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Quality Difference Between Fender American Pro and Custom Shop
- Thread starter BigBadBen67
- Start date
MDBass
Supporting Member
- Nov 7, 2012
- 8,590
- 14,890
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Dingwall-Fender-Bergantino-Dunlop-Tech 21-Darkglass-Nordstrand
Yes, there is an objective quality difference.
It's matter of opinion whether that quality difference is worth the upcharge.
From personal experience.
The new American basses are excellant instruments; sound great, play very well right out of the box, nice finishes (assuming you like polyurethane), and reasonable weight.
The main difference (to me) is consistancy.
One would hope that a hand built instrument has had any major flaws corrected, or if it was a bad part, thrown away.
On a production based instrument, you have the possibility of variance.
Never been to the factory but would bet that the bodies are cut one the same CNC routers, as well as basic neck manufacturing and fret placement.
In mlodern times, I don't want the variance in handmade instruments unless I pick the builder.
Joe might build a bass to his specs that you hate and another guy might be a great builder for you.
Assuming you find an American bass that suites you (and is not a poor instrument) then the only decission is do you value the minor differences to justify the cost. 1/4 sawn necks and any other CS features non-wthstanding.
One thing I wouldn't ever do is plan on a CS instument to become a great investment.
Too small a market, and many of these guys that can afford the upcharge would often times want something a bit more botique.
One reason I went to a Spector (as well as a different tone than Fender).
The new American basses are excellant instruments; sound great, play very well right out of the box, nice finishes (assuming you like polyurethane), and reasonable weight.
The main difference (to me) is consistancy.
One would hope that a hand built instrument has had any major flaws corrected, or if it was a bad part, thrown away.
On a production based instrument, you have the possibility of variance.
Never been to the factory but would bet that the bodies are cut one the same CNC routers, as well as basic neck manufacturing and fret placement.
In mlodern times, I don't want the variance in handmade instruments unless I pick the builder.
Joe might build a bass to his specs that you hate and another guy might be a great builder for you.
Assuming you find an American bass that suites you (and is not a poor instrument) then the only decission is do you value the minor differences to justify the cost. 1/4 sawn necks and any other CS features non-wthstanding.
One thing I wouldn't ever do is plan on a CS instument to become a great investment.
Too small a market, and many of these guys that can afford the upcharge would often times want something a bit more botique.
One reason I went to a Spector (as well as a different tone than Fender).
Custom Shop basses tend to use higher quality woods and the RSD bridge is very neat. If you order one, you benefit from being able to pick out the exact options you want - body and neck material, color, neck profile, pickups, bridge, etc. Run of the mill CS basses seem to be more consistent from one build to the next. Of course, any build can turn into a dog.
I've owned just about every Fender factory line available, several team built CS and one Masterbuilt CS. The Masterbuilt was lighter, had nicer woods and felt better than the Team Built models.
If you want a Fender and don't care about the color or factory specs suit, it is tough to beat an American Standard or Pro. If you want a specific color or feature set, the CS is a viable option and will make you very happy.
If you don't care about the name on the headstock, there are literally unlimited options out there.
About two years ago I decided to have my dream bass built. I talked to several builder including the CS and ended up going with Sadowsky. For what I wanted, they were perfect and I can say this particular bass impresses me much more than the CS Masterbult ever did.
I've owned just about every Fender factory line available, several team built CS and one Masterbuilt CS. The Masterbuilt was lighter, had nicer woods and felt better than the Team Built models.
If you want a Fender and don't care about the color or factory specs suit, it is tough to beat an American Standard or Pro. If you want a specific color or feature set, the CS is a viable option and will make you very happy.
If you don't care about the name on the headstock, there are literally unlimited options out there.
About two years ago I decided to have my dream bass built. I talked to several builder including the CS and ended up going with Sadowsky. For what I wanted, they were perfect and I can say this particular bass impresses me much more than the CS Masterbult ever did.
FWIW, I agree with an earlier point about high-end basses like this being more of a subjective experience. I've played expensive, master-built basses that we amazing and some that were just good. I've also played some "stock/production" basses that ranged from bad to amazing. In the end, you're more likely to have a good experience at the higher price-points, with the basses that have more attention to detail or special treatment, etc. - that's what you're paying for (in theory at least). With the exception of Rics, the quality of your experience should increase while the variability should decrease as the price goes higher. All that said, I'm down to just one bass - a totally stock/production Lakland Skyline - it is amazing and suits me just fine. That it is inexpensive as well is a bonus.
I would think about several things. With the American Pro you will be able to play the instrument and decide if you like it or not. With a Custom you can order it with whatever features you think you will like but there's no guarantee you are going to like the results and you will have to buy the instrument regardless (not to mention the wait time). I have had two Custom Shop Fender basses each of them had certain qualities that I liked but ultimately they did not work for me. Fenders are inherently inconsistent . My feeling is it's best to play one before you buy it.
A custom shop is just that. A custom bass. Reason why the price is higher than the AM.Pro. Do I think you should consider a AM Pro? I bought a Pro P and a Pro J and love the improvements. Some don't . Its is Fender trying something a little different. Higher Mass Bridge, narrow-tall frets, 1963 slim neck, VM (Vintage Modern) Pickups, Fluted-shaft tuning machines, Posiflex graphite rods for neck reinforcement, Bone nut and all this to try to attract a fender younger users with a little modern feel. Personally I m a big fan of the feel, sound and price. Use a Empress Para EQ as a pre and I can get pretty close to my USA Sadowsky 5. Even passive I equally like. I think its a better deal (Financially) than a pro shop, but better? All depends. Not every vintage, hand made, or whatever sound great. Like many here I have sold basses too.
I played CS, American Elites and own an MIJ/AVRI and MIM. Ill start with my experience than answer your question.
The difference between the basic CS and the AVRI was not big enough for me to justify the cost. The AVRI can be found for around $1500 or so, and it's just such an amazing bass. I played a 58 Custom Shop right next to a 63 AVRI and I could not tell much of a difference at all - they were both really, really great instruments.
The American Professional - I doubt it is on the same level of the CS. I suspect the bass that you may want to try is the American Original, which is basically the new AVRI 63. They list at $2k, but I bet you will find them in B stock for under $1,500. If you want something that is a tier below standard CS at most, that is the way to go.
To answer your question though - yes. The CS are intended to be of higher quality since they are made by a specific team who handpicks the wood and stuff like that. They are marketed as superior.
Back to my opinion, the AVRI/AOriginal is the way to go if you are into that vibe. If I wanted to buy a CS, I would do probably go up a notch to the full on Fender custom shop, where they make it how you want.
Wood is inherently inconsistent"; it's not just limited to just Fender. This is why you should actually play the bass before you buy it.
And on that note, how is the quality on the Mod Shop guitars?
I see they added Sherwood Green. Looks sweet. Especially with tort.
I've never owned or played a custom shop Fender. I would imagine there is a difference in quality, or at least there should be, because each instrument is built by the best luthiers at Fender and they are not mass-producing like the regular basses, e.g. they can take extra time to make sure every detail is right. The goal of the factory is to mass-produce instruments by balancing speed with quality (but with an emphasis on speed). The goal of the custom shop is to produce the highest quality, and speed I imagine is not part of the equation.
listening to different instruments played behind a curtain..you couldnt tell the difference..its all in the eye and ear of the beholder..some of the instruments will feel different..people are going to try and satisfy themselves..and there are all different levels of satisfaction..I dont believe there is a huge amount of difference in the CS basses and the ones on the american production line..not for the dollar difference....I have an american fender jazz with a flat sawn neck..built in corona..I have changed the pickups..bridge and pickguard..I like the instrument very much..but its not flesh and blood..I have a gibson victory artist bass with a quartersawn neck..built in nashville..I like the instrument very much..I like it better than the fender..its a higher quality instrument..to include the body and neck wood..fretboard..the finish..pickups..bridge..electronics..machine heads..brass nut..and an overall combination of everything that is there..a jaguar is built better than a chevrolet.....its your money..satisfy yourself..
As you go up the food chain from a Squier affinity to a masterbuilt instrument the chances of you getting a dog considerably diminish. This is not to say that you cannot find a Squier that sounds awesome though, as the variations in wood combined with a relatively unsophisticated design and simple hardware lend themselves to perceptible differences in sound. Once you reach a certain level though, how is it possible to improve on how the end of a fret is filed for example?. And could you not just do the work yourself or pay a luthier to go over every square millimeter of each fret and make them perfect?.
American Pro’s are fantastic. American Originals /AVRIs are even more fantastic. My overall preferences are older American Deluxes and the American Elites. Didn’t really dig the last run of Deluxes with the block inlays/binding prior to the new Elites. The new just Elites plain kill. I like the CS stuff when it’s good but I’ve had several and some were great and some were very mediocre. Had a few that needed fretwork because they were a mess in the upper register when I tried to get a decent setup.
