Damn I love that Mercedes Blue ...

Ya gotta wonder why the EC custom is a lot more than the "regular" EC Strat. Any upgrades in the components wouldn't make up the $1k - $1.5k difference. I suspect the labor adds some also.

Now your flirting in the PRS price range, if that floats your boat. Don't get me wrong that Strat is gorgeous, but that PRS has got to cost more to build I'm thinking.

When does the lust end????

The lust never ends. You can go to a middle eastern country and sell some of your organs, but I would not do it brother. The Custom Shop cost so much more because they are not production line models and great attention to detail. Hope you get one soon my friend!

The customshop guitars are as near to 'as built for EC' as most mortals can get.

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No no and no

Except for that color that Doc asked Mike Eldred about. (Hope I spelled his name right)

Spelled it right!

With Fender's new price increases it would probably take a kidney to buy A EC Strat.

Got it!!.....and would you know....no sooner does Uf inquire about the Grigio Silverstone, Eldred comes back with a tip that they are considering a limited run. I bet Uf is getting on line. Fortunately for him, with the OP's question in mind, it won't require a surgical tour of Sweden to finesse that guitar.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I've been a long time cynic that the opinions on this site are used for marketing. I'm sure that guitar magazine writers come here for resource.

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No no and no

Of course. How best to monitor the pulse of your audience as well as your consumer base. Nothing to be cynical about. It was definitely not conceived for altruistic purposes. One look at the home page will tell you that. The altruism is what we make of it. With the free flow of shared information herein, your cynicism should melt away. You yourself have been a bright star in this constellation.

Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

Sometimes im so wrong i feel like a blackhole mate.

Maybe theres a lyric in that.

American business practices can seem a little aggressive to those not used to them. User Bigjay was the first I heard to voice the opinion that the forums were scanned by marketing people. Its only common sense really that any good company is going to scan opinion on current produce and therefore cut out a lot of market research. After all every employee must justify their wage.

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No no and no

[quote="nikininja"]

Look at it this way. There's a great deal of energy out there from people who want to see a certain kind of instrument come to reality. There's no better way to take the pulse of this consumer base, and no more efficient way for us to get our wishes across than this forum. Think back to the number of threads running on the Gilmour project in the past 18 mos. I had absolutely no intention of acquiring that guitar until I began reading the early posts from guys like Snowy. There was no question in my mind, after the first two weeks, that I would own it. I traded a pretty decent CS instrument for it. In your case, your quest for a '57V was pretty much solidified in choice from my personal experience auditioning that guitar on this side of the pond, before you had ever handled it.

You can't become a blackhole until you go nova. Methinks you have a few years ahead of you before that event.

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"Another day in paradise!"