I like the idea!

However; as Slapchop pointed out, there WILL be pitfalls and the issues he mentioned are merely the more obvious ones.

Also taking into account the price point (as pointed out by niki). These factors deffinetly work against such a project ever seeing the light of day.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Now, hold on there, Big Jay;



... and fullfills the requirements of becoming said dealer.

How many Strats, Teles, Jazz and P-basses and amps do you have to keep in inventory? Who's gonna finance all that crap? Is there some kind of floor-planning thing you'd have to get into? What kind of equity do you have to show, does Fender want to see a business plan, what kind of projected sales might they require? Who are you going to sell the non-custom inventory to and through what channels, and what are Fender restrictions those channels?

I don't think you can become an MI dealer and then cherry pick the line.... you have to take a basic set of Fender products. If you could do what you describe, people would do it all the time, ordering customized stuff and selling it online anyway they please.

ANd the existing dealer network would be none too pleased.

Well, I figured you weren't deadly serious... I'm just jumping in.

No, not a Fender dealer, but I've been making music for commercial applications for so long that I feel like I know the concerns of every type of business, from global manufacturing to mom-n-pop retail. I couldn't run those businesses, but I know what they complain about.

C'mon guys.......this is AMERICA
where anything is possible
who told Leo Fender - Oh, you can't do that
who told the folks that bought Fender from CBS - Oh, you can't do that
who tells their kids - Oh, you can't do that
in these and unlimited other examples, the person being told it can't be done did it anyway

The Full Moon must be coming

Slapchop you are on the mark with what you are saying,this is going to be hard to get done but I think it can be done.But this is not no american series we are talking custom shop and to put it in real terms lets say we get 50 to 100 guys who are down that still is a lot of custom shop guitars and would make it a special one time deal.So if your hear at this point in time you had a chance to get one. I think they could make 3 designs and everyone could vote and majority rules. I have 8 Fender guitars in the house right now high end models most of them and had about as many as that through out my lifetime but I never owned a custom shop.I think Fender makes the best guitar out there but I also let it be heard how I feel about dealing with them.So I am just as interested in seeing how they are going to handle this,which is for there blue collar die hard supporters compared to someone who is going to spend $10,000 to $20,000 for an ax that is never going to be played and hung on the wall like a clock and receive a case of wine. I still dont get the pairing of guitar and wine but that pool hall tele is just about the coolest ax I have ever seen.

Good Lord! I most definitely vote for me NOT to be the administrator, thank you very much! Not even if the job comes with an expenses paid trip to Antigua or wherever: no thank you!!!

Anyhow. Points against and for a Forum guitar.

Look back for Blues Bondsman's thread where he first suggested the idea of the Forum T-shirt. Dozens of pages of people yelling "I'm in!" - and dozens more with people arguing about the specs. In the end Brad had 400 Tees made (if I remember right) and last we heard still had plenty on his hands.

And they are priced very reasonably and postage was free even to those of us outside America. And I got three of them, so that only left 397 for everyone else - but still not sold out!

However. This could be much more affordable than a 3K Custom Shop guitar. Fender do Special Factory Runs at all levels of the catalog: I've seen affordable and rather attractive Mexican Strats with unusual finishes and that seem to have been done in very limited numbers - down into double or even single digit runs.

So if even a dozen guys could agree on a set of specs perhaps it could be done: though I don't know the mechanism for FSRs. Maybe we have to set ourselves up as a dealership!

So I'm in - if the specs include a Strat with a quilt maple top seen through a transparent black bursted finish, some low output single-coils with parchment white covers, 22 jumbo frets on a 12 inch radius maple fingerboard, locking staggered tuners and (as mentioned) the Forum logo where Contour Body normally goes. And a custom neck plate.

Any takers? See, this is how guys get started building their own guitars...!

- C

Ceri, were you on the FDP back when they did theirs? Because that's just about dead on.

No new dealership was established: the FDP LE sales were all handled by one designated existing Fender dealer (I don't recall who, as I didn't buy one).

Er, no (remind me - FDP?).

However, if I indeed do something with that burnt Strat of Nikininja's this spec sheet would make an interesting starting point, wouldn't it? Shall we add a PRS style faux binding to the list, too? You don't see many bound Strat bodies (obviously).


Just looking for ways to get the cost down. $20 for a Forum Tee and plenty left on the shelf: if this project really went through the Custom Shop I suspect Claude Gallichand may be the only taker...!

BTW: BigJay, I have a fancy that CEO on a guitar building project is the very job you've been saving yourself for. Go on, take that ticket to Antigua!

Cheers - C

Interesting but complex. 'Keeping tuned in.

It wouldn't have to be a Custom Shop to be cool. Just a special color, special pickups or something. It'd be cool if it could be semi-affordable yet limited to us forum people IMO.

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"There is more to life than increasing its speed." Mahatma Gandhi

Owner of:
-2008 American Standard Strat in Candy Cola Red
-Vibro-Champ XD
-Fender CD-60 Acoustic (Sunburst)