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Non-CS Fenders now over $3,000
- Thread starter metropolis_4
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After putting my GIlmour Strat together, which is gotta be at least 8lbs, outside of knowing I'm going to feel it after a few hours standing up, I have no care about the weight of guitars.
Achilles
Rock Star
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Let's see what another couple decades of wear and tear have to say about that!
Seriously though, never played a heavy Strat that I liked.
A lighter alder or ash body is key to a killer tone from my experience.
7.25 to 7.5 lbs is perfection.
SillyOctpuss
Shredder
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I played a MIJ Vester Les Paul once which was easily 12lbs. It was the heaviest guitar I've ever played.
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Ultimately, speaking for myself (and as a lefty), no sweat off my back. Although I do understand the "whys" and agree with the complaints.
With a couple exceptions (Charvel SoCal recently that I heavily modified, for ex.) I've been building my own guitars since the early 2Ks.
Warmoth, Callaham, etc...
You can build your own "Custom Shop" killer guitar, to your exact specs, for less than the big name brands' typical standard lineup... and save even more $$$$ than so-and-so's big name brand "Custom Shop" prices.
DIY; this is the way.
With a couple exceptions (Charvel SoCal recently that I heavily modified, for ex.) I've been building my own guitars since the early 2Ks.
Warmoth, Callaham, etc...
You can build your own "Custom Shop" killer guitar, to your exact specs, for less than the big name brands' typical standard lineup... and save even more $$$$ than so-and-so's big name brand "Custom Shop" prices.
DIY; this is the way.
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There's a ton of info online, including (if you go Warmoth):
And IIRC, @PLX is about to build a Warmoth...
(shameless plug for one of my Warmoth / Callaham strats:)
SKU
Roadie
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- 845
Deleted my post due to misreading. Would be interested in some woodwork but buying custom parts according to needs is go-to too.There's a ton of info online, including (if you go Warmoth):
SillyOctpuss
Shredder
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There's a ton of info online, including (if you go Warmoth):
And IIRC, @PLX is about to build a Warmoth...
(shameless plug for one of my Warmoth / Callaham strats:)
View attachment 20283
Fuck that colour is sweet.
Achilles
Rock Star
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gearJunkie
Shredder
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Just take a leak before you pick it up. At least your total weight will be reduced by at least a quarter pound.
EOengineer
Shredder
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Fender’s pricing situation is…sometimes frustrating. On one hand, a $300 squier 40th anniversary might decimate while the $1799 American Professional Tele up there has a pale, dry fretboard and high action. It’s always a crapshoot where running the racks is the only way. You run the racks and buy the guitars you can’t put down if you can afford them.
My #1 tele is a high end partscaster but it’s about neck and neck with my 2017 AV52 tele, which I bought off the rack at a GC when I picked it up to test a Princeton Reverb and quickly knew I’d stumbled into an absolute gem. Barely 7 lbs, fat neck with amazing rolled edges, and plays effortlessly despite the vintage frets and radius.
www.fender.com
My #1 tele is a high end partscaster but it’s about neck and neck with my 2017 AV52 tele, which I bought off the rack at a GC when I picked it up to test a Princeton Reverb and quickly knew I’d stumbled into an absolute gem. Barely 7 lbs, fat neck with amazing rolled edges, and plays effortlessly despite the vintage frets and radius.
I believe you’d want the Fender Japan Heritage series.
Made in Japan Heritage 50s Telecaster® | Electric Guitars
Made in Japan Heritage 50s Telecaster®, Maple Fingerboard, Butterscotch Blonde
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Thanks - it's my (drumroll please) Deep Purple Ritchie guitar. Well, I play other stuff but yeah Ritchie's the ticket.
Achilles
Rock Star
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Just take a leak before you pick it up. At least your total weight will be reduced by at least a quarter pound.
Ugh. I asked him if he was willing to step outside of Reverb and chat and he replied that they are selling on consignment and the best they can do is 10% off the listed price - which puts it my original shopping range for a used '57.
Gotta sleep on this one.......
Boudoir Guitar
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I agree to an extent with the frustration -- setup is always all over the place. Some of that I put on the dealer, though. It's an $1800 -- they can afford to take 15 minutes to get the worst offenders into a more reasonable state? I wonder if manufacturers undertaking direct sales (and dealing with the high number of returns from customers) MIGHT see a little bit of tightening up on this sort of basic QC/time spent on factory set up?Fender’s pricing situation is…sometimes frustrating. On one hand, a $300 squier 40th anniversary might decimate while the $1799 American Professional Tele up there has a pale, dry fretboard and high action. It’s always a crapshoot where running the racks is the only way. You run the racks and buy the guitars you can’t put down if you can afford them.
My #1 tele is a high end partscaster but it’s about neck and neck with my 2017 AV52 tele, which I bought off the rack at a GC when I picked it up to test a Princeton Reverb and quickly knew I’d stumbled into an absolute gem. Barely 7 lbs, fat neck with amazing rolled edges, and plays effortlessly despite the vintage frets and radius.
I believe you’d want the Fender Japan Heritage series.
Made in Japan Heritage 50s Telecaster® | Electric Guitars
Made in Japan Heritage 50s Telecaster®, Maple Fingerboard, Butterscotch Blonde
I agree on varying materials quality, but also wonder how much price would be impacted if they were rejecting more materials.
On the need to run the racks -- that's just the nature of musical instruments? Not even the builder can always predict which ones are going to be exceptional and which are just going to be good. One of the more average, if amazingly built, mandolins I ever played was a $40k Gilchrist. Its owner agreed -- indeed told me "you don't have to lie, this thing's a dog." "Dog" was a harsh term for it, but...it was also absolutely no better than some of the better Japanese made Kentuckies I've played. He said he had it commissioned after playing an amazing Gilchrist and would never have an instrument built for him again after that experience. (He eventually was able to buy the original Gilchrist that blew his mind off the estate of the original owner and that thing WAS mind blowingly good).
Eagle
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I don't do the CNC stuff but I have friends that can. I occasionally come up with a crazy idea and this time I built it.
I wanted an Ibanez RGD but 25 1/2 " scale with a Gotoh trem . So I built it.
The CNC was kindly done by a friend but I did the rest. Super thin skin nitro paint job.
The best Floyd.
I wanted an Ibanez RGD but 25 1/2 " scale with a Gotoh trem . So I built it.
The CNC was kindly done by a friend but I did the rest. Super thin skin nitro paint job.
The best Floyd.
Stone
Rock Star
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Im looking at at the Vola made in Japan
Has that same Bridge while im not crazy about a Floyd this one may change my mind
Eagle
Rock Star
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That bridge gives no grief and sounds great.
