Carlos Lopez Fender Masterbuilder | Interview | Thomann

Carlos Lopez, masterbuilder at the Fender Custom Shop and the man behind the Fender Brawler Baritone took the time to have a little chat with Kris. Talking about the Eric Johnson Virginia Strat, how he started to work at Fender and became a masterbuilder and about odd Custom Shop guitars.
Fender at Thomann: tho.mn/6ji8l
We use Triad-Orbit stands for our cameras, lights and mics: tho.mn/triad
Recorded and mixed with Universal Audio: tho.mn/xuad
Interesting bits and pieces:
0:00 Introduction
0:35 How Carlos became a Fender masterbuilder
6:08 About his respect for the other masterbuilders
8:47 Fender heritage: vintage vs custom shop guitars
11:56 Why Carlos loves "odd" Fender models
13:47 About the Brawler Baritone
16:29 Working with Eric Johnson on the Virginia Strat Limited Run
21:57 Working with Chris Garza from Suicide Silence
23:44 How building a Custom Shop Bass is different from a guitar
25:50 Thanks to Carlos!
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[@SalmonFume]

Awesome, I know this guy from the Eric Johnson strat which I absolutely love. Total dream job.

[@lamontprospect9974]

Congratulations Carlos. It's a beautiful story. Your parents must be very proud of you. I wish you much continued success. I'm about to purchase your 1960 Ultra Relic Stratocaster. It's a beautiful piece of work and I hope I have the opportunity to meet you someday. I'm also a writer and I would be interested in writing a story about your life. Sincerely, LaMont Prospect.

[@lamontprospect9974]

It's nice to see what a young person who humbles himself to the mentors and more experienced instructors. There's an old saying: You have to lower yourself in order to raise yourself up. You have to be open to criticism (which is something many people cannot handle), which is why they never succeed. Arrogance is the number one variable that destroys most artists. When I was first starting out in graduate school, I had a mentor who told me that you really earn your degree from your butt and not necessarily your brain. Why? You have to be able to sit and do the work, stay focused, persevere. He also told me to carry a bowl and spoon in my book bag. I said what's that for? He said the person who can learn to eat and tolerate the most shit and can still persevere is the one who succeeds. I never forgot that. Congratulations Carlos.

[@lamontprospect9974]

I could be wrong but I think sometimes guitarists make too big a deal about the shape of the neck. I've only been playing for about 10 months or less and I own eight or nine different guitars. I love the fact that each of the necks feel different and I challenge myself to change the guitars I'm practicing on every few days so that I learn to adapt better. Does it slow me down and does it initially set me back a bit? Without question. But it also challenges me to try even harder. I've only been seriously practicing for about 7 months. I've taught myself all five Pentatonic shapes and all seven Diatonic shapes (up and down the fret board, backwards and forwards). I make every effort to expand, contract, and blend the scale so it doesn't sound like I'm playing scales. I try to vary the order of the notes and the timing as much as I can and the possibilities seem endless. That's part of the reason why I haven't taken any time to learn chords yet. I'm so enamored by the variations in the scales I can't seem to move beyond them.

[@edallagnol]

Great interview

[@lamontprospect9974]

The reason I ask whether the strings were relicted or not is because I just bought the 1960 Carlos Lopez Ultimate Relic Stratocaster (Tri-Sunburst finish), and the tech from the store that I bought it from put new strings on the guitar without even asking my permission. Now I'm not sure, but I think the bridge has to be removed before those strings can be changed. I don't know this tech, I've never met this tech and here he is taking a guitar that was built by a Master Builder and the guy starts making modifications without even asking me. That's a problem for me. Am I off base here? I'm ready to return the guitar but unfortunately it's a very rare, and exclusive guitar. Any comments?

[@rikkousa]

I am buying one of Carlos’ Guitars tomorrow…Castedosa baritone…shell pink…apparently he left Fender and is on his own.!

[@glennevans5824]

Nice guy...glad he got his break...

[@yetimatzenightcat8702]

Vollcool, das video gibt sogar noch auf 144p was her. Gitarrenporno 😄... THX jungs

[@istricky]

Long Live Castedosa Guitars.

[@fernandog9684]

Could have watched an hour of this. Love this guy

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Same here Fernando. Carlos is a great guy and an absolute genius of a luthier. Thanks for watching! //cheers, Kris

[@PooNinja]

20:48 mmm AAA 🔥🍁

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

It's VERY mmm AAA indeed! :) Would so wanna play that guitar one day. Cheers buddy! //Kris

[@PooNinja]

Indeed Sir

[@marcionobrega5117]

😃😃😃🙋‍♂️

[@davelock3166]

Is there any difference between custom shop and an independent luthier making Fender- esq guitars. No. Original American -made items are Fender guitars. Custom shop are in my opinion upmarket licence produced guitars.

[@thecappy]

Hopefully this guy is smarter than the other master builder John Cruz and, keeps his social media clean.

[@urbin1220]

Tausendmal "You know" Der Mann ist Fließbandarbeiter aber kein Gitarrenbauer.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Hi, das "you know" Problem haben sehr viele. Ich kämpfe damit auch, weil es mich selber stört. Das ist allerdings einfach eine schlechte Gewohnheit, mehr nicht. Über Fließbandarbeiter sein: ein Fender Masterbuilder zu werden ist extrem schwer. Nur die beste Fachmänner bekommen diese Chance. Ihn einen Fließbandarbeiter zu nennen hat mit der Realität eher wenig zu tun. //Kris

His last name has an accent. Carlos López if not it would be pronounced LopEZ!

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Hi José, I absolutely understand that. My name should be written with two accents (Kristóf Barócsi). But you know what? It makes everything so much easier for world wide publishing to ignore those little apostrophes. There are so many cell phones and keyboards in the world without the accents, it just makes a lot of sense. Also, Fender writes Carlos' name the same way on the Custom Shop website: Carlos Lopez. Take care, //Kris

@@ssgiancarlo señor su apellido es López con acento!

[@danyjr]

@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses Nice answer!