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Mark Wein said:
"Custom Shop" should be called "Fancypants Shop". Its rare when I play a guitar from the FCS that actually sounds much better than a production model.
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Agreed. The instruments my friends have purchased all feature useless embellishments or weird aesthetic things or ridiculous timber choices (solid cedar or spruce or some such esquire?!?) or features they ordered but actively dislike and knew were stupid for them going in (bigsby).

One bro ordered a custom shop jazz bass and immediately gutted the vintage spec electronics he chose in order to have it required with different pickups because something something has hum and lacks punch.

Now he's selling it (at a discount I imagine) because he prefers another friend's off the rack stingray and active pickups are the way to go...blah blah.
 
Peen Simmons said:
Agreed. The instruments my friends have purchased all feature useless embellishments or weird aesthetic things or ridiculous timber choices (solid cedar or spruce or some such esquire?!?) or features they ordered but actively dislike and knew were stupid for them going in (bigsby).

One bro ordered a custom shop jazz bass and immediately gutted the vintage spec electronics he chose in order to have it required with different pickups because something something has hum and lacks punch.

Now he's selling it (at a discount I imagine) because he prefers another friend's off the rack stingray and active pickups are the way to go...blah blah.
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A large part of my work is teaching upper middle class baby boomers how to play blues rock. They have the money to buy what they want and they shop for guitars like they do for a Lexus or BMW - the features list is more important than the reality of the instrument.
 
Mark Wein said:
A large part of my work is teaching upper middle class baby boomers how to play blues rock. They have the money to buy what they want and they shop for guitars like they do for a Lexus or BMW - the features list is more important than the reality of the instrument.
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My pals are thirty-something tech dudes with "high standards" and a taste for "the finer things." They're like formerly working class Flamencologys. They sous vide at home! They eat caviar and buy partial barrels of premium whiskey.

I'm a dirtbag at heart and most of my fav records were probably made with "inferior" instruments. I'm fine with off the rack gear.

I'm also not a virtuoso nor do I aspire to be...so I'm never gonna get to the point where a specific instrument truly matters. I want my tools to work, to not impede creativity, and when possible to be aesthically pleasing while also serving as functional objects.
 
Peen Simmons said:
My pals are thirty-something tech dudes with "high standards" and a taste for "the finer things." They're like formerly working class Flamencologys. They sous vide at home! They eat caviar and buy partial barrels of premium whiskey.

I'm a dirtbag at heart and most of my fav records were probably made with "inferior" instruments. I'm fine with off the rack gear.

I'm also not a virtuoso nor do I aspire to be...so I'm never gonna get to the point where a specific instrument truly matters. I want my tools to work, to not impede creativity, and when possible to be aesthically pleasing while also serving as functional objects.
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I'm somewhere in the middle. I like nice stuff but in terms of functionality. I play guitars for a living so the parameters are a little different for me. I like flashy guitars for on stage (because showbiz) but could care less about what the guitar looks like than how it sounds and feels when I'm playing it. I have zero patience for $6k pimp guitars but I spent $4k on a 45 year old Guild archop a few weeks ago. Unlike my students my purchases are either expensed or depreciated on my taxes so its not a total splurge I guess. And guys like @tstrahle will show you the $99 affinity strat that they've played on hit records all day long.
 
Mark Wein said:
I'm somewhere in the middle. I like nice stuff but in terms of functionality. I play guitars for a living so the parameters are a little different for me. I like flashy guitars for on stage (because showbiz) but could care less about what the guitar looks like than how it sounds and feels when I'm playing it. I have zero patience for $6k pimp guitars but I spent $4k on a 45 year old Guild archop a few weeks ago. Unlike my students my purchases are either expensed or depreciated on my taxes so its not a total splurge I guess. And guys like @tstrahle will show you the $99 affinity strat that they've played on hit records all day long.
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Yeah, if you're a pro the concerns are a bit different. And there are definitely expensive guitars that are worth it. Guitarists are spoiled compared to horn players and classical strings given how cheaply you can get a good, useable instrument.

And when it comes to acoustics, the whole ballgame is different. A nice Martin is 100% worth it in terms of tone, playability, and overall instrument quality.
 
The above is, I suppose, the "pull" side of my FMIC rant. I'm not a very good guitarist, but I sure have known some in my time.

I was once "upper middle class," perhaps I still am, I don't know. And I like volume over quantity. But when I actually got serious about my own music a few years ago (as opposed to serious about Other People's Music), I stopped caring about the features list, the cool factor, the resale value .... who cares? Do I like it? Do I love it? Does it help me make the vacuous, disturbing noises I want to make? OK, then.
 
I love the sunburst congrats Mark.

I couldn't justify any more/better guitars at my skill level and since I don't/won't ever gig I don't need guitars for that. I have more than enough. I did go through a point where I thought I should get a better guitar when my MIM strat needed a refret. The question was should I put the money into another guitar that was a better one. So I went and played a bunch and never felt that any of them were better than the one I had (again that could be a skill thing) so I put SS frets on the strat and never looked back. But like you said everyone is going to have different parameters
 
Congrats on the tele, glad you got it. When you find a tele you bond with, get that one. I completely dig my baja tele. I don't care that it's MiM or has additional switches/electronics - it sounds great and feels good to play.

I feel the same about my squier thinline. I might get better pickups for it at some point because I think that's the weak point of the guitar.
 
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