Fender

Design your own 
 
 
Just found it so I'll give it a go.
 
 
 
 
 
Well....I thought it was a great idea but...
Limited selection on important details and having to settle for
what's offered rather than what I'd want and to get hit for $1,975.00....not me.
 
 

Options are a bit limited, but I suspect that they're just taking the bodies/necks they offer and assembling it for you.
 
Not bad for a certain audience I suppose.

Yup...discovered this the other day. Was pretty easy to build what I want...total fender late fifties spec...but it came to around $1600 semolians. My MIJ 58 spec was $750 and I've got a fender classic series (MIM) 50s ordered for about the same. So basically, with the possible exception of the custom pickguard I wanted I've got two 50s spec Strats for the cost of one...all made with basically the same parts. Sheesh.

 
Funny, it turned out very close to the one I used to own.
 
 
 
 

I basically came up with a replica of Marianne, my trusty black strat. 
 

 
Marianne is a 1996 MIA strat. I immediately fell for it because:
 
1: It had the darker maple neck, reminiscent of the first real guitar I put my hands on, a 1957.
2: It was black with the white pick guard, just like the aforementioned 57.
3: David Gilmour played a black strat.
4: It was black.
5: It was, to my knowledge, the first US strat in our local music store.
 
The main differences - classic tuners (which I prefer aesthetically, though the new ones work great) and a classic 6 screws bridge (which I also prefer for the same reasons). These are the two things I would have considered changing, given the option and admitting that the classic ones worked as well.
 
For the sake of customizing, I put into this one 3 Texas specials.
 
Other than that, I might have been tempted to go for a late 60's large headstock, but they don't seem to offer that option. 
 
 
 

craigb
What, no red pick guard? 

Red and plastic shouldn't even be used in the same sentence, unless they are 7 words apart. :P
 
FWIW, if the money I get from the treadmill isn't going on the little H&K amp, I'd save it for something else, and the most likely purchase would likely be a new black strat - my 3rd one.
 
Then I'd finally be able to focus on getting a white one - which I'd been wanting for years.

I can understand Fender not offering custom choices such as Gibson scale length, tilt head, hexaphonic pickups etc., - It's "building" or "assembling" from a selection of choices-not so much a "custom build".
but I think one should have the choice of;
 
The same woods that they offer on their other guitars- It's limited as is- no option for flame maple top for example.
 
The fretboard radius is limited- 7.25, 9.5  ( with options of compound of each to 14") - Why isn't a common 12" radius a choice? - I think one should have a choice of head style and radius. For example; why not offer a "big head" Strat neck with 12" radius for a Tele?  It's not that's something they don't build. ( the only difference is the heel and that's not an issue when one is building the thing- personally I think that was a major design flaw- the Tele and Strat neck should have the same heel shape so they would interchange without body modification.)
 
 
When I compare what is being offered to the price it doesn't make sense. I hope they make the needed improvements as I do think it could and should be much better. Sucks the way it is IMO.
 
 
 
 
 

spacey
I can understand Fender not offering custom choices such as Gibson scale length, tilt head, hexaphonic pickups etc., - It's "building" or "assembling" from a selection of choices-not so much a "custom build".
but I think one should have the choice of;
 
The same woods that they offer on their other guitars- It's limited as is- no option for flame maple top for example.
 
The fretboard radius is limited- 7.25, 9.5  ( with options of compound of each to 14") - Why isn't a common 12" radius a choice? - I think one should have a choice of head style and radius. For example; why not offer a "big head" Strat neck with 12" radius for a Tele?  It's not that's something they don't build. ( the only difference is the heel and that's not an issue when one is building the thing- personally I think that was a major design flaw- the Tele and Strat neck should have the same heel shape so they would interchange without body modification.)
 

 
I would bet it comes down to what they have on hand - they are just taking the stuff they churn out constantly and giving people the option to mix and match for a few hundred additional bucks. So what they offer is likely based on the way their production runs operate.
 
If you want a fully custom Fender, you can pay their Custom Shop an ungodly amount of money for it.
 
This is for the guys who have some money, aren't immersed in world of guitars like we are and want a "real" Fender. It is what it is.

drewfx1
 
I would bet it comes down to what they have on hand - they are just taking the stuff they churn out constantly and giving people the option to mix and match for a few hundred additional bucks. So what they offer is likely based on the way their production runs operate.
 

That's sure what it seems to be.
 
Maybe it's just a feeler and they have plans to improve it.
They're doing a lot of marketing stuff right now. A lot of it like the future card crap I think is total BS but the on-line design could be very good.
I guess they think since they're making all the marketing moves they may as well jack the price up too. I see they're doing very good with that part.

Sadly, they only offer 2 woods for the bodies. Some of my favorite Fenders were made in the 63 - 64 era and have mahogany bodies. I've seen a strat, tele and duo sonic in mahogany and they all had great tone. The necks they offer and the bodies are all from large run production so it doesn't really let you add any real custom options. Same for the finish. Maybe it's a good thing since I just bought an SG.

Karyn

spacey... having to settle for
what's offered rather than what I'd want ...

You're kidding,  right?

Not in the least.
Some may settle for something that isn't what they were looking for.
If I can't get exactly what I want then I'll keep looking until I do....or build it myself. And that is why they will not be selling me one. Unfortunate too...I have other anniversary Strats and would like to add to my collection and nothing about the 60th's is what I'd want.
 
And the very bad part of their "build your own" trip is they're not even offering features that are common to their guitars.
 
And what's inbetween the lines;
Karyn asked me to build a guitar that I don't build. When informed that I didn't she was willing to settle
for less...I wasn't. I then knew what she wanted and couldn't supply it and refused to build something else (less) for her.
 
It was very obvious at the time that it upset her and she didn't understand my position and it's obvious now.
 
She is not the first that I couldn't build for and she won't be the last. I did the only thing I could do- apologize for not being able to build what she wanted.
 
 
 
 

Karyn

spacey
And what's inbetween the lines;
Karyn asked me to build a guitar that I don't build. When informed that I didn't she was willing to settle
for less...I wasn't. I then knew what she wanted and couldn't supply it and refused to build something else (less) for her.
 
It was very obvious at the time that it upset her and she didn't understand my position and it's obvious now.
 
She is not the first that I couldn't build for and she won't be the last. I did the only thing I could do- apologize for not being able to build what she wanted.

"Karyn asked me to build a guitar that I don't build."
 
This is a lie.
 
I never asked for or wanted those items.  I just put forward suggestions for discussion. The guitar wasn't for me. I wanted your opinion. I got a kick up the arse for my trouble.

It is not a lie. You requested what you wanted, I declined and tried to explain when you asked why, numereous times- but I know it's something that will never be seen the same way by us.
 
I can say that it is not the first time that I've declined a build and it is the first time that my reasons were not understood and appreciated....and in fact taken as a kick in the arse and trouble.
 
 
 
 
 

Nothing has changed. Nothing will change.
 
 

Karyn
No, I didn't.  You never gave me the chance.   I made some suggestions for discussion, to get your opinion. All you gave me was "I'm not building for you"

How can you say that?
I have no desire to quote you but you seem set on believing something other than the simple truth.
I didn't understand when you became upset and I still don't.
You surely must agree that it was a horrible experience and we should be glad I stopped it when I did.
 
 
And that is not what I said...I said, "I'm sorry, I have to decline the build."
Even then you took it personal after being explained why with my reasons being valid. I can't and won't tell anybody I'll build something I don't want to or can't build.
Pretty strange but I can't change it. Sometimes "sorry" just isn't enough.
 
 

MakeShift
I guess I better not bring up Gibson in this thread. :-)

Maybe they'll start a design your own too.
 
It's to bad that many things that people try to enjoy can have such negative results.
I've been around here long enough to have seen it happen with just about anything one can imagine.
Anything from jokes to serious topics.
 
We've seen many give up. They may try to explain their reasoning but nothing changes the fact that
they have to eliminate participating when it turns what they enjoy into a bad experience.  What matters is learning what does and doesn't work so that one can continue enjoying themselves.
 
I have spent the last few months "fine tuning" many of the processes of how I work in my shop. Trying to increase safety and accuracy...something I do with most aspects of my life.
Experience helps gain knowledge to know what to do and how to do it. Sometimes the lessons are easy and sometimes they are costly.
 
I have eliminated many "things" I do on the internet simply because it had negative effects on things I enjoy.
I didn't need to know why- the results and knowing how to eliminate the effect was and is very simple to correct.
 
Kind of strange but the timing of another issue/aspect of building guitars presented itself so it's a simple correction in order to eliminate negative results.
I've had experience with building with nothing to go on but "words on a screen" to person to person and have learned that "on-line" is something best avoided. It's not necessary and an unnecessary risk.
I will not be doing it again.
 
 
I tried to share builds (for the interest) while making it very clear that I am not in the business of building and selling guitars.
It is a hobby that I enjoyed sharing and may share projects in the future but I would like it to be known that
I can not and will not attempt building a guitar through the forums. I knew it wouldn't be right to do if I were building to sell and now I know it's not right even if the build is for the fun of it for a member.
 
Michael