New Violinmaster Telecaster Relic Guitar From Fender’s Custom Shop

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Your missing the point. To compare yourself to the greats is pretty wrong in the first place. Secondly to use the persons works to sell yours especially without their permission is absolutely a no no!

Bad enough rap artists appropriate Clyde Stubblefield and others works without credit or pay. But this is totally past that as well.
This is the part of how technology in music is too easily abused by others, without any boundaries both morally and legally.

I understand and agree with your concern over intellectual property. But the name Stradivarius seems to be in the public domain. There’s no evidence in the patent and trade office registry of an owner. Even if there once was a legally registered owner (which is unlikely), failure to enforce a trademark or copyright invalidates it - and the name has been used without challenge for everything from instruments to home appliances over the years. I find no evidence of legal action in online databases, so it’s almost certainly a moot point.

Nevertheless, it does seem to me to be an inappropriate way to market this product. I’d have preferred something like “honoring the Cremonese tradition of fine instrument making” - but I can’t get too bent out of shape about it.

[Jim Soloway]

Your missing the point. To compare yourself to the greats is pretty wrong in the first place. Secondly to use the persons works to sell yours especially without their permission is absolutely a no no!

Bad enough rap artists appropriate Clyde Stubblefield and others works without credit or pay. But this is totally past that as well.
This is the part of how technology in music is too easily abused by others, without any boundaries both morally and legally.

Really? You think that Fender hasn't accomplished enough to be compared to the greats? Seriously? As for using someone who lived centuries ago without permission, how long does that proprietary control last? Is it forever? Surely there must be some point in history where there is no longer a proprietary interest in a name.

[Jim Soloway]

Don't know that guitar, but the fender custom shop built a couple of gretsch style telecasters a while back. They had an orange one at my local dealer .. To expensive for me, but felt and played great

That orange one looks like it was based on TV Jones design. He has a long running relationship with Fender (mostly via Gretsch) so it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

[jim777]

I believe Yuriy Shishkov is one of the builders that build the Benedetto Manhattans these days. His brother was head of Hamer's Custom Shop as well, and now makes "Hamer copies" under the Shishkov name. That Tele isn't my cuppa but I bet it's amazing.

[EastwoodMike]

There has been log history of iconic images aligning themselves with other iconic artists/ cultural images.

Levi 501 Jeans would be painted by named artists. As would VW Beetles and even the odd cow statue for some reason. Even BMW has got in on it.

Fender is being no different. They are just morphing their iconic piece with another. The Swarovski Tele is probably done for all I know.
Doing a Monet Tele or a DaVinci tele is probably not far off. Aligning yourself with the greatness of others has been a time honored marketing tradition.
TBH the price is more about provenance, uniqueness & quality of the end product.

And if it gets sold at auction for a charity like supporting child homelessness then I'm all for it. Good on them for lending their names to something worthwhile. Not sure if this is Fenders intent but who knows. I suspect these pieces go to well heeled collectors who will hang it in their wine cellar or what not.

Time will tell if the Tele is even still relevant or revered as much in 150 years. Chances are no one will remember Levi Jeans, the VW beetle, telecasters etc or treasure it as much as the Stradivari are today. Antonio did not make his name through marketing. He made his name through making the best possible product of all his peers.

I find more issue with Fender making a new tele that looks like an old beaten, mistreated tele, and charging more for what is effectively a defective product because someone spent hours making something perfectly good look perfectly flogged.

I find even more uncomfortable the notion that an artist can align their skill level with another justifiably brilliant artist of the past and ride on coat tails.
It is one thing to present an interpretation of their art, and another thing to sample their art in order to lift up your own. Looking at you Hip Hop.

M

[Hammertone]

Art?
Forget about it, Jake.
It's commerce.

[Litterick]

Fender is not a company based on craftsmanship. The guitars are mostly based on designs from the 1950s. They are made by semi-skilled labour. Fender guitars are sold at various price points, depending on the location of the factory and the quality of the components. Fender does make Custom Shop guitars, which have been pulled from the production line at an early stage of manufacture and given personal attention by a craftsman, but most guitars are produced by methods invented by Henry Ford.

A luthier making special guitars for such a corporation is a long way from Cremona.

[EastwoodMike]

Fender is not a company based on craftsmanship. The guitars are mostly based on designs from the 1950s. They are made by semi-skilled labour. Fender guitars are sold at various price points, depending on the location of the factory and the quality of the components. Fender does make Custom Shop guitars, which have been pulled from the production line at an early stage of manufacture and given personal attention by a craftsman, but most guitars are produced by methods invented by Henry Ford.

A luthier making special guitars for such a corporation is a long way from Cremona.

Levi Jeans are not art, nor are VW or similar "iconic" objects. But they are just the backdrop of the artistry in the end. Fender is doing the same.

And this ain't a just a factory fender guitar - this is a Yuriy Shishkov built guitar based on a telecaster. Given the effort he has gone to to make this Tele based interpretation, you would not think it is art? This is not the work of average Joe Luthier. Gretsch, Gibson, Taylor, all let their master craftsmen let loose every now and again. That said, I don't get the impression anyone is saying the luthier is as good as Antonio Stradivarius ?

The Telecaster shape in this case is just the canvas for something else. Mr Shishkov is the artist, the Tele is the canvas, the Stradivarius is the muse. He was employed by Fender to do the work. What's the problem? The $ figure?
Lets say the project/research/build took 4 weeks or 160hrs. $5K on bespoke materials, hardware and tooling, perhaps $5K to recoup on marketing/ videography/ media. That leaves roughly $125/hr contractor rate including tax and insurances. Is that a fair rate? Not knowing premium US Luthier rates, I'll let you be the judge. I reckon he did an alright job. Not necessarily my cup of tea, but sure, someone will pay for it.

A relic'ed Tele picked off the shop floor is a whole different lump of wood. I think that is overstating craftsmanship sometimes.
Especially when sold on a mass produced scale.

M

[feet]

I understand the appeal of the Benedetto but as someone who has spent most of my life playing planks I can pretty safely say that if you put these two guitars in front of me and asked me to play one, I'd almost certainly reach for the Fender first if only because I know that the form factor pretty much guarantees that I'd be more comfortable and I prefer the longer scale length. And FWIW, the more I look at this Fender, the more I like it. It reminds me of a very special guitar merging a Tele Shape and Gretsch construction and aesthetics that TV Jones built for Brian Setzer about 20 years ago.

chickens. they're called chickens. please, respect the heritage and the tradition and the majesty.

i don't know how often these happen anymore, because they are technically fenders. the gretsch custom shop would crank them out all day, but it's not up to them. not sure what similarities or affiliations these have to the original tv jones concoction, but as of 2012, at least, they were promoted from one off to an officially sanctioned thing.

gotta tell you, i don't hate it. wouldn't take it over a penguin, but i don't hate it.

[Litterick]

The Telecaster shape in this case is just the canvas for something else. Mr Shishkov is the artist, the Tele is the canvas, the Stradivarius is the muse. He was employed by Fender to do the work. What's the problem?

It is ridiculous. It is a Telecaster – the workhorse guitar played by Bickert, Springsteen and almost everyone below the Mason-Dixon Line – dressed up to imitate the finest, rarest and most expensive violins of European classical music. It is like a Chevy pickup with a Rolls-Royce radiator grille. It will be bought by an investment banker, or a Chinese billionaire.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Fender is not a company based on craftsmanship. The guitars are mostly based on designs from the 1950s. They are made by semi-skilled labour. Fender guitars are sold at various price points, depending on the location of the factory and the quality of the components. Fender does make Custom Shop guitars, which have been pulled from the production line at an early stage of manufacture and given personal attention by a craftsman, but most guitars are produced by methods invented by Henry Ford.

A luthier making special guitars for such a corporation is a long way from Cremona.

Michigan is a long way from Maranello, and a GT40 is a long way from a Focus. Ford and Fender have far more in common than the first letter of their names. Neither company was founded on the kind of craftsmanship that goes into a million dollar violin, but both found ways to adopt, enhance, and use it quite effectively at the highest levels. As for quality, it’s critical to understand the difference between quality of design and quality of conformance. Each requires a different kind of craftsmanship, and both determine quality. Basic Fenders may not be world class instruments, but they’re turned out in huge numbers and each one matches its design specs (as unsophisticated as they are) pretty well.

Your invocation of Henry Ford is essential to this discussion. Leo Fender used cheap auto paint to finish inexpensive mass produced products made with interchangeable parts - and so did Ford (eg Fiesta Red was a Thunderbird paint that Fender bought from a neighboring auto paint shop). The first production Fords were available in many forms, from cheap and simple personal transportation to utility vehicles used in commerce - and you can buy a very playable brand new Tele for anywhere from $200 to $20k+. Fender makes some great first guitars and Ford makes some great first cars. Fender players have won Grammies and Ford drivers have won LeMans. The comparisons and similarities are endless.

For many years, the big guitar makers have hired, consulted, or otherwise turned to famous artisans for everything from inspiration to complete custom instruments. One has now used Stradivarius as inspiration. I have no problem with this, even though it has absolutely no appeal for me. Apart from the fact that almost all of us would turn down one but gladly have the other, how far removed from this product of an in-house custom luthier is a “Fender D’Aquisto”?

[Archie]

Levi Jeans are not art, nor are VW or similar "iconic" objects. But they are just the backdrop of the artistry in the end. Fender is doing the same.

And this ain't a just a factory fender guitar - this is a Yuriy Shishkov built guitar based on a telecaster. Given the effort he has gone to to make this Tele based interpretation, you would not think it is art? This is not the work of average Joe Luthier. Gretsch, Gibson, Taylor, all let their master craftsmen let loose every now and again. That said, I don't get the impression anyone is saying the luthier is as good as Antonio Stradivarius ?

The Telecaster shape in this case is just the canvas for something else. Mr Shishkov is the artist, the Tele is the canvas, the Stradivarius is the muse. He was employed by Fender to do the work. What's the problem? The $ figure?
Lets say the project/research/build took 4 weeks or 160hrs. $5K on bespoke materials, hardware and tooling, perhaps $5K to recoup on marketing/ videography/ media. That leaves roughly $125/hr contractor rate including tax and insurances. Is that a fair rate? Not knowing premium US Luthier rates, I'll let you be the judge. I reckon he did an alright job. Not necessarily my cup of tea, but sure, someone will pay for it.

A relic'ed Tele picked off the shop floor is a whole different lump of wood. I think that is overstating craftsmanship sometimes.
Especially when sold on a mass produced scale.

M

I think where things step out of line, is a company know for selling crudely made, cheap guitars; trying to brand associate with Stradivarius whilst using a bolt on neck, the very same they use on a £150 squire.
Surely the luthier would have said this is grotesque?
But I guess he likes his job.
The whole thing is in exceptionally poor taste but it makes sense if you're Fender and a luthier working for Fender.

[jads57]

have clarified my post. It was in reference to post talking about Kenny G putting himself on a recording with Lois Armstrong.
Leo and his cohorts definitely deserve their place in instrument history! Not Stradivarius maybe,Lol!

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I think where things step out of line, is a company know for selling crudely made, cheap guitars; trying to brand associate with Stradivarius whilst using a bolt on neck, the very same they use on a £150 squire. Surely the luthier would have said this is grotesque?

I will say again that I think the Stradocaster is no more than an elegant exercise in imaginative lutherie. It has absolutely no appeal to me as an instrument. But I think we need to put a little historical perspective on this, because some of the comments fly in the face of what we know about Stradivarius. If he were making instruments today (remembering that he made at least 5 guitars that we know of), he would have explored and enjoyed every modern tool, method, and option that we take for granted. A bolt-on neck would have been a godsend for him, since he nailed his necks on. I have no doubt at all that Stradivarius would have loved threaded fasteners and found a way to make his necks both more secure and adjustable with them.

This will probably come as a shock to many of you, but Stradivarius actually did use nails to hold his necks on - he did not use dovetails. The necks were glued to the ribs and held to the neck block by 3 nails. I think I remember reading that at least one or two Strads were found to have 4 nails in them when disassembled for repairs, but it's not clear whether the extra nail was added to each as a repair or used in original manufacture.

[Jonathan0996]

All my life I've been waiting to find a Tele I could spend $30k on.

To me this isn't really a tele. With that bridge and tailpiece setup I doubt it would act and sound like any tele I've ever played. Maybe it's a better instrument, but it ain't really a tele. For a hollow tele I think I'd sooner spend $2k on a semi-hollow Nash T-69 and have them put a Charlie Christian pickup in the neck position. Then I'd use the other $28k on something really inspiring, like as a down payment on a Porsche.

No need to thank me. Spending other peoples' money is what gives me joy.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I'm not gonna claim I live in the best of all possible worlds (sorry, Gottfried) but my world is better for this guitar, even tho it's made from Unobtanium.

[Jehu]

I like it. Postmodernism at its very best.

And the reactions in this thread are evidence of its effectiveness. Well done, Mr. Shishkov!