Glad I didn't waste my time with the CS then. 10k for a P bass...
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Fender Custom Shop prices are SOARING!
- Thread starter Mister Magic
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Glad I didn't waste my time with the CS then. 10k for a P bass...
I ordered a Warmoth custom made guitar neck last month. It arrived yesterday.
Yeah their lead time says 6 to 8 weeks currently. From what I've read they're usually pretty accurate.
hilarious!
The Fender instruments are of inconsistent quality. That is not an opinion, that is definitely quantifiable. Examples of metrics in my post.
As for the price (a separate topic, but related), there have been big increases for Fender instruments, more than for other brands I have looked at. Even standard Fender US models are now past ie german made Sandbergs here in Europe, a brand that many prefer over CS Fenders.
And on the contrary, I’ve never played a G&L or a Lakland that has been anything near what Ive consistently experienced playing Fender Custom Shop basses over the years….
For classic Fender vintage sound, they’re often better than the original thing and they play far better… the question i would ask at this point is where are all the audio/video clips of FCS basses playing/sounding like crap..? I’ve honestly never seen one, and I’ve played dozens and owned a few myself. I hear there are Fodera and Sadowskys that play like crap too, but it’s always someone’s opinion of a bass on a blog or forum with no real evidence to back that up..funny how that’s always the case..opinions are opinions for sure and FCS can supposedly keep making the occasional subpar bass, I suppose…I’m sure there’s a horror story or two from every builder up and down the board…Ive played a boutique that was built by a luthier with extremely high regard here…no one would argue that his basses are far supposed to be far above any G&L or even FCS bass and it was absolutely nothing special about it IMO..there seems to be something about fenders people love picking a fight over…the OP wasn’t even asking for what people thought was a better bass, just commenting on the price increase (which I absolutely agree is INSANE)…I almost ordered an FCS a month or so ago and cancelled decided not to proceed with the order shortly after begetting the quote because I thought that that was too much money…I ultimately did decide to go the route of looking to Warmoth for gathering parts and supplies for a similar build in hopes of getting close enough to what I’m looking for, but I’m not about to kid myself into thinking this bass is gonna be as good as an FCS is every way..odds are extremely high that it’s probably not…
I know about all this bass brands that you’ve mentioned (with the exception of Sandberg) through personal experience and don’t put any of them on that level currently (even though the old 54-94s and Dan Lakin made Fender clones are indeed amazing) I’m not going to go on forum hearsay, I’m going off of my personal experience, which, I assure you, is not baloney..!
There are basses out there where the craftsmanship is certain on a whole ‘nother level, but I ain’t seeing anything come out of G&L that’s quite on their level..I’ve played G&Ls better than some older fenders I’ve owned and I’ve never played a bad G&L…I’ve certainly played a few terrible Fenders, but is G&L’s out out on the same level as Fender’s wouldn’t a more fair comparison be Gibson..? I can’t imagine G&L cranking out the numbers FMIC is (well, maybe before the pandemic).. I would think maybe MusicMan is a more suitable comp…I wouldn’t expect MusicMan to produce a bunch of duds, but theirs is a much smaller, more controlled environment, isn’t it.?
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I think I got my money's worth on my CS VI.
The shop that put in the order helped me out a lot after I initially filled out the build sheet so we figured what options I wanted to keep and what I could dispense with to keep the cost merely high instead of comedic.
I don't know if it's that last fret driving you up another extra 4k or what. Also ask around because I tried 3 different vendors and got 3 very different answers.
Good luck whatever you end up doing.
The shop that put in the order helped me out a lot after I initially filled out the build sheet so we figured what options I wanted to keep and what I could dispense with to keep the cost merely high instead of comedic.
I don't know if it's that last fret driving you up another extra 4k or what. Also ask around because I tried 3 different vendors and got 3 very different answers.
Good luck whatever you end up doing.
Quantifiable means tut have data and statistics. No one here brings data and statistics to a conversation about FMI quality, so that’s incorrect.
Firthermore, the OP is a repeat FCS customer, so perhaps the FCS is something YOU think is not a value, but the OP clearly does. He spent a hefty sum on a bass and loved it enough (and had the spare cash, sure) to do it again. The whole post is why the cost has gone up so much.
And again, for the 3rd time, the price is due to the build level he is getting quoted, not an astronomical price increase.
$10 large is Masterbuilt level pricing. The extra fret alone might have pushed it there.
That said, $3K for the NOS CS ‘64 Jazz Bass I bought is all the Fender I desire. It’s an exemplary instrument of its type. Anymore and I’d go into Sadowsky and Spector for entirely different features, and not just better fit and finish, or Fender Relic’ing.
That said, $3K for the NOS CS ‘64 Jazz Bass I bought is all the Fender I desire. It’s an exemplary instrument of its type. Anymore and I’d go into Sadowsky and Spector for entirely different features, and not just better fit and finish, or Fender Relic’ing.
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Have you considered a Moollon? They are actually worth the wait and I'm guessing the current Moollon price looks like the true bargain it is.
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You might be on to something. I will resubmit the build through another dealer and see what comes back. I hope you are right.
Ahhh…predictably, this thread has run off the rails with Fender bashing.
I have heard relatively few stories of disappointed Fender Custom Shop orders.
My guess is that Fender builds 10-100x more custom instruments than nearly everyone else, so we should expect to see 10-100x more disappointed owners.
Hell, I bought a brand new Fodera about two years ago and sent it back immediately because I thought it was a dead instrument. I owned another Monarch that was pure joy. Every manufacturer produces duds.
Smooth_bass88
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That's the equivalent of McDonald's charging $100 for a big Mac because you ordered a bun with no seeds and extra onions and it's called the master chef edition on the menu. And you have wait 6 hrs to get it.
Um, what?
If you had your heart set on a moderately customized P bass, that's a shame that they hiked the price up to something nonsensical like that, whatever the reason/excuse.
I think it would be worse if it was simply to make you go away. I'd be surprised if that's actually the reason, but the features listed don't add up to $10k worth of bass.
So who knows.
Could it be a matter of different dealers/retailers take different size bites of the cookie when placing the order? Do you order these basses right from Fender, or do they have to be ordered through a dealer?
Um, what?
If you had your heart set on a moderately customized P bass, that's a shame that they hiked the price up to something nonsensical like that, whatever the reason/excuse.
I think it would be worse if it was simply to make you go away. I'd be surprised if that's actually the reason, but the features listed don't add up to $10k worth of bass.
So who knows.
Could it be a matter of different dealers/retailers take different size bites of the cookie when placing the order? Do you order these basses right from Fender, or do they have to be ordered through a dealer?
Your text should have benefitted from some editing...
Honda and Toyota are some of largest producers of vehicles in the world, and also in the top level WRT quality.
As for samples and statistics.... I have played a number of basses, talked to MANY sales people about quality, discussed with band mates, read online and so on for 25 years. In spite of wanting to love (and buy) Fenders, I have several times walked into (different) shops, to buy ie a five string, or a fretless, or a regular Jazz bass, and walked out empty handed. Price was never the problem, badly built basses were.
In the same vein, I needed a short scale bass for a specific thing, tried three identical Ibanez TMB 30, and they were virtually indistinguishable from each other, and cost 220 Euros. Better assembled and better shielded than my 750 Euro Mustang...
Same goes for the MIC Squier CV Jazz basses, maybe the most consistent bass model I have tried. They ALL basically felt, played and sounded the same.
With Fenders, I can pick down 3 from the wall, all have issues, and they feel as different as they came from different manufacturers.
Still, I do own some Fender basses, but it took a lot of trial, and one is not really that good after all.
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Custom Shop instruments must be ordered through a Fender Dealer.
That said, many show up at dealers and in the classifieds. Some are limited production runs, or Team Built and Masterbuilt.
Mod shop is through Fender directly, CS had to be processed through an authorized dealer.
Whoever you talk with should be able to help you figure out how to keep it at "team built", if not I would pass them over. If they don't care enough to go over build details I wouldn't expect much after sale support.
Whoever you talk with should be able to help you figure out how to keep it at "team built", if not I would pass them over. If they don't care enough to go over build details I wouldn't expect much after sale support.
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