Fender Custom Shop Serial Numbers on Neck Plates. Decoding Fender Custom Shop Serial Numbers: What They Tell You, and What They Don't When purchasing a Fender Custom Shop (new or used), how much emphasis should one place on the serial number? Serial numbers on Fender Custom Shop guitars are at best confusing, and at worst misleading. In many instances, the serial number may not really tell an owner much valuable information. There Phillip Gajewski
Photo of Fender Custom Shop 1963 Stratocaster Heavy Relic The Unicorn: The Guitar that Shouldn't Exist. "A Fender Custom Shop '63 wearing a maple fretboard — the one spec a '63 isn't supposed to have. A year of chasing, two misses, and the rule I paid to learn: never balk." Phillip Gajewski • Collector
2016 Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Heavy Relic Mischief Maker Some Assembly (and Mischief) Required. "Hendrix started it. Ian Moore and a Sling Blade cameo kept it going. A kid named Gary Vann with a Squier Bullet sealed the deal. This is the story of how a strat with a tele neck became an obsession — and the Custom Shop guitar I finally chased down." Phillip Gajewski • Fender Custom Shop
2016 Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Heavy Relic Mischief Maker Some Assembly (and Mischief) Required. "Hendrix started it. Ian Moore and a Sling Blade cameo kept it going. A kid named Gary Vann with a Squier Bullet sealed the deal. This is the story of how a strat with a tele neck became an obsession — and the Custom Shop guitar I finally chased down." Phillip Gajewski • Fender Custom Shop
Two Blondes are Better Than One. "I couldn't decide between two blonde Telecasters, so I didn't. Here's what happens when you buy both..." Phillip Gajewski • Telecaster
2017 Ltd Heavy Relic ’59 Strat The Cookie Monster and Breaking My Own Rules. A Guitar Center used-market cautionary tale — hacked body cavity, a roasted neck too good to return, and a nickname that stuck. Phillip Gajewski • NAMM
Two Blondes are Better Than One. "I couldn't decide between two blonde Telecasters, so I didn't. Here's what happens when you buy both..." Phillip Gajewski • Telecaster
2017 Ltd Heavy Relic ’59 Strat The Cookie Monster and Breaking My Own Rules. A Guitar Center used-market cautionary tale — hacked body cavity, a roasted neck too good to return, and a nickname that stuck. Phillip Gajewski • NAMM
Photo: courtesy of Pierre Journel of https://theguitarchannel.biz/ Patience, Cash, and a Police Station: Chasing FCS NAMM Editions. I've never been invited to the Fender Custom Shop's annual NAMM showcase. Chances are, you haven’t either. The event is dealer-invite only, held behind closed doors somewhere inside the Anaheim Convention Center each January. For the rest of us, it exists mostly through a Phillip Gajewski • NAMM
