A Fender Custom Shop guitar is a unique and remarkable instrument. You know it when you play one—it’s definitely more than the sum of its parts. It’s filled with intangible, electrifying elements that add a new dimension to your playing experience. It’s as if the instrument itself is imbued with history, alive with the spirit of the place where it was built and the devotion of those who crafted it.
The Custom Shop is home to Fender’s most skilled and talented builders. It’s a bustling, noisy and creatively volcanic place that re-earns its nickname—the Dream Factory—every day. Custom Shop builders are completely dedicated to their art—part craftsman, part artist, part music fan and, more often than not, part mad scientist. They’re the best at what they do, and they pour all of their passion, hard-earned knowledge and skill into every instrument they build. It’s no ordinary place, and the creations that come from it are no ordinary instruments.
For players who wish to create a completely custom instrument—anything from a humbucking pickup-equipped banjo to a custom-engraved aluminum-bodied Strat®—we offer Masterbuilt, a singular experience working one-on-one with one of our Master Builders. Custom-Built is for those prefer to start with one of Fender’s time-honored models and personalize the specifications to meet your specific needs. Use the Custom Shop Design Guide to design your very own Masterbuilt or Custom-Built Fender guitar and make your dreams come true.
While at the 2025 Melbourne Guitar Show recently, we visited the Fender Experience Room and had the opportunity to not only view some wonderful Custom Shop creations, but we also got to chat with Paul McShane, the Fender Custom Shop Manager for Australia. Paul took time to explain the process involved in creating your own dream Fender Custom Shop instrument.
Australian Musician: Paul, let’s say I’ve got a bunch of money in my pocket. I want to buy a new guitar, but I want it built the way I want it. What’s my first step with the Fender Custom Shop?
Paul McShane: So, you’d like to design and build your dream Fender guitar? There is a very reliable mechanism to do that, the Custom Shop Design Guide. Each year this publication is produced by the Fender Custom Shop and it’s a fantastic read for anyone looking to build a guitar. It talks about the aura and the motives of the famed Custom Shop. The process can be started with a few general specs, but obviously we need to know which base model you would like and that starts the process.
Download the Fender Custom Shop Design Book
Are there any elements of the guitar that are off-limits?
I haven’t encountered any of those yet. There was an amazing gentleman at the Custom Shop called Mike Lewis, who was asked once, what are the limitations of the Custom Shop? And his answer was ‘your imagination’. And that’s a fantastic way to express it. We have a couple of levels of builds as well. So, for someone with a broad imagination, you’d be looking at Master Built. That’s the higher level of the most experienced and talented builders at the Custom Shop. And that’s a one-on-one experience with your guitar and Master Builder. You can even select to have the Master Builder contact you directly via email during the process and talk to you about the specifications, make some recommendations, check in with you about the specifications, and then it all starts.
From start to finish, roughly how long are you waiting for your guitar?
For the custom-built level, that can be anywhere from 12 to 18 months from beginning to end. If you are lucky, you might even see it sooner. For Master Built, lead times vary. Depending on the complexity of the build it can be upwards of a couple of years.
For players who are familiar with Fender Master Builders, can you choose a specific Fender luthier to build a guitar?
Generally, yes, sometimes there are a couple of unavailable builders depending on projects that they’re working on. Always ask for your builder and we can talk through the possibility of that happening.
As you say, the book is available in PDF form on the website, but it’s probably best for Australian people to go to their local Fender Custom Shop dealer as a starting point?
Yes, one hundred percent. So, Custom Shop dealers in Australia have this book. If not, they can get it from us at the Fender office in Sydney. And as I said, it’s refreshed every year. However, if you’ve got the 2024 version, please proceed with that because there’s a few minor changes and they can come up during the course of any process and there’s no issue with getting a quote. You can get a quote, satisfy your curiosity, move forward with it, take to a stage, keep it on hold if you wish. That’s what I wanted to find out right now. Six months’ time I’ll come back and go ahead with my dream guitar.
Download the Fender Custom Shop Design Book
What has been your favourite build?
Some of the people reading this will have seen some amazing creations and one that sticks in my mind is from a master builder Mr. Paul Waller who created a nine-neck guitar, which was amazing to see being played!
