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The Fender Custom Shop is a Joke

#101
bucephylus said:
The original post really had this one right, but a lot of the responses are off target, IMO.

The Fender so-called Custom Shop is really a very well tuned operation that produces some very excellent specific instruments, and will for a totally exorbitant price actually build a custom instrument.

The good thing is that they ARE producing excellent instruments dead center to what most Fender players really want, IME.

The not so good thing is that if a player wants a reasonably small tweak on any of the designs, the pricing pretty quickly doesn't make sense. Further, they won't even do certain tweaks because they need to keep their Artist series distinct; i.e. they simply won't do certain tweaks if they are features found on an Artist series. Just a small example is that I had a discussion with the Scottsdale office about building a Custom V with the 9" radius on the board a few months back; and that was completely rejected, as in would not even quote on it because that feature is found on the MM5.

So, they do produce some limited great instruments; but don't have actual custom work as part of the business model. I think you have to go from there, take it for what it is, and not get all excited about what it isn't; IMO.

For actual custom work, you've got Sadowsky, Lull, A-C, to name just a few. So, we're in pretty great shape for product availability/accessibility right now.

My 2c.
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GREAT post!!
 
#105
BigOldHarry said:
It's pretty clear that the $$ they might charge you has more to do with discouraging you than cost of goods... They also have more invested in their brand name than anythings else - if they made custom instruments more cheaply, they risk diluting their brand with a flood of goofy ideas.

That said, you have them make a custom bass for you for $12K, it is entirely possible that that particular bass will be worth $25K in 10 years. The collectors market simply ADORES fender, for good or for ill. Who knows if Sadowsky will even be around in 10 years (I hope they are, but I think you see my point). Fender is all about branding, not music.
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BINGO. This is the point I think most people are missing. The CS shop bass will be, for better or worse, a Fender.

You can have any of the boutique builder build whatever they can and while it can arguably be better, worse, prettier, uglier, easier to play, harder to play, whatever... there's one thing it won't be. I'd bet most of you can guess what that is by this point.
:cool:

A real 62 Jazz didn't cost thousands of dollars new but look at what they go for now. A huge part of that is because of what brand it is. It's not necesarily magical, it is however a particular Fender.

I found the Alembic comparison amusing. $12k is scratching the surface of what they're capable of. I guess when people can actually step back and understand everything that goes into deciding value, this may make sense to them. It's a common situation.
:cool:


I guess it's always come down to this for me: when you ask how much, it's a question. I've yet to have an answer faze me. It is what it is and I simply have to decide if it works for me. I don't get upset if it doesn't.
:D
 
#106
I worked at a famous studio in van nuys in 96. They had no website, did no advertising,
had a 1-line listing in the white pages & were always booked solid. Big clients waiting to pay the 1K per day to get in that room. Talk about turning people away. The famous and the not so famous alike. My point being: The rich get richer. It should be called
The Fender Stock Shop. I own a Time Machine 64 Jazz relic in oly white. Paid $1800 US
used, and I love it. -Peace
 
#108
I would say IMHO, it would be like you go to BMW and ask them to make you a custom car. How much would you think they would charge you?

Maybe they make better basses at boutique shops, but they don't have the Fender brand. If you are brand snob, you wouldn't mind paying a whole load of money for it.
 
#109
crow01 said:
I would say IMHO, it would be like you go to BMW and ask them to make you a custom car. How much would you think they would charge you?

Maybe they make better basses at boutique shops, but they don't have the Fender brand. If you are brand snob, you wouldn't mind paying a whole load of money for it.
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I don't think BMW would charge me more than 2x the price of the car for a different paint job.
 
#113
It appears to me that what some are missing is that the exhorbitant pricing quotes being handed out are via the dealership, not Fender. $12k for a CS is probably double what it should be, ie, major gouging by the dealer. So, find another, and more honest, dealer.
 
#114
Mushroo said:
I'm just saying, you said you would expect BMW to charge you about 2x the price of the car for a custom model. That seems to be consistent with the Custom Shop pricing...
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I did not say that.
What I said was that BMW would not charge you 2X the price of the car for a different color.

The Am Std is about $1500, a different color is $5500 more than 3 times just for paint.

Which gets me thinking about buying one for $1500 and having the body stripped and painted and buying a pickguard.

So, is it still a "Fender"?
 
#117
jimmyfamous said:
I did not say that.
What I said was that BMW would not charge you 2X the price of the car for a different color.

The Am Std is about $1500, a different color is $5500 more than 3 times just for paint.

Which gets me thinking about buying one for $1500 and having the body stripped and painted and buying a pickguard.

So, is it still a "Fender"?
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The American Standard is not made in the Custom Shop. :)
The base price for a CS bass is about $3000. Custom orders are more.
If you want an American Standard bass with a custom color, just buy one and get a replacement body in the color you want from Warmoth. :)
 
#118
tommixx said:
In the end you are right....A Sadowsky is not a Fender and neither is an Alleva. However, I submit to you that ANYONE looking for a Fender or Fender styled instrument would most likely be VERY well satisfied with either one of these. Most people would most likely find them to be superior to most Fenders in every way...

Peace,

T
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There are so many exceptions to that, it's clear that "ANYONE" is an exaggeration. They're nice basses but many people still prefer Fenders... especially if they're not looking for a Fender styled instrument.
:cool:
 
#119
Just Thumpin' said:
That was a MAJOR part of my decision. It is one thing to want a bass made to your personal specifications, it's an entirely different matter when that vanity will cost you $6,000+ in lost value if you ever need to sell it! At least with my Foderas if I ever do have to sell, I will get very close to what I paid for them!

I certainly do NOT look at basses as investments -- they are meant to be played, but the aftermarket for the Fender Custom Shop stuff definitely tells the story of products that are hugely over-priced (in that I do not know of any Fender Custom Shop basses that hold their value very well). I do think that it IS important to think about what your hard earned cash will be worth 10 years down the road if you sink that much of it into one instrument...
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Then you must've bought the Foderas used. New ones can take a pretty substantial hit, just like most boutique basses.

That's the beauty of SX basses... you can't lose thousands on one of them*

The Custom Shop hasn't been around as long as regular Fenders. It's possible they may appreciate in time. Who knows?




*unless it involves an insurance claim;)
 
#120
RexNFX79 said:
Fender has become so large and such a standard that they don't have to worry about providing good customer service. I'd say that this is an example of this. I like Fender Basses but God help you if you need something from the company. My feeling on the custom shop is that it is a custom shop in name only to the general public. If you payed 12K for that bass, I would think that the resale value wouldn't be close to that. You could probably get a real 64 for that price! What a crock!
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How is a price quote a customer service issue? Better yet, how is it an example of bad customer service?
 

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