FENDER CUSTOM SHOP BASSES

I've had mine just over a year now and I love playing the bass. I have no regrets.
Is it worth the extra $$? Hard to say really. There are some really good production line basses out there by variety of different manufacturers that sell for alot less, but it's hard to put a dollar amount on how much I enjoy playing the bass. It is by far the best playing and sounding bass I've ever played.
I asked pretty much the same question as you before I purchased mine. Here's one answer I got;

The thing with CS basses is the ratio of hits to misses. With a production line instrument 1 in 10 will be VERY ok and 1 in a 100 to sometimes 1 in 1000 will be totally remarkable. With CS basses it is like 1 in 1000 is a dud for some reason or another. So even buying sight unseen your chances of getting an outstanding instrument are 1000 to 1 or better.

Master Builders either do everything themselves or supervise what they don't do personally, such as the finish application. The MAIN things that matter to me is the wood, hardware and electronics selection processes which is each done personally by the builder. CS builders get the pick of all wood blanks each time a new shipment of blanks arrives. This is crucial. The hardware is either higher quality ordered specifically for the CS or is cherry picked by the master builder from regular production inventory when a new shipment comes in, just as they do with the wood blanks. As for the electronics, the values are DOUBLE CHECKED one at a time on all electronic components going into a CS instrument. Caps and pots can have up to a 10% or greater variance from stated value and work fine in regular production instruments, but CS parts are held to a tighter standard and each one checked out in advance which isn't done in regular production. Then the pickups are the icing on the cake being hand wound. More often than not pickup winding is either done by Abigail Yberra herself (she has been hand winding Fender pups since the late 1950's) and now she only winds CS pups. At the VERY least Ms. Yberra supervises the winding of practically all CS pickups. She is a treasure of experience and knowledge and everyone at Fender knows it.

The most select wood, the hand picked electronics components, choice hardware, and the chance of getting actual Yberra hand wound pickups are three things you will never get in any regular production Fender instrument.

Even taking the hand finishing and fitting of the master builder out of the equation you are getting something you frankly can not get any other way.

T-Bone Wolk (a bass hero of mine who died not too long ago) was surprised by the delivery of a CS recreation of his #1 P-Bass personally delivered by Fender personnel at an LA gig he was playing. He retired his original P-Bass that night and played the CS copy rest of his life, which it sadly turned out was only a very few months. He said it not only sounded better, but played better than his #1 that did all those Saturday Night Live tv shows and the Hall & Oates recordings including the lead bass riff on "Maneater."

This story keeps repeating itself. CS keeps making reproductions of classic vintage instruments for professionals as a backup and the professionals end up leaving their far more valuable originals at home or in some cases, in a vault.

Here's a few pics (first one is from the online store that I purchased from. They take better pics than me. It is the actual bass I own.)

 

I have two. Wouldn't trade them for the world. The yellow one was team built, other was master built.

 

Bass32,

That is a beautiful bass you have and your post is very informative when it comes to Fender Custom Shop basses.

Bones

 

Thanks Bones. I appreciate it.

I ordered mine from an online store. They spec'd the basses out and had FCS make them. So it is actually a team built FCS bass. I didn't get the Abby pickups, but the SD Quarter Pounds are really nice. Powerful, clean sound and quiet.

I play it almost every day, practice at home, band rehearsals, gigs. Enjoy it each time I pull it out of the case. It's so easy to play and you can get a variety of playable sounds out of it.

 

I began collecting one of each Fender CS bass released in 2009 (except for the Pro series), up to 20 or 21 now. Wonderful instruments.

 

wooow that bass looks sooo awesome!! which jazz bass model is that? i looks like the custom classic model they discontinued in 2011 i believe.
or can you still get one like yours? how much did you pay for that?
it's sooo beautiful

 

That's a beauty.

I've been lusting over the Pino CS P-Bass. In my dreams! that things costs more than my upright.


joe

 

Since I love J's and P's, if I played a 4 string, I'd be playing a custom shop. The custom shop seems mostly focused on replicating some of the classic Fender builds of the past, and they seem to do it great. Played a Pino a while back, and it was simply stunning.

Since I play 5 strings, I chose to go with builders that are really into 5 string builds, like Alleva-Coppolo and Nordstrands. The examples of custom shop 5 strings I've seen are the more 'modern' type builds, and a couple didn't even use Fender pickups. Strange, but again, seems they are mostly about 4 strings.

Top notch to me, based on the couple I've played (a 60's style J and the Pino).

As posted above, some of the new Fender MIA executions are quite good, so like any boutique type expensive build, it costs a lot of money to get 'a little better'. If you have the money, that 'little bit better' can be worth every penny in the long run. Will it get you more gigs... nope!

 

It is a Custom Classic Jazz Special V. I ordered it from Sweetwater. They spec'd the bass out to FCS. It is basically the Custom Classic except they updated the electronics and neck. They also used a nitro finish.
Besides personally ordering from a FCS authorized dealer, it's my understanding that you can only get these Custom Classic Specials from Sweetwater.
If you ordered one yourself from a dealer, it's a Violin Burst nitro finish and the neck is a "AA" flamed maple with black peral inlays and black binding. You could spec the rest of the bass any way you want it.

The MSRP on mine was $5,650. Retail was $4,480. I paid $4,032. There are some that retail for $1000 less and some for alot more. Check out some of the online stores that sell FCS. You could probably find one that you would like or at least close to it and get an idea of the cost.

 

64j and a 59p.. Others come and go.. Not these two, phenomenal basses if you want a vintage vibe.

Beautifully made, beautifully finished
The other thing with CS basses, lifetime warranty.

 

bass32, your bass is GORGEOUS. What wood is it? The grain doesn't look as pronounced as ash, but it's more pronounced than alder usually is.

thanks!

 

I had a CS 64 J a while back, it was great and at some point I plan to find another one of them. The play and sound as good as they look !

 

I agree - that might be the nicest Fender 5er I've ever seen - what a beaut!!!


- georgestrings

 

love the finish on that '64J.

here's my 64 & 59

 

Here my two best friends -

64' Master Built Dennis Galuszka JB (acctually I call it my 66' because I've added Blocks & Binding) - also the body is Ash. This Bass is a lifetime bass - I LOVE it since the first note 3,5 years ago

62' Team Built P - a great Bass too

 

Killer basses, mow!!!


- georgestrings

 

mr. wow, your surf green jazz is rivaled only by your home's exquisite baseboard molding!