“A lot of people say, ‘I can draga guitar behind my car and then sell it for that price.’ It’s like, ‘OK, go do itthen!” In the court of the Master Builders – Fender’s Custom Shop gurus spill the secrets of their trade

Three stunning Custom Shop Strats: Ice-blue trans finishes over figured maple make these Strats by Austin MacNutt stand out.

Fender’s Custom Shop is the home of the company’s dream machines, which are built to the highest quality the California-based company can offer.

But there are tiers within tiers even at this level, and the Custom Shop’s Masterbuilt instruments offer the closest any large guitar maker can get to the hand-craft of master luthiers, with a small cadre of highly experienced Fender guitar makers personally crafting dream guitars from headstock to end-pin.