous about the craftmanship and quality of the Fender Custom Shop line: Are there periods just like the other lines that are better than others? Are they really "custom basses" or is just another Fender marketing guise? Is there any difference to the quality between models: ie, P vs. J? There are quite a few I've got my eye on, but if it's just hype - I'm not going to waste my mojo.

The best Fender basses ever built imo were made between 1990 to 1994, and were called the Jazz Plus Deluxe and the Precision Plus Deluxe. No matter what they say, I do believe these are "custom shop" Fender's. For starters, the guy who designed these instruments(Blanda) now heads the custom department. All builders involved(signed in the neck pocket) are all custom shop guys. The Kubicki electronics weren't production at the time. There's nothing "production" about these instruments....

These early 90's instruments are imo the best period for the Fender Custom Shop...or any other Fender time period.