Not long after Bill Schultz bought the declining Fender name from CBS in 1984, he created the Fender Custom Shop to help return it to its former glory. It began with just two master builders, John Page and Michael Stevens, but in 30 years has blossomed to employ over fifty craftsmen.
Now for 2017 the Fender Custom Shop is celebrating its 30th Anniversary with a thematic limited run of guitars, each designed by one of the Shop’s eight Master Builders. Limited to only 30 units of each design, the Fender Custom Shop Founders Design Guitars ($5,500- $8,500) will be released one per month throughout the year.
Using all the expertise learned from producing the most exclusive custom guitars for some of the greatest musicians on the planet, the collection features a range of body styles including the Statocaster, Esquire, and Telecaster. Woods used also run the gambit from blond Ash to Ebony, and even burled Maple wood finds a place among these tremendous instruments.
They are not going to come cheap, but the craftsmanship exhibited to bring them into reality makes them on par with all the best Fender has created over the years. Play on!
