Fender Custom Shop Guitars

The Fender custom shop was established in 1987, shortly after the company had been sold by CBS to a group of investors lead by Bill Shultz. Up until the mid eighties, Fender’s reputation as a guitar builder had taken a bit of a battering. The quality of their guitars declined considerably during the seventies and by the following decade they were in real trouble. New brands were popping up including some in Japan who were making Fender copies that were better than the genuine article of the time.

Fender electric guitar with certificate of authenticity on a black background

A Strat from 1979, Probably the worst year for production quality & some awful examples.

In 1986 Fender moved production to a new factory in Corona, California and the quality of the guitars started to improve considerably. Although they were producing great guitars, they still weren’t quite the legends that the original pre-CBS company were making in the 50s and 60s.

Early beginnings

The Fender Custom Shop was set up to produce the very finest instruments that the company had to offer. It was officially opened in 1987, but was operating prior to then as a small batch division producing the range of American reissues, two Stratocasters, a 57 and 62, a 52 Telecaster and some bass guitars. These became known as the AVRI series and remained in production in one form or another until 2014. They were the companies first attempt to make historical reissues of their old products.

They actually began the production of them in 1982 under the CBS ownership, using much of the original tooling and some of the same factory workers who had worked on the originals a couple of decades earlier. The result was a small selection of superb guitars. These early AVRI Fenders became very collectible during the 2010s and have changed hands for as much as £3000!

Fender electric guitar in an open case with accessories.

A 1982 American Reissue 62 Strat – Many Pre CBS appointments were back at last.

Once the official ‘Custom Shop’ brand had been established, in 1987 they set about producing high end, one-off and custom made models for artists and customers. They produced some artist models as well as high end modern spec Strats and Teles. It wasn’t until the mid 1990s that things started getting interesting.

The very first Custom Shop guitars were denoted by this small logo on the rear of the headstock.

The Fender Custom Shop Relic Series Guitars

There is an urban myth that Keith Richards of Rolling Stones fame had commissioned some guitars from the custom shop and complained that they looked too new compared to the genuine vintage guitars he was used to. He said ‘Bash them up a bit & I’ll play em’. A great story but sadly it wasn’t true.

The first Relic guitars were extremely high quality reissues of 50s and 60s Fender guitars with various levels of pre-aging. Corrosion to metal parts, faded plastics and chipped and worn lacquer and paint. This series of guitars gave the custom shop the opportunity to produce very realistic copies of the guitars that built their name in the early years.

Person sitting at a table with red and silver objects, possibly jewelry or tools.