Fender Custom Shop

Fender Custom Shop instruments are some of the finest you can buy, allowing you to have your dream guitar expertly made from scratch. These are the very top-tier instruments from Fender’s lineup - each instrument is carefully crafted by Fender’s own team of highly skilled, experienced, and passionate luthiers who have undergone specialist training to perfect the art of creating the finest custom guitars.

Located in Corona, California, The Fender Custom Shop was launched in 1987 by Bill Shultz, who wanted guitars to have the quality, sound, and character of pre-CBS hand-built Fenders. The main purpose of the Fender Custom Shop was to craft instruments in the tradition of Leo Fender, and over three decades later, the team of luthiers continue to perfect the art of making the best guitars around.

The Fender Custom Shop gets the first pick of all the best tonewoods, and has virtually unlimited customisation options - no idea is too crazy, and no job is too large or small for the Master Builders. Standard Fender guitars are made on a production line, whereas Custom Shop guitars are created with a much more hands-on approach - created by a small team of Master Builders with the utmost care and precision, using only the best materials and processes.

A Custom Shop guitar has two build options to choose from - Team Built or Masterbuilt.

Team Built is the fastest option where your custom guitar is made by the in-house team of luthiers, not just an individual person, using a mix of their different specialties.

Masterbuilt is where you choose a single Master Builder to create your guitar from start to finish in their own personalised booth, with the only limit being your imagination. These guitars generally have a longer waiting time due to the demands and popularity of the builders.

GAK is a Fender Custom Shop Showcase Dealer which means that we get access to everything the Custom Shop has to offer, including all of the very limited edition artist models.

How Do I Order a Fender Custom Shop instrument?

Spec your very own Custom Shop instrument using the Fender Custom Shop Design Guide. Choose your build level (Team or Masterbuilt), base model, aging package, and all the other custom details such as woods, neck shape, hardware, pickups etc. then simply get in touch with us to get a quote and estimated build time.

Check out our blog post for all the details on the ordering process and custom options.

Custom Shop guitars are the best option if you want a top-end guitar that was crafted by the best in the business.