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FOUND: Fender custom shop - What They Never Told You

“Something you’ll hear a lot of is, ‘Oh, you didn’t earn that relicing.’ But people who like it aren't thinking of it like that”: The real reason why relicing is so popular, according to a Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilder

The pre-worn fad is sweeping the guitar community, but why do some deride the concept as ‘stolen valor’?

Guitar World

Fender and Jackson celebrate 50 years of Iron Maiden with limited run signature models – including a Masterbuilt Dave Murray Strat that’ll leave you losfer words

Choose your fighter, Maiden fans, with four variations on the archetypical Superstrat including a Custom Shop doozy... And it is foot on the monitor time with that Harris P-Bass

MusicRadar

“One day it hit me, I want a Fender 7-string Stratocaster. I got a lot of ‘no’s”: How the Fender Custom Shop was convinced to make the firm’s first 7-string guitar

Suicide Silence guitarist Chris Garza worked with the Custom Shop on its first 7-string Strat – and there's hope that the one-of-a-kind Fender can be the start of something bigger

Guitar World

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“If Leo Fender had released a Jazz Bass like this back in the ‘60s, it would have changed the entire history of popular music”: The inside story of Adrian Younge’s half-fretless, fuzz-loaded Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass

Having collaborated with the likes of Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan and Kendrick Lamar, Younge joined forces with Master Builder Vincent Van Trigt to recreate his favourite bass sound

Guitar World

“I almost cried when I first saw John Frusciante live. But when I got involved in extreme music, people would say, ‘Don’t mention RHCP’”: How Arve Isdal carved his own extreme metal path with Enslaved – and became Norway’s answer to Slash

The blues-schooled shredder shows off some unlikely examples in his guitar collection, explains why he quit an Iron Maiden icon’s band and shares the fate of his supergroup with Dani Filth, Rob Caggiano and John Tempesta

Guitar World

“It weaves together wild features into something that could’ve been a producer’s secret weapon in the early 1970s”: Acclaimed producer Adrian Younge’s new semi-fretless signature Fender is perhaps the craziest Jazz Bass the company's ever released

Based on Younge's personal Custom Shop build, the limited-edition Masterbuilt model nods to the past while departing radically from convention

Guitar World

“They have always been a big thing for me because I think they’re the heart and soul of a Fender”: What gives a Fender guitar its spirit? For the Custom Shop's Senior Master Builder, there’s only one answer

Paul Waller has singled out what he believes to be the defining feature of a Fender guitar – and it might surprise you

Guitar World

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“We make those in the same quantities no matter what is in fashion”: Guitar trends come and go – but these are the Fender finishes that will never disappear

Changing fashions keep the Fender Custom Shop Master Builders busy, but a few staple models and colorways will always be on the menu

Guitar World

“Intricate finishes, exotic tonewoods, and immaculate details”: 12-string Telecasters, baritone offsets, and diamond-laced Strats headline the Fender Custom Shop's awe-inspiring 2025 Prestige Collection

Featuring half-a-dozen Strats, a pair of Teles, a Meteora, and a rare Performer model, all handcrafted, the Prestige Collection aims to represent the best of the best from the vaunted Fender Custom Shop

Guitar World

“Everyone in the Custom Shop pushes one another to test the boundaries of their creativity and technical skills”: Fender Custom Shop ditches dry January with a cocktail-inspired guitar collection – and it’s a uniquely potent mix

With keenly spec'd Sub-Sonic Teles, Strats, Esquires and Strat Thinlines, the Cocktail Collection blends the artistry of fine guitar-making with the vibrant aesthetics and spirit of classic cocktails

Guitar World

“Right up there with the most iconic Fenders of all time… A ton of work went into this one”: The Fender Custom Shop unveils $20,000 replica of John Frusciante’s 1962 Strat, forensically replicating every ding and dent of the RHCP guitarist’s original

Masterbuilt by Paul Waller, featuring pickups hand-wound by Abigail Ybarra and an Ilitch Electronics onboard hum-cancelling system, Frusciante’s Stratocaster is the Custom Shop at the height of its powers

MusicRadar

“The fusion of two iconic legacies”: Fender’s Custom Shop channels Fender Japan’s most desirable designs for its latest luxury collaborative Stratocaster – which has been launched with a Bvlgari watch

The striking six-sring celebrates the Strat's 70th Anniversary with the help of Bvlgari, and takes inspiration from the Aerodyne and Elemental families

Guitar World

“He's the first person that thought of this setup. I'm going to use it in the future”: Keanu Reeves’ new Fender Custom Shop P-Bass inspired an all-new circuit called “the Keanu wiring” that has never been used before

The actor's new instrument is full of some intriguing personalizations, and offers a fresh take on the classic sunburst finish

Guitar World

“Abigail is a pickup god. I named the ABI after her to make sure she’s never forgotten”: Legendary pickup builder Abigail Ybarra comes out of retirement for a new line of guitars with a former Fender Master Builder

The Castedosa ABI is a Strat-style build from former Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Carlos Lopez, and designed to honor Ybarra’s legacy

Guitar World

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“The bass has been given the nickname ‘Momoa’s Koa’”: Jason Momoa is auctioning off a collection of Gibson and Fender Custom Shop guitars and handmade bass builds, including signed Slash and Billy Gibbons Les Pauls

The instruments are all being sold to raise money for a host of charities, having featured in the actor’s On The Roam series

Guitar World

“He didn’t just work here – he lived and embodied the spirit of the brand”: Mike Lewis, the head of Fender’s Custom Shop – an industry legend who played with Chuck Berry and toured with the Rolling Stones – has passed away

From sideman to session player, retailer and 30-year Fender employee, Lewis worked on everything from the firm’s amps to revamping Gretsch and launching the first mass-produced humbucker Strat

MusicRadar

“He didn’t just work here; he lived and embodied the spirit of the brand”: Mike Lewis, legendary head of the Fender Custom Shop, has died

Lewis had toured with Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones, and owned a guitar store before joining Fender in 1991, and his attention to detail was such that he once gave a '59 Gretsch an actual MRI and CAT scan

MusicRadar

“These guitars represent the pinnacle of excellence, blending innovation with the rich heritage of Fender”: The 2024 Custom Collection is a tour de force of high-end guitar design from the Big F Custom Shop

It's that time of year again when the Fender Custom Shop starts showing off with premium tonewoods, top-tier pickups, and epic relic jobs, and finish options to die for

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Guitar World

“This year’s collection will set a new standard for excellence in the world of custom guitar”: Fender pays homage to golden era guitars and pushes the boundaries of contemporary design with 2024 Custom Shop collections

The Big F goes big on Bigsbys, serves up an assortment of wild finishes and opts for exotic tonewoods across its 6 new catalogs, which each serve a specific design purpose

Guitar World

Six of Eddie Van Halen's stage-played Charvel EVH Art Series guitars – and a Masterbuilt Frankenstein copy – go up for auction

Each Art Series guitar was played and signed over the course of Van Halen's tours in 2004, 2007, and 2012, and are being auctioned off alongside a Chip Ellis-built model as one mega collection

Guitar World

How Jeff Beck sparked Fender’s first Graffiti Yellow finish – and the Strat Plus design that helped revive its ’90s fortunes

One of the Fender Custom Shop’s first ever builds, owned and played by Beck, is up for auction. With it comes a tale of the guitar legend’s influential role in the firm’s ’90s output

Guitar World

Meet Fender’s latest Master Builder, who worked on its Game of Thrones guitars and some stunning signature models

Levi Perry joined the firm direct from high school and worked under the likes of Ron Thorn before his recent promotion

Guitar World

Jeff Beck’s 10 most iconic guitars

From the Oxblood Les Paul and the Strat we all know and love to Beck's lesser-spotted favorites, here are the greatest hits from one of guitar's finest collections

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