Jazzmaster Now Available on Fender Mod Shop

[Embenny]

It is what it is. It's a way to get some different options than a totally stock AmPro, for people lacking either the skills or inclination to mod anything themselves (including just selecting parts and asking a local luthier to assemble). This is an enthusiast forum. It has a much higher prevalence of people who like to swap/solder/assemble/paint/rout/whatever than the general guitar-shopping public.

It's not an OSG Dressing Room with a "Buy Now" button, which of course would be a total dream come true for us. But we're not the target market for this. I went through the same process as most OSGers of hearing the news, raising my hopes slightly, investigating, and then realizing what this actually offered.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Larsongs]

This would be a really cool Attraction if you could really do some Mods. Like a Thinline Body, Metal Flake & other Custom Paint options, traditional Rhythm Circuit options, Pickup options like P90's or others, different Bridge & Tremelo options & more.

There are so many cool things they could do. Not just Jazzmaster either. Telecasters & other Guitars & Bass' too.

Too bad.

[jdr1014]

instead of this mod shop stuff, it would be so much better if we could go back to say, 1957. If you wanted a guitar with a trem, then you had a choice......buy a Strat with a 7.25 radius maple board with whatever neck profile you ended up receiving. You could get either sunburst - or pay extra for a "custom color". Much better.....

[nucleardonut]

This would be a really cool Attraction if you could really do some Mods. Like a Thinline Body, Metal Flake & other Custom Paint options, traditional Rhythm Circuit options, Pickup options like P90's or others, different Bridge & Tremelo options & more.

There are so many cool things they could do. Not just Jazzmaster either. Telecasters & other Guitars & Bass' too.

Too bad.

Fender already does that, it's called the Fender Custom Shop.

[spacecadet]

Ok, I finally got it to work, maybe it just was having server issues the first day I tried it.

I don't really have too much of a problem with non-matching headstocks or other options that aren't listed on the site (either buy an AV65 or go to the Custom Shop), but the thing I do find annoying is all the options that are listed that aren't really options. And most of these make no sense. Why are "plastic parts" listed when the only option is Aged White? I *know* they make these parts in other colors at this point, because I have them myself in two different colors. Ditto for the bridge - this is literally a drop-in part, and they make at least two different options for JM's these days... so why can't I order an AV65 bridge if I want one? (Case too.)

I'd feel less annoyed by it if these things just weren't there. Don't tease me into thinking I can get gold hardware on my Jazzmaster, Fender!

I assume they have a standard set of options for every guitar, but it would be easy to hide options that only have one choice. Or better yet, *give* me the choice when I know those choices actually exist.

[Larsongs]

Ok, I finally got it to work, maybe it just was having server issues the first day I tried it.

I don't really have too much of a problem with non-matching headstocks or other options that aren't listed on the site (either buy an AV65 or go to the Custom Shop), but the thing I do find annoying is all the options that are listed that aren't really options. And most of these make no sense. Why are "plastic parts" listed when the only option is Aged White? I *know* they make these parts in other colors at this point, because I have them myself in two different colors. Ditto for the bridge - this is literally a drop-in part, and they make at least two different options for JM's these days... so why can't I order an AV65 bridge if I want one? (Case too.)

I'd feel less annoyed by it if these things just weren't there. Don't tease me into thinking I can get gold hardware on my Jazzmaster, Fender!

I assume they have a standard set of options for every guitar, but it would be easy to hide options that only have one choice. Or better yet, *give* me the choice when I know those choices actually exist.

Actually...IMO...since they're mostly cosmetic are they really Mods?? I guess Sorta. But, wouldn't you think a real Mod would be different Pickups, Bridge, Neck, Body, Wood & Electronics etc.?

Fender Custom Shop prices are insane! Especially when you consider the cost of the materials. They have to provide labor to make the Guitars anyway. So a couple bucks more for Parts & Labor. Not Thousands of Dollars more!! They'd sell a heck of a lot more of them if they weren't rediculous crazy in their pricing.

[audiopablo]

I imagine the further you interrupt the assembly line, the more time inefficiency is introduced into the system. I have no idea because I'm not there, but it seems like a limited set of options (colors, a few necks) that can be put together in a standard process is why if the bean counters says an Am Pro costs $X, then the modshop is $X + $N.

If some guy has to walk around the factory and try to find some parts that aren't on the line, it's going to slow down the process. If we want Fender to interrupt their production line, it's go custom, because they're not gonna do it.

I'm happy about the mod shop and hope to order a few some day, but it's really still part of the production line. A jazzmaster with a compound radius, a choice of two good pickups and lots of color choices? That's an awesome thing to me, and worth the premium charged.

[Larsongs]

I imagine the further you interrupt the assembly line, the more time inefficiency is introduced into the system. I have no idea because I'm not there, but it seems like a limited set of options (colors, a few necks) that can be put together in a standard process is why if the bean counters says an Am Pro costs $X, then the modshop is $X + $N.

If some guy has to walk around the factory and try to find some parts that aren't on the line, it's going to slow down the process. If we want Fender to interrupt their production line, it's go custom, because they're not gonna do it.

I'm happy about the mod shop and hope to order a few some day, but it's really still part of the production line. A jazzmaster with a compound radius, a choice of two good pickups and lots of color choices? That's an awesome thing to me, and worth the premium charged.

They're the ones who came up with the Mod Shop as another option. They provide the List for Mods. But how about some real Mods. Not just a Pickguards or std. run of the mill colors.

I would think if I placed an Order it wouldn't be Rocket Science & their guy isn't walking all over the Factory scavenging for Parts. I would hope they have a better system in place.

IMO another hour or so labor & a couple hundred bucks in Parts (Credit should be deducted for original Parts not used) doesn't equal a couple Grand? Then call it Custom Shop? It doesn't pencil for me. But a reasonable price for a semi Custom Modded Guitar does.

[spacecadet]

I would think if I placed an Order it wouldn't be Rocket Science & their guy isn't walking all over the Factory scavenging for Parts. I would hope they have a better system in place.

Yeah, I mean there's a danger in every business of thinking something can't be done because they've never done it. So right now the production line works a certain way, and they have these certain parts there. And maybe they think (as some people here seem to think) that it has to be that way, just because it's always been that way. But that way of thinking is how businesses die. That's stagnation.

I'm sure they put this up thinking "hey, we'll give people a few more options because it's easy for us to do and they'll be happy". And I get that; they're going after the low hanging fruit.

But I think in this case they'd be better off in the long run if they modified their production process to be a little more flexible and at least offered all the options that are actually available and are even already on the site. It wouldn't take much. Maybe somebody needs to build a bookshelf to hold a couple extra boxes of little parts near where they do final assembly. I think Fender could handle it.

Over time, why not just combine this completely with the Custom Shop? Make a guitar truly customizable and orderable online. The web site should be able to know at what point a guitar can't just go through the standard production process because of some non-standard option, and could warn you and charge accordingly at that point. Or just have a second set of options at the bottom clearly labeled "Custom Shop Options". It doesn't seem like it should be that complicated. Then that order just goes to the CS instead of the regular production line.

Car companies do this sort of thing already and have for years. You can build a car on most manufacturers' web sites exactly how you want it, and many of them will then tell you if you can just go buy that car or if you need to custom order it. You do need to go to a dealer to actually order it in most cases (maybe not for a Tesla or something), but that's just the difference between spending $3,000 on a guitar and $30,000+ on a car. I don't see why Fender couldn't just do the whole thing online.

Anyway, I feel like Fender really should take this as an opportunity to make some changes to their process and sell some more guitars. The site has the potential to do a lot more than it does now. And so what if they need to make some behind the scenes changes to make it happen? Do they want to sell guitars or not? That should really be the only question.

[andy_tchp]

It seems like it's a way of making a bit of extra profit for very little effort and minimal disruption to existing processes.

Full custom options, they want you go to the Custom Shop.

They're not a non-profit organisation.

[Larsongs]

It seems like it's a way of making a bit of extra profit for very little effort and minimal disruption to existing processes.

Full custom options, they want you go to the Custom Shop.

They're not a non-profit organisation.

To have a Custom one off Guitar built where everything is special designed, hand tooled, special designed hand wound Pick ups, Custom designed hand painted & totally hand crafted is one thing.

To Mod using pre-existing Parts like Body's, Pickups, Bridges, Tremelos, Bigsby's, Necks, Tuners, Electronics, Circuitry, Wood etc. & having them put together on an Assembly Line is something else. It's not like they are magically special designing something that's never been done before. It certainly doesn't warrant tacking on another $2,000, $3,000, $4,000 or more to the Price. There just common Parts they already use.

[audiopablo]

I see your point, but a production line works because items can be predictably assembled in a set amount of time. More variance could tack time onto this. Yes, you could assemble it for cheaper. But it's a corporation. Marketing, a big corporate overhead and profits to owners or shareholders are all built into this. Each guitar is paying for the luthiers, the materials used, the equipment purchased or leased and even the cleaning crew. Yes, they're making money, but that's their job. If we don't like that, there's the custom shop and outside vendors, many who could do an awesome job because of their low overhead. But if we want Fender on that headstock, we're going to pay for it. I'm with you, I'd love to have all those options, but I don't see how they could make it work and keep it production line friendly.

There's also a question of returns. The more deviant the build, the harder it might be to resell elsewhere. I wonder now what they do with those anyway. What happens when someones sends back a daphne telecaster? Do they take it apart and reassemble in different builds?

But the bottom line is you're the customer. If someone else comes along and offers you all that customization and hand crafted attention to detail (which could be done), at a similar price, they could lose your business on that sale. But the Fender magic is strong, especially in resale value, IMHO. You're not wrong to want what you want. They're not wrong to offer what they think can sell at the profit margins they've dictated.

[Larsongs]

I see your point, but a production line works because items can be predictably assembled in a set amount of time. More variance could tack time onto this. Yes, you could assemble it for cheaper. But it's a corporation. Marketing, a big corporate overhead and profits to owners or shareholders are all built into this. Each guitar is paying for the luthiers, the materials used, the equipment purchased or leased and even the cleaning crew. Yes, they're making money, but that's their job. If we don't like that, there's the custom shop and outside vendors, many who could do an awesome job because of their low overhead. But if we want Fender on that headstock, we're going to pay for it. I'm with you, I'd love to have all those options, but I don't see how they could make it work and keep it production line friendly.

There's also a question of returns. The more deviant the build, the harder it might be to resell elsewhere. I wonder now what they do with those anyway. What happens when someones sends back a daphne telecaster? Do they take it apart and reassemble in different builds?

But the bottom line is you're the customer. If someone else comes along and offers you all that customization and hand crafted attention to detail (which could be done), at a similar price, they could lose your business on that sale. But the Fender magic is strong, especially in resale value, IMHO. You're not wrong to want what you want. They're not wrong to offer what they think can sell at the profit margins they've dictated.

I've done several special Factory ordered Cars over the years. You know how much more they cost? Nothing. Same Price. The Parts they use are Priced in the Order Book. They don't cost any more because it's a Special Order.

They're a bit more complex than building Guitars. I got the same Deals, Financing & Incentives.

You buy it, you own it. Comes with a Warranty & they fix it. When it comes time to Sell or Trade it's up to you. No different for a Guitar.

The Auto Manufacturers have the same situation with regard to Profit, Shareholders etc. Actually more.

If they can do it so could Fender, Gibson etc.

[audiopablo]

Fair point. I wonder how profit margins factor into it. I have no idea how tight the profit margins are on cars. I really don't know what the profit margins are on fenders either.

Let's hope Fender brings more options to the modshop. They are off to a good start. Again, I'd be more apt to purchase if they could do it even cheaper and assemble MIM versions. I'd pay extra for a nice MIM with rolled fret edges in daphne blue. I don't care about swaps I can do myself. But if I could get help with the things that are harder to change, like on a tele: belly cut, neck size, fretwire, color, I'm in. The cheaper they are, the more I'm going to order. Pickup selection is great, but not a deal killer for me. I guess I'll just have to save for the modshop until that happens. I really want a daphne blue jazzmaster. I really can't do that this year with new babies in the family.

[Larsongs]

Fair point. I wonder how profit margins factor into it. I have no idea how tight the profit margins are on cars. I really don't know what the profit margins are on fenders either.

Let's hope Fender brings more options to the modshop. They are off to a good start. Again, I'd be more apt to purchase if they could do it even cheaper and assemble MIM versions. I'd pay extra for a nice MIM with rolled fret edges in daphne blue. I don't care about swaps I can do myself. But if I could get help with the things that are harder to change, like on a tele: belly cut, neck size, fretwire, color, I'm in. The cheaper they are, the more I'm going to order. Pickup selection is great, but not a deal killer for me. I guess I'll just have to save for the modshop until that happens. I really want a daphne blue jazzmaster. I really can't do that this year with new babies in the family.

As great as that Guitar sounds & I hope you can get one it doesn't compare to those new Babies!!!! Congratulations!!!!