Shock at Custom Select delivery times.

[shreddermon]

I have two custom shops on order. They were ordered just about a year apart, and the two work orders are about 250 apart. By no means is that an accurate, nor sequential, indication of the custom shop production in a given year, but I'd guess its somewhere in the ballpark of the number of custom shop orders in a given year. And both orders are Charvels, so that's just the one brand line. In terms of popularity, it's a safe bet that there are likely way more Jackson orders than Charvel. So likely at least double that amount.

Or, look at this another way... They reintroduced the Charvel line in...what?...2005-ish? Call it 8 years since then. The last SD Charvels left off in the 5000 serial number range? They're already well into the 9000s already. Roughly 4,000 guitars in 8 years. Do the math, that's averaging roughly 500 custom shop Charvels per year. Again, just Charvels. Not counting Jacksons.

It's probably a safe bet you're way off with your "less than 100" prediction.

[neilli]

OK, I feel like I'm taking on my friends with this post, but I have a couple of thoughts:

It blew my mind when I saw the Fender CS - 6 builders in their own booths making lots and lots of CS guitars

But how much is a true masterbuilt Fender compared to a Jackson? And what are their wait times? I have a good idea of the first, and a vague recollection of what I was told about the second.

Roughly 4,000 guitars in 8 years. Do the math, that's averaging roughly 500 custom shop Charvels per year.

Weren't all the 'production San Dimas' pointies 4 digit serials though? Just saying that as I recall, those weren't Custom Shops...

[Dave Rocks]

I have 2 on order, ordered at the same time.

when I was at the CS, they had like 6 guitars in process, at best unless they had more at paint and I did not see them. And on that day, I saw not much being done. The Fender CS had lots of action.

[shreddermon]

. Weren't all the 'production San Dimas' pointies 4 digit serials though? Just saying that as I recall, those weren't Custom Shops...

Sure, some of those were "USA Select"-like. But many were true csustoms, too. And even if you assume, say, half were like that, it's likely still way over 100 guitars per year.

[Dave Rocks]

But how much is a true masterbuilt Fender compared to a Jackson? And what are their wait times? I have a good idea of the first, and a vague recollection of what I was told about the second.

Ian, I'm not sure I understand the first part.....The Fender CS's where certainly very custom in the sense of what can be done to strats and tele's. Again, I might not understand your point. And I have no idea of the wait times as I have ZERO interest in a CS Fender. My point was, the Fender CS is organized and it looks like a productive shop. I have the impression that the Jackson CS is just Mike (great guy when I met him) and Pablo.

[neilli]

I just meant that a personal custom order masterbuilt Fender costs a lot more than a fully spec'd CS Jackson and still takes forever. So even if they're prioritised, have multiple builders with organised spaces, it's A: costing more and B: taking as long as a CS Jackson...

[xenophobe]

Ian, I'm not sure I understand the first part.....The Fender CS's where certainly very custom in the sense of what can be done to strats and tele's. Again, I might not understand your point. And I have no idea of the wait times as I have ZERO interest in a CS Fender. My point was, the Fender CS is organized and it looks like a productive shop. I have the impression that the Jackson CS is just Mike (great guy when I met him) and Pablo.

Fender CS orders are being delivered in 9 months, give or take. Fender Masterbuild orders are taking up to 2 years or more, though a few years ago the wait time was a little more than a year.

It's hard to compare both shops. The CS is a lot like the Jackson Custom Select... there are a lot of features that require it to be a Masterbuild, which drives the price up $1000 + the cost of any feature. If I remember, ordering a standard Fender configuration with a Floyd is a $1400 upcharge from a standard CS order. There are some other features that require the Masterbuild upcharge as well.

Prices are somewhat comparable. A true Fender Custom will cost you $4k+, and the sky is the limit. Just for shits and giggles, and knowing I can't post what price I've paid, my two current Jackson CS orders have retail prices of $6k and $9k.

Charvel CS orders seem to get fulfilled much more quickly than Jackson CS orders. Even if there was absolutely no backlog, you'd still wait about a year to get one.

[Dave Rocks]

I just meant that a personal custom order masterbuilt Fender costs a lot more than a fully spec'd CS Jackson and still takes forever. So even if they're prioritised, have multiple builders with organised spaces, it's A: costing more and B: taking as long as a CS Jackson...

Based on what I saw, it's clear that the Fender CS is producing way more guitars than the Jackson CS - likely 10 fold.

[1stSFG-A]

I have 4 Jackson Custom Shop guitars (Soloist, Kelly, RR, Roswell), and 2 Fender Custom Shop guitars (Strat, Tele).

Jackson is a pain in the ass to deal with, plain and simple. Each of my orders took 25 -26 months to get. Not only that, but it took almost 3 months to get the rep to actually spec my order right. I mean, I only spelled out the damn thing for the guy. It's almost as if each time he entered it, he entered whatever he wanted, rather than actually reading what I had detailed out. On top of that, it took him weeks to even get a screwed up work order back to me. If you want to add the 3 months it actually took to get each order properly spec'd, then the whole process took up to 30 months for each guitar. By the time each guitar came in, I was so over it, I almost debated just pretending I had fallen off the face of the earth, rather than respond to the calls and emails and accept the build. Considering what I paid for the "CS experience" ($3,500 give or take $100 for each), will I ever order another Jackson CS? Hell no.

The Fender CS process was awesome. The rep was super responsive, even going as far as to call me personally to verify specs. I had both of them within 6 months and built exactly to spec. I paid about $3,500, give or take $150, for both the Strat and Tele. All things considered, would I order another Fender CS? Absolutely.

It's amazing that two departments within the same company in the same building space can operate in such totally opposite ways. It's class act vs. total nightmare.

I'm glad the Custom Select stuff is around; although, it would not have done anything for me. Nonetheless, for guys who are hell bent on having a USA Jackson just barely modified, then it's great.

After having been through all the above over the last several years, my advice to everyone is to get a production MIJ and call it a day. If I could go back and do it all over again, that's exactly what I'd do.

[youthinkyourfish]

I have 4 Jackson Custom Shop guitars (Soloist, Kelly, RR, Roswell), and 2 Fender Custom Shop guitars (Strat, Tele).

Jackson is a pain in the ass to deal with, plain and simple. Each of my orders took 25 -26 months to get. Not only that, but it took almost 3 months to get the rep to actually spec my order right. I mean, I only spelled out the damn thing for the guy. It's almost as if each time he entered it, he entered whatever he wanted, rather than actually reading what I had detailed out. On top of that, it took him weeks to even get a screwed up work order back to me. If you want to add the 3 months it actually took to get each order properly spec'd, then the whole process took up to 30 months for each guitar. By the time each guitar came in, I was so over it, I almost debated just pretending I had fallen off the face of the earth, rather than respond to the calls and emails and accept the build. Considering what I paid for the "CS experience" ($3,500 give or take $100 for each), will I ever order another Jackson CS? Hell no.

The Fender CS process was awesome. The rep was super responsive, even going as far as to call me personally to verify specs. I had both of them within 6 months and built exactly to spec. I paid about $3,500, give or take $150, for both the Strat and Tele. All things considered, would I order another Fender CS? Absolutely.

It's amazing that two departments within the same company in the same building space can operate in such totally opposite ways. It's class act vs. total nightmare.

I'm glad the Custom Select stuff is around; although, it would not have done anything for me. Nonetheless, for guys who are hell bent on having a USA Jackson just barely modified, then it's great.

After having been through all the above over the last several years, my advice to everyone is to get a production MIJ and call it a day. If I could go back and do it all over again, that's exactly what I'd do.

At last.. a breath of fresh air.

[Sergio]

Well I have 2 custom shop RRs and I got both of them in 8 months, more or less, back in 2007 and 2008. When I asked a dealer how much time I would have to wait for a new full custom and it told me 2 years, more or less, I gave up: lots of things can happen in 2 years, I could be the next US president, go visit Mars, conquer China etc LOL... and maybe, MAYBE, I could change my mind about specs. So I think I will end up ordering a custom select, just because, except for RRs (I am sucker for single hum customs), I wouldn't order something extraordinary: I would go for a KV (just because I hate that damned pickguard and I've nerver tried a KV so... why not?), no inlays, no bindings, a cool flame top or a silver burst finish, passive pickups... and I am fine with woods. And of course, a wait of just 4 months... to me it's a win, but it's not what I wanted in the first place, so it's not a big win .

[Dukeman5]

I hear ya! I ordered a custom shop in October 2011 and was quoted 12-14 months. It's now almost 2 years and those rat bastards are now saying possibly December. I've been collecting and playing Jackson since 84. Now I'm beginning to hate the company!

[lkgwarrior]

Well. My dealer has contacted me and said that my guitar arrives in Sydney on the 2nd of September. Not long to go now. Very excited!!!! this will be the longest 4 weeks ever.

[MetalDaze]

Well. My dealer has contacted me and said that my guitar arrives in Sydney on the 2nd of September. Not long to go now. Very excited!!!! this will be the longest 4 weeks ever.

Good news for you! I found out that my Extreme Warrior has proven difficult to buff and had to go back to paint again. Ugh.