The word "custom" has such a big cache behind it these days. It tells people that this item was made for me. In most cases it also carries a big price tag, especially with Guitars.
Now yes there are some production guitars called "Custom". PRS has their Custom 22 & 24, Gibson's Les Paul Custom has been a production instrument for over half a century. But getting factory to do anything out of their norm is a big deal.
I've worked in a Guitar factory in the mid 1990's, and doing special one off's, even just a different color, is a logistical nightmare. I've seen a guitar tagged for a special color, and even under the watchful eyes of supervisors though out the day, as soon as someone looks away, it gets lost and becomes another production guitar, or gets botched up in some way. Variants are not the friend of production back then. Now with modern production techniques and tracking, It shouldn't be anywhere near the nightmare I had to deal with.
Fender has a great feature on their website to custom build your own Strat, Tele, Jazzmaster, J bass or P Bass. You can basically pick the color, woods, finishes and some basic electronics packages. It's free, and at the same time it calculates the cost of this dream instrument. In most cases it can get expensive.
However it's a little weak on the options. Yes it can do the typical 3 single coil strat, or the SSH configuration, but what about some real customizing, like 2 Humbuckers, with a single tone control and a three way toggle? Or a Jazz Bass with a Precision pickup? Considering the technology it shouldn't be that difficult.
In the mid 1990's I also had my first experiences with the Fender Custom Shop. First off, I had my mitts on one custom Showmaster. in red, Black hardware, set neck, rosewood board, matching headstock, p90's. I passed on it. Yes there is a dent in my ass where I keep kicking myself. I came this close to getting it, but passed. The price wasn't that bad either. The guy that bought it plays around my area, and gets it serviced in the same shop, every now and then I see it. Thankfully it's not a case queen, its got dings and dents on it, but they're earned, because the owner plays it a lot!
Some master built Custom shop guitars have made it into my grubby hands even one of the $30K EVH Frankenstein replicas. Yes, they are amazing, but seem to have amazing price tags. I haven't pulled the trigger on any of those. Mostly because I think if you're going to want custom, I want to build it in my mind from the ground up first!
Take Converse sneakers for example, you can go to their website, and design a sneaker in a similar manner to the Fender website. Choose the colors and every piece of materials, stitching and rubber, and in less than 4 weeks they're on your feet. Nike and New Balance also offer this as well.
Carvin (now Keisel) used to have a full on production shop that handled custom orders as well. With CNC production it's a lot easier, and Keisel's pretty much has a "sky's the limit" attitude. I'd like to see Fender take that model of custom making any variant. Even something as simple as a reverse headstock on a Tele shouldn't be a big deal.
G&L pretty much offers up everything. You want a 2 humbucker Legacy or S-500, with a reverse headstock, no beveled edges, and a stop tail. Done! You will pay for these options, but I've recently priced out one of their Doheney Offset guitars and even with some custom options it was far less than what Fender would charge for their stock top of the line (non custom shop) Jazzmaster.
look at the image of the Jazzmaster at the top of this post. I created this version with Fender's design it yourself program. Now look at the images below on the Custom G&L Doheney.
There are tons of options, neck shape, matching headstock, inlays, body colors. Yes they're not free options, but I'm fine with that! I'll pay for it, just shut up and take my money!
A truly custom guitar would be one where every facet could be decided by the owner, guided by the builder. Recently I checked out Creston Guitars in Vermont and he has a great approach: he has a list of things he does well, and he prefers (top loading bridges for example) but it appears he'll work with a customer to really make something cool. He lists his prices as "Seldom less than $2500, usually not more than $3000ish. Sometimes a lot more". That seems reasonable. he follows a lot of traditional electric guitar designs that aren't too retro or way to futuristic.
Danocaster has a similar approach and start around the same price. The usual flavours are there, Strat-ish, Tele-ish, Offset-ish, you get the idea. The custom end comes from how far can you take it and have it still be a traditional guitar. His prices are in the $2500ish range as well.
So when you add it all up, when a big company has a "custom" section, what are you really paying for/getting when the options are limited?
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