What's the difference between a "custom" and "boutique" bass?

[Arthur U. Poon]

Custom=taylored to the customer.
Boutique=handbuilt by a small business.

+1.

 

[rmayer]

Based on the definitions you quoted, your conclusion is wrong. As a random example, take this bass, which is currently in stock according to Sadowsky's website:

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I think that we would all agree that Sadowsky is a boutique, according to your definition, because he makes instruments for a sophisticated and specialized clientele. However, this bass is not a custom bass, as it was not made to order for any particular customer.

Yes, This one was made for stock, but having owned a few of Roger's basses I can tell you that you can order and customize these basses also (wood finishes, fretboards, pickups, neck radius, etc). So they are both. I wish someone would explain Fender "Custom Shop" to me. I've owned one, but had nothing to say in the "custom" process. Unless you go for a Masterbuild, you're just getting a more expensive stock built Fender. So in Fender's case Custom=More Money.

 

[icecycle66]

Custom: I choose every detail exactly how I want it
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Boutique: Builder chooses everything and you pay for it because you want what they chose.
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If you have input on the final outcome of the boutique bass, then it is a customized boutique.

 

[foq1978]

bou·tique/bo͞oˈtēk/
Noun: A business that serves a sophisticated or specialized clientele

cus·tom/ˈkəstəm/

Adjective: Made or done to order for a particular customer: "a custom guitar".


Therefore, a bass made by a boutique builder is most certainly custom. Anyone who thinks otherwise, by definition, is wrong.

Forgive me, but I don't see the logic there. Not all sophisticated / specialized clientèle might need to customize their purchase.

 

[rmayer]

In my opinion, yes. Look at it like this....there are boutique brands that have specific models. Buy one of those models to their set specifications and you have a boutique instrument. Examples would include...

• Roscoe LG-3005
• Fodera Yin Yang
• Ken Smith BSR5W
• Alembic Epic
• my Alembic Series I 4-string
• MANY others not named

Now, you can work with any of the builders I mentioned above (not sure about Ken Smith, though) to have something done differently for your particular instrument. Then you'd have a custom.

• Roscoe....you can specify different neck laminates, fingerboard, preamp and pickups, wood selections.
• Fodera....you can specify preamps...maybe more. Never really dealt with Fodera personally
• Alembic....sky's the limit, as long as you don't want a bolt-on, passive electronics, or a small body long scale. My Alembic Series II 5-string has a number of custom tweaks, some readily visible, some not. It was specced from one of their common models (boutique) and then customized into a one of a kind build. (custom boutique)

Hi Malthumb, Just FYI on Fodera, you can pretty much customize about anything on their custom series basses. I've recently sold a Fodera and have a new one on order. I chose the model, a downsized semi-hollow body, the body wood, I picked out the top wood on site, picked matching headstock and wood pickup covers, chose the fretboard wood, specified the pickups, neck profile, scale length and even fret size. The Pope preamp is standard in the custom series. That's a lot of personalization for one bass. I've seen a lot of people on this site put down Foderas for various reasons, the most popular seems to be price. When you look at the amount of work that goes into the building of each bass, I think it's worth it. By the way, I sold three basses to pay for this one. I think it's worth every penny. I don't judge anyone else by what bass they play or can afford, I wish others on this site were as open minded.

 

[Jared Lash]

I don't know that you can say there is a true "difference" since the terms refer to slightly different things. Boutique refers to a specialized product made by a small company or shop. Custom means that a customer dictates some of the features of the product. So the two are referring to different things and not mutually exclusive in any way.

Chris Stambaugh is a one man shop that will hand build pretty much any sort of bass you want him to. Boutique and custom.

Carvin is a relatively large operation with a lot of automation who don't allow changes to the basic shape and construction of their models but do allow a wide range of options such as woods, color, hardware and your choice of their electronics. Custom but not boutique.

And something like the Fodera standard series (like the new Matt Garrison standard) is a handcrafted instrument which the user does not get to make any choices. Absolutely boutique, but not custom.

And finally, non-custom shop Fenders are built in a number of different large factories and produce basses in set configurations so that the customer may have some choice, but only of options Fender chooses to construct. Not boutique or custom.

That's a breakdown based on strict definitions. But of course, the words aren't always used in the proper sense. Often time these conversations get bogged down in minutia such as whether a builder who outsources big chunks of the build (CNC work on bodies, finishing) are really a "boutique" shop or if just giving options truly makes a bass "custom" but the words themselves have pretty specific meanings and are easy to apply.

 

[WaskoDS]

Boutique is a subset of custom.

 

[west*coast*bass]

So an Alembic Epic made to set specifications for a dealer's stock would be.....?????

A dealer is still a customer.

 

[malthumb]

A dealer is still a customer.

....who will sell the bass as new to a customer who did not have the opportunity to customize it. Otherwise, every Fender that has ever been sold should also be considered custom, because the dealer ordered that color or that pick guard.