

The Fender Custom Shop is affectionately known as the “Dream Factory” – and it’s quite true. Jeff Beck, Yngwie Malmsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, John 5, Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, and Rory Gallagher all have instruments painstakingly recreated by the Fender Custom Shop! From there on out – the Fender Custom Shop became the go-to place for artists to either have instruments built for them to take on the road, or model after to become signature instruments of their own.

Once the dust of purchase of the company to the new investors settled – the Custom Shop was started in the Corona, California facility by the first two Master Builders: Michael Stevens and John Page under the vision of Schultz and Director of Marketing Dan Smith.Īs the Fender Custom Shop started to build eclectic instruments with unique features and custom finishes, the first Fender Signature guitar was developed at the Custom Shop – the Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster, modeled after the famed Blackie guitar. The company only three years prior was bought back from CBS by Schultz and other Fender employees who wanted to bring the company back to its glory days of the 1950s and '60s. The Fender Custom Shop began in 1987, under the supervision of then-CEO Bill Schultz and its first two Master Builders: John page and Michael Stevens.

The Music Zoo is an Authorized Fender Custom Shop Dealer! Shop for your Fender Custom Shop Guitar on our site now, or visit our showroom in New York.
