Fender Masterbuilder John Cruz assembling a Stratocaster at The Music Gallery

Sorry about the rough audio! There was a lot of noise going on in the room. Headphones help!
John Cruz was in Chicago to help celebrate The Music Gallery's 20th Anniversary as s Fender Diamond Dealer. During this demonstration he assembled a 1960's NOS Strat in front of a small crowd of guitar fanatics. He shared a lot of his secrets and tips so if building is your thing, this is well worth a watch. It's a bit long, so grab a beverage and enjoy!
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[@gingerbeer914]

What John tells us about setting the pickup heights at 33:27 - 33:36 is CRUCIAL for the vintage tone of the guitar! If you buy a new Fender Custom Shop, you 'll see that the pickups are set-up quite slanted: low on the bass side and high on the treble side. Since I saw this I always do this by ear, but now John translates it into digits: 8/32" on the bass side and 6/32" on the treble side are the distances from the top of the pole piece to the bottom of the string. For Europe and Japan: 8/32"= 1/4" = 0.25" = 6.35 mm 6/32" = 0.1875" = 4.7625 mm So go get a digital caliper WITH a mm/Inch button at Aldi's or Lidl's for about €8-10 (because they appear in those two supermarkets once a year and if they sell slow, they may even drop the price to €5.- at most hardware store they start at €19.95) and start setting up your pick-up heights right! It is of course questionable whether these exact heights work with pickups with different specs, such as on non-USA built Strats or even non-Fender built Strats, because they can have a much lower number of wire turns, a lot less resistance and a lot less output, so I guess I'll still be doing a lot of pick-up height settings by ear, but it's always nice to know how it is properly done on a real USA Fender Strat. Right now I have only two real USA Fender Strats, of which one is a Plus, so go find your pole pieces! (but I set them up slightly slanted and it WORKS) If you put them straight and high, you will get a harsh into your face sound with no subtlety at all... and subtlety is what it is all about. I want my axes to be as subtle as Hank Marvin's or Stevie Ray Vaughn's. They can be loud, as long as they're subtle when I need them to be.

[@pikslide360]

The owners manual has this information.

[@glennk1931]

One of the most informative videos I've seen... Thanks..

[@PaulGrahamGuitarst]

Nice! It is interesting to watch someone from the Fender Custom Shop working on a guitar and hear everything he has to say.

[@Anson120]

Damn that is a cool strat. He said something very interesting. "The tone of the metal". It is not the wood. It IS the metal that affects tone. he knows his stuff.

[@0Imtheslime0]

That is true yeah. Strings are primarily touching meta before any resonance goes to the body. All parts connected to the strings are integral to resonance and sustain.

[@denverelisha7878]

instaBlaster.

[@TundraDrifter]

I was lucky enough to have John Cruz build a guitar for me back in 2008. Would love to get another, but his wait time last I heard from him is 4 years now. Someday again maybe. Awesome guy to deal with and he made great suggestions for the guitar when we were working out the spec's for the build.

[@ariellewest5024]

Tundrastruck wait a minute.. No hateful you're stupid for buying one of these type comments??

[@dethcult]

Music Gallery is great store! Love going in there.

[@walshy2116]

I love that one there. The greens nice and I’ll bet it rings like a bell since he built it.

[@ChampagneCraig]

Great stuff, Mr. Cruz.

[@gliddofglood]

That is one wicked colour (it wouldn't have occurred to me that it would be). The master builder takes it to the next level with the matching watch strap.

[@_alexsams]

Really appreciate this upload, thank you.

[@xxczerxx]

Whilst I personally disagree with relicing, I wish they did lines of Fenders that are made with the old-school paint so it actually wears down over time. This new stuff stays pristine!

[@jesuschristisgod2129]

I'm saving to buy one of Cruz's masterpiece guitars.

[@Retro.Studio]

You better hurry up

[@mvhax2ftw352]

@@Retro.Studio too late haha

[@MartinMignogna]

That was one of the biggest hurdles for me to learn the Stratocaster; was the tremelo and how to adjust it to keep it stable. Great video by the way, thank you

[@intrsoul]

brilliant - thanks for posting this

[@Chargerd77]

super interesting, thanx 4 posting !

[@paulgill5813]

Im sorry but I love Fenders . I believe Fender was a amazing man . And think Fender has had some good times with the bad but overall the are great still great company .They are sticking to what they know works. And they have sold so many guitars,basses, amps to some of the biggest names in music. Im sorry to the people talking trash about Leo Fender he was a very kind hearted person. He worked for weeks at time for free so he could pay his workers and worked amazing hours just trying to get company started. So I think his a great man. He sold it to CBS because was having problem his wife had past away. And he was not doing well . Hell look how long he worked its amazing till the day he died. Amazing man .

[@cravinbob]

Paul Gill I heard someone say Gibson is coming out with a Leo Fender model Les Paul! I am sure he was just joking but Gibson could try. Les Pauls are overrated. The Strat is THE electric guitar. Fender was a classic American company where stuff was made and made well. There were lots of those companies back then. Those days are over. Manufacturing has gone to the dogs or the Chinese and we are in trouble big time! Without Leo Jimi would not have sounded quite right.

[@xDooksx]

I love John Cruz

[@xDooksx]

Awesome video, thank you!

[@GraveMistake1]

What I like about Fender is you can get a really nice custom master built guitar but you're gonna pay for it but all the same if you don't have that kind of money like myself you can find a nice American Standard or even MIM and own a gem of a guitar that sounds and plays great. I have a Fender Thinline Cabronita I just bought that is awesome and I am happy for the purchase. Fender still makes great guitars for everybody and they are my favorite guitar and amp makers.

[@programmedwrong3795]

Mexican all day. It's ridiculous to spend that money.

[@abjr2010]

people buy American Fender built by Mexicans in California. WTF. MIM Fenders are just fine.

[@74dartman13]

BeTheDeathOfMe that's a smart way of doing it! Ya save a lot of money!👍😎🎸🎶

[@ginolamendola4084]

awesome video ! thank you!!!

[@TheLardzard]

A lot of negativity going on... When we could just enjoy a video of this guy here putting a fender together, giving us helpful insights into how a fender master builder would assemble a guitar.

[@ariellewest5024]

Dyllan Walker more like a lot of jealously from people whip can't afford one so instead of saying great things the new method of coping is to slam something. Hyper immature.

[@stuartarbuthnot2674]

Let’s enjoy a racist putting a guitar together 🙄

[@tradbowseven]

Cool presentation, wish i could hear it

[@67stratify]

Great Builder 👍

[@Zeal808]

Nice assembly video, easy assembly

[@bluesyjazzcat31]

Fender - rehire John Cruz

[@myokyijai8588]

Like John Cruz & music gallery

[@mikejones-vd3fg]

BRAVO!!

[@JIMJAMSC]

I have been a humbucker player for 30 years and hated Strats.I met a guy couple of years ago who had a 2010 Wildwood 10 1959 CS Seafoam green Strat and fell in lust with it.Plugged it in and had to have it.Some haggling and a small fortune later I took it home.I learned one of the secrets to it's tone was the John Cruz pickup.It combined with all the other details of the build ended up sounded like few other Strats Ive heard.

[@JohannesLabusch]

Yeah, Antonio Stradivari was really good with that screwdriver, too. Man, nobody could screw a neck on a violin like that guy!

[@matthewking8944]

cool video

[@andywanders]

What a great job to have :)

[@stuartarbuthnot2674]

He doesn’t have the job anymore lol Rightly sacked for sharing racist memes. I’d rather have my crappy job and morals...

[@donnix1192]

@@stuartarbuthnot2674 Yeah, you with your “morals.” The type of moral superiority that enabled you to support for a career criminal politician that sexually assaulted Tara Reade. I’m pretty straight on your type of morality.

[@Helterskelter4]

Is this Hoolio Ramerez Cruz's bro? Man love this old 90s vid.

[@74dartman13]

I'm curious...he kept saying that the pickups were low output. I wonder what the resistance of the coils are. I think the early pickups were in the low 5k range. I wonder if those are under 5k. Does anybody know???

[@musicglryinc]

It's called Lake Placid Green. We haven't seen it more than a handful of times.

[@yappojilla]

calgary flames logo on his little parts/tool box lid? bottom right @ 32:15

[@precbsfender]

Jeff beck has always had perfusive hand sweat issues as well as many other guitarist so JB uses baby powder to get more hand slide on his Stratocaster's. I also use baby powder on me vintage Stratocasters and it works well but constant fret and string cleaning is a must.

[@renatopasqualini5989]

John Cruz is awesome!

[@stuartarbuthnot2674]

John Cruz is an awesome racist 😟

[@donnix1192]

@@stuartarbuthnot2674 No, he isn’t. He made a joke that wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, it wasn’t even meant for you. I find it interesting that you consider yourself to be some kind of morally superior arbiter. Was it that same righteous indignation that allowed you to vote for the scumbag that sexually assaulted Tara Reade?

[@marktheshark99]

Hero!

[@antonyquigley5219]

Its funny how everyone thinks the 5k+ master built guitars are all built individually by these people. Like they thinkn Cruz here did the paintjob, he put in the fret wire, sanded it, milled the wood, shaped the body from a solid block etc. Basically, he'll go into there warehouse. Where the other 10,000 body size blocks of wood are, and will pick about 200 of them. Same as the rest, but he just picks em. Nothing special about them, he just happens to choose those ones. He assembles the guitars, thats it. Literally. and it only costs you an extra 3-5k. He doesn't even relic them himself. he adds touches, but there's a relic area, who do alot of the relicing, like 95% of it, all the same on each guitar, and he adds the final touches.

[@antonyquigley5219]

***** im right right? thank you. People thinking a strat made more precisely, with better woods, and better better metals is a better sounding guitar. But providing it has the same pickups as a cheap Strat, it's the exact same sound. The only sound you get from the instrument (when amplified) is of course, from the pickup. So the string type, player attack and style and the type of material used to pick (light plastic, heavy plastic, metal, fingers etc). people in all areas, just buy into romantic, emotional bullshit. we don't think logically, we're too sentimental and too tempramental. "the best sounding Les pauls are the 1957 gold tops with the P90s, they just have a sound you can never reproduce due to the aging of the woods and the neck etc". Which me and you both know is bollox. We can replicate that sound exactly, by putting a P90 made in a similar way into the lid of a piano, and providing you can stretch strings onto the bitch, you've got that exact sound

[@antonyquigley5219]

***** exactly. you could make a guitar out of a sweeping brush if you wanted and could make it hold tensions and it'd sound the same providing it had the same pickups lol.

[@honestbrute9216]

you do realize that all Fender did was engineer the designs for the guitars..?,,he paid actual luthier to do the prototypes and the got cheap labor and trained them when he went to large scale production...I am not a Fender employee, but my uncle worked there for 27 years and a lot of what you guys are saying is incorrect...no the Master builders don't paint their own bases or even wind their own pickups and the body shaping is done via CNC, but if you don't think they do their own fretwork and shaping you're crazy...my uncle (RIP) worked in the actual Custom Shop in the days of John Shur and John English and I've been there quite a few times to personally see them do quite a bit of work themselves...is it the exact same case now almost twenty years later? Maybe not, but it's pretty safe to say that not that much has changed. You can hear and feel the difference quite a bit if you handle enough guitars from Fender... the thing is, the Mexican stuff has really improved to the point where its definitely a greater value to buy Mexican rather than assembly line American and Custom Shop, but the Custom Shop stuff is definitely on another level...

[@j_freed]

His relics got electrolytes - it's what collectors crave.

[@acegibson9533]

Did anyone ever tell you that your a complete fucking idiot?

[@MrCheesepizzaisgood]

Anyone know what finish that is?

[@childrenoflight3010]

A masterbuild guitar from CS Fender is chalk and cheese from standard strats, it's the neck and action and ease of playing less strain on fingers hand. The greatest expertise you can develope is to learn how to put a neck on and balance it and tweak it trial and error until your action is the lowest possible without buzzes

[@Sammy86]

What's the unit for height measurement in this video? seconds??

[@TheFloridaSam]

X/32 of an inch. Measured in inches.

[@jameskrys5286]

What's up with the motorcycle?

[@TheTrollMastah]

RIP

[@CyberSoulLover]

Goodbye John 😢

[@rjake61]

8/32? I wonder if he meant 8/64? Pickup height.

[@ledzeppelinzoso]

Rip john cruz at fender

[@AndyK.23]

Cool video! But WHY is there a mini bike in the way??

[@musicglryinc]

John actually built a matching Mini Guitar to go along with that little chopper! It was a One of a Kind piece so we took it out for the event.

[@flashbak01]

Did John really mean to say 8/32 for the pickups bass side, and 6/32 for their treble side? It certainly makes more sense if that value was in 64ths instead.

[@Juno58]

It would make even more sense to say it in millimeters.

[@jinya1226]

I'm Japanese .So I can't understand English well. String height : 17th or 18th fret 3.5 to 4/32 Pickups height : low E 7 to 8 /32 , high E 6/32 right?

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

He is wrong! It is impossible on a Strat to have 6.5mm (8/32 inch)distance from the bottom of the strings fretted at the last fret and the pickup magnet. Impossible! And he is setting the action at 3.2 mm??? That is horrible! Fender recommendation is 1.6mm action. 3.2 is horrible. Fender recommendation about pickups height is 2.4mm base side and 2mm trebble side. Not 6.5mm. Something is terribly wrong.

[@christyherron_]

Silviu Stefan yeah, he just made a mistake - it’s 8/64 and 6/64, not 8/32 and 6/32

[@gdanskJam]

Any idea what screw driver is it?

[@TheChadPad]

gdanskJam black and decker electric screwdriver. I know because my dad has one just like it!

[@gdanskJam]

@@TheChadPad great thanks mate :)

[@RigoesAmorrigotovar]

Hotrails height?...Strat...I'm getting some electrical feedback...especially the bridge still fine tuning it...just straight to Marshall mini home amp nothing fancy...One thing I did notice that the 1+2 combo position on the 5 way does sound real good the middle pup is very "low height"and it sounds good not "great" ...and the neck well for the moment$$ I just put the stock bridge pup that it came with...lol...sounds pretty good actually....and yes from my post u can tell I'm a newbie...but I've learned enuff to know my babe Strat could sound better...should I keep on "fiddling it...or go fiddle my wife or/and my "Gibby" Gregg Bennet clone...it does have a great two 'buckers "duncan design" and I love em...great sound bridge...the neck sounds like underwater...So now going 4the pearly gates...not the humbuckers but my wife's "pearly gates" ...cheers love...;0p love 2hear back from u

[@theguitarczar]

Sorry! I finally saw where you have feeler gauges but no longer need em!!!!

[@programmedwrong3795]

I owned a custom shop fender. It was nice. However, I've played many Mexican strats that sounded as good and played just as good. And, i wasn't worried about scratching it since it didn't cost a million dollars.

[@j_freed]

New Fender guitars should not be worth what good 1950's examples cost in 1985. It's an approximate copy that will suck if you play it out and it gets stolen.

[@robertwallace7213]

What is the name of that color on this guitar?..

[@musicglryinc]

Lake Placid Green.

[@robertwallace7213]

Thank you!.. I love that color!.. Is it a custom color or did the Fender factory put this color on some guitars in the past?..

[@musicglryinc]

No problem! We have only seen it on a couple John Cruz models so I think it is a color that he devised.

[@antonyquigley5219]

It's Green as far as i can see

[@robertwallace7213]

Is there a certain name for that green? I was born some what color blind..

[@SKYLANDBAK]

At last,instruction on a 6 point bridge set up I can trust...It's great to see a master at work.Although I suppose it's all straight forward once you've learned the correct procedures...

[@jymdio1793]

G 66yy]yyyyy]yyy

[@jymdio1793]

Y]yyyyyy]yyyy]]y676yyyy767777777

[@jymdio1793]

78

[@jymdio1793]

7k

[@jymdio1793]

8 t TT h7g 7 the tyy

[@thespanielinquisition7167]

A factory Masterbuilder is like he Subway "Sandwich Artist" (Genuine job title)

[@hgostos]

Mr Cruz must be huge.... everything looks tiny in his hands

[@Dailyvids25]

How many millimeters 3.30 seconds??????

[@TheFloridaSam]

3/32 of an inch.

[@Dailyvids25]

@@TheFloridaSam got it. Thanks!

[@greaserleo]

I misread 'Masterbuilder'

[@eveDjakku]

I do the same thing as this guy in my bedroom :S

[@ThrashRoC]

But i think , not as Good as John Cruz ;-D,

[@ThrashRoC]

You Little Pipi Wannabee couln`t clean your own ASS ;-D,

[@cravinbob]

eveDjakku I did not see any masturbating in this video.

[@haloskater24]

is that jade pearl metallic??

[@musicglryinc]

He calls it Lake Placid Green. It's like a metallic Olive Drab. As far as I know, there have only been a few guitars made in this color.

[@haloskater24]

i want a 65 strat in this color

[@musicglryinc]

I'd also throw in a Bound Fretboard and some Abalone Block Inlays but that's just me!

[@haloskater24]

yea man all i need in my life is an american vintage 65 strat in jade pearl metallic

[@musicglryinc]

John calls it Lake Placid Green. It's a little darker than Jade but it does have metallic flake in it.

[@geeterman98]

hell if a company gave me free strings? I'd use them exclusively and preach to the world that they were the bestest strings EVER!

[@roberthollander4522]

I really enjoyed this. That being said, “if you open up a regular American series Strat.....the wiring is not horrible but it’s not done the way they should be....”. Say what? Did he just say that the expensive American strats are not built the way they should be? Wow. Sorry but if the “master builder” knows of issues on the assembly line this should be corrected. I still can’t believe he said that.

[@Michael-bt6ht]

How else will they get someone to spend $8000 on a master build

[@user-be9ey4jb3c]

Because there is no difference between a custom shop assemble and a common fender from product line.Its just marketing.

[@patrickwellerwrites]

ill usually change strings monthly, i use 10s, and they are fine, but i think the alcohol tip could be useful, i break the high e OFTEN, i may go 11 next XD

[@petarsutaric6909]

Patsplattheredstonisist Really, I was thinking that high e 10 gauge doesn't break often, I was using 9 and I play with a very hard pick and I was changing it every two weeks. I switched to 10s and I can hardly play with it.

[@patrickwellerwrites]

***** i will constantly play flatwounds as well. so bending becomes effortless on the standard round wounds

[@gerardcarulla248]

I don't get why are people talking that loud sometimes. You have a master builder just in front of you giving you highly valuable information and the only thing that goes trough your head is talking to the one next to you. Smh

[@cappy781]

More like master assemblers

[@notalkguitarampplug-insrev784]

master marketing

[@nickfanzo]

nothing beats a strat. the shape of the guitar is perfect. les Paul's are fat sounding beasts, but they're body design is far from optimal. their headstock design is also several flawed and outdated. Leo's headstock is way more evolved and thought out.

[@nickfanzo]

The strat fits your body a lot better than a les paul with out any body contours. I own both and play both regularly.

[@nickfanzo]

GCKelloch the headstock design on a fender is 5f1s superior within an engineering sense. this is one of my points. drop a les paul and drop a fender. you will see my point.

[@cruzincondo3395]

Did the Master-builder misspeak @ 32:28?.... String height 4/32....the Fender Strat owner's manual for the American standard says 4/64 height....pickup heights are also listed in 64ths. Good luck with setting your pickups @ 1/4" (8/32" as stated @ 33:27). Sizable difference indeed......4/32" w/common denominator 4 = 1/8"......com. denom. of 4 in 4/64" = 1/16". Precision matters most in the professional world of sound.........have it your way.

[@cruzincondo3395]

Scrap the book settings....Dude's specs are spot on.

[@dejancosmin]

Yes he was wrong. It is 64s not 32s. It happens even to the best.

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

Cruzin Condo he is absolutely wrong. Fender recommends more then twice lower action. 4/64 not 4/32 witch is immense. 8/32 pickups height is under the pickguard. Is impossible. And that is not 7 fret that he is tapping.

[@MrWolf5150]

Those pickup heights can't be correct. 8/32 ??? The pickup would fall off the screws. He must mean 8/64 ( 4/32 ) !!!

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

Exactly. And 4/32 action?? Wtf?? So unprofessional. 3.5mm action on a 5000$ guitar?? Oh my god!

[@alanlott5553]

Honestly, as I sit here looking at a Custom Shop NOS 1965 Strat next to 3 of my own Strat builds, if I could just buy the special pickups that they make and then offer ONLY as part of a Custom Shop build, I could build the exact same quality guitar for 1/3 or 1/4 of the price. Not that Custom Shop guitars are bad, but they are SERIOUSLY over priced for what they are. If you want to see what these guitars SHOULD look like for the money, Google "Gil Yaron" - a TRUE master builder. The next guitar I buy will be one of his. The "Fender" logo only buys you resale value, not superior quality. Just my opinion as a buyer, collector, and amateur builder.

[@akaboyfilm]

Yeah I think you're right. To me, this Fender Custom Shop is way overrated. I mean watching the video, what do you really understand ? These "masterbuilder" guys just kinda adds vintage effects like scratches, they rust the metal pieces up on purpose and so on. Reminds me of people who buy already-torn blue jeans ! Anyway, yeah the only thing that may matter is these special pickups. So you say we can't buy any of them unless ordering the whole guitar within Fender Custom Shop ? Excuse my English, btw

[@vroberts1976]

No you really couldn't. These master built guitars are not just kits that these guys throw together. They hand pick the wood for the neck/body/fretboard. Then they shape the them... They do all the finishing, woodworking & fret work... They then have it painted & finished & then do all the polish work themselves, Then they hand wire the whole guitar using hand wound pickups. They use CNC machines to cut the basic shapes but all the finishing is done by hand. And that is on top of all the little frilly things they do on the relic/vintage master built guitars. The AMS strats, even the CS ones are in fact almost completely punched out by machines. The CS ones are little less assembly line built, but not by much.

[@alanlott5553]

Vern Roberts Thanks for your reply. If you will re-read my original posting, I said nothing about Master Built guitars. That said, given the same raw materials they have access to, I have enough building experience that I could produce a product of similar/same quality in my shop at home doing everything (even shooting the lacquer) myself. I cannot comment on cost with a Master Built because I don't know what the markup is, however, mine would still be cheaper as I don't have to cough up any overhead. Never underestimate what experience an "average" 50 year old could have and what he might be able to produce in a home shop (search KZbin for "World smallest V12 engine"). By the way, have you ever heard of Gil Yaron? His guitars (made at his home) make even the best Master Builders blush.

[@alanlott5553]

alsoknownas AKA That is what I have been told regarding some of the special pickups they produce, yes.

[@vroberts1976]

Alan Lott Sorry I went right to Master Built, because of the title of the vid & who was presenting. That said, not being personally familiar with your abilities I'd say your original comment would be feasible.

[@goodear1540]

This proved to me that I need music playing while I work in a cool shirt while I say perfect 100 times and yet my $4500 custom shop guitar still has the 3rd string out of tune warble. Just shows high dollar parts and years of experience cannot fix certain physics of the electric guitar.

[@Michael-bt6ht]

Lower the pickups a bit.

[@Dad-Gad]

Master Screw Tightener .

[@davidkeys5127]

I don't care how "MASTERBUILDER" he is,If anybody put an electric screwdriver on my strat,I WOULD BE PISSED,SLIPPED OUT ON FIRST SCREW

[@jakerichmond9624]

You’re an idiot......he has plenty of experience and I highly doubt an electric screw driver hinders him from building a great guitar

[@deweypug]

Buying any guitar can be a crapshoot, as one never knows the faults unless they play it for a bit. I've seen vintage Fenders that play and sound no better than the Frankenstein Strat I play now... American body and Mexican made neck... but it was set up professionally and feels fantastic. The Custom Shop was the best thing to happen to Fender in many years, as they spend time matching necks and body wood acoustics and pay attention in areas that the 'assembly line' Fenders are not.

[@cravinbob]

deweypug Set-up is number one and no guitar comes from the factory set up for any certain person. You are correct. After that one must consider everything else and what they like. Improvise, adapt and overcome. youtube is a goldmine of info and lessons for guitar players, wish I had it when I was young!

[@pagsdizzle]

Very true, I have played a few early 60s strats and I was very disappointed. Not even sure a setup would have changed muched. Felt very unbalanced and stiff.

[@larryburwell8550]

LOL

[@jothanankrogh]

Nothing but kit assembly.

[@ThrashRoC]

Whats your Problem ? Nothing more is in The title , John Cruz assembling a custom Stratocaster and Explain the Differences between Standard Line , I find its Useful ;-),

[@ThrashRoC]

and You are Nothing like a Stupid Little Kid

[@ariellewest5024]

Keep hating because you can't do what he does. Just keep hating, keyboard warrior!

[@lazn9863]

Crazy ass fender fired him

[@jerrymorganjr]

This genius is now unemployed over a Facebook post. People can't take dark humor, so they fired him.

[@amirkhalid5449]

I saw the post. It was very inappropriate, not merely "dark humour". Fender had no choice but to fire him.

[@jerrymorganjr]

@@amirkhalid5449 Who cares what he said? Freedom of speech isn't a thing anymore. His post was offensive, but how does that effect you? I see shit that offends me on the internet all the time. I just move on with my life. I don't try to ruin that person's career because of it.

[@amirkhalid5449]

@@jerrymorganjr If an employee's social media post says something or shows an image that could seriously hurt my business, I have to protect myself and my other employees. That was the situation that Cruz, lne of Fender's most famous employees, put Fender in with his post. I don't rejoice that John Cruz is out of work, but I understand completely why Fender decided he had to go.

[@jerrymorganjr]

@@amirkhalid5449 I'm not arguing Fender's choice to fire him. I'm arguing that if people were so sensitive, they would still have their master builder.

[@amirkhalid5449]

@@jerrymorganjr If people were "not so sensitive", as I assume you meant to type, they would be tolerating what's offensive about John Cruz's Instagram post.

[@chuckwolfboyer7830]

YOU CAN TELL THE MAN KNOW WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT I DONT CARE WHAT SOME PEOPLE SAY, ABOUT BULL SHIT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GUITARS

[@larryburwell8550]

master assembler maybe master builder, if you didn't make the body neck and fret board and make the pickups. your a master assembler at best

[@mayito714]

Interesting how he explains the extensive measures he takes to make the guitar look like a relic of the 50's or early 60's. Then, he pulls out the battery powered power tools and screws the hell out of it... All for show...All for show.....

[@shckltnebay]

How the f would you do it? Manually all the way we would be hear til dawn and the screws would look like shit.

[@mayito714]

Yes manually. They did them that way in the 50's, & 60's...

[@shckltnebay]

I would love to watch a video of grass growing too

[@mayito714]

eric sin Look Union Jack. It takes two (2) screws to set the bridge, two (2) screws to hold each pickup and the six (6) for the tuners you have to do by hand anyway. Stop being so damn lazy and "shove" the power tool...

[@fatjackson72]

You have to consider his health. If this guy built all these guitars running screws in completely by hand he would most likely lose use of hands in a matter of a few years. A screw twisted in by hand vs by electric screwdriver is really not different enough to matter.

[@geeterman98]

I LOVE strat bodies.. their curve and sexy like a woman... just a few alterations i would make to them for personal tastes, better milling so I could make one without a pick guard if desired I'd move the knobs back so so I don't take skin off my fingers when strumming. I don't swell the volume so it isn't necessary for me to have them that close, and I would get rid of the cable jack on the body and put it under like a les paul . finally something I do to all my strats.. reverse the pick up selector so the neck pick up is at the bottom and the bridge is at the top,oh and use a toggle or the push button on a tone knob to make it so you can use the neck and bridge pick up at the same time

[@AshStrat1]

Fender Guitars are still the best value for money in my opinion , however I have to say that strats are not hand made by fender now they are made by cnc machines these guys are just putting the parts together , I also think that there should be no so called custom shop , ALL guitars should be made correct, and if they dont have time to do that they should get out of the guitar business

[@Hertogjejan]

What do you think that this guy does, if you gave him the sawn wood he would produce a strat from it. THe CS stuff is selected and cut out on cnc machine, if you told him to do it using small shop machines he could as well. Its down to consistency. there is not one single manufacturer out there that doesnt do it that way. All the blanks are shaped by hand, the necks are shaped by hand....there are a lot differences between strat body contours, those are all done authentically by hand. Gibson have a vid of their factory and how a LP comes to life, take a look. PRS as well. Its stupid and juvenile to to rag on on something because its not your thing. take a look at the shop where he works does it really look like a kit assembly plant kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3W4aaGnhsmLnNk

[@ThrashRoC]

Guitar Porn !!

[@musicrat51]

A few nail holes and masking tape will cost you thousands of dollars more. What a rip off.

[@jharmon1071]

I appreciate the Master builds and all but is it me or do these master builders slam the fender company regular guitars ? Sure sounds like it and most of us cant afford a $10,000 master built guitar and can barely afford a regular $1200 fender american standard guitar. Not sure if theres even that much difference but sire doesnt make me want to run out and buy a fender usa regular strat when hearing the negativity .

[@nimitz1739]

j Harmon The original fenders wasn’t $10,000 guitars. That says it all to me. They may be a little better but not $10,000 better. Just buying the name “custom”. And as long as rich ppl will pay for them, they will make them.

[@MrAlexhollins]

SALESMAN WITH HIS GUITAR SNOB GROUPIES.

[@cravinbob]

Alex Hollins Who is a snob? Those that type in caps-lock and put down a man who has a job to do certainly fits that description.

[@akaboyfilm]

These guys aren't like luthiers at all, they just assemble electronic pieces and sign everywhere on the guitar as if they were actual rock stars. Sounds a bit like a joke, to me.

[@en_ray]

Tiger Audio, Inc. My local Fender dealer does a run every other year with the custom shop of vintage spec strats with modern updates like a compound fretboard radius, rolled edges on the fretboard etc. And they have a few NOS and distressed, last year they had them in fiesta red, the 2014 run was sonic blue. They are stunning fiddles.

[@zackcoffmanguitar]

alsoknownas AKA no way man. These guys know their shit. Your paying for something special here. I'm a Tom Anderson player myself but I'd definitely get a Master build some day.

[@zackcoffmanguitar]

delreydavid you guys just don't get it.

[@zackcoffmanguitar]

delreydavid to a certain extent your right the price can be a bit steep. But what these guys are doing is extremely high end.

[@zacharyquentin-lewis1303]

The master builders truly show their skills when they do replicas of artist's guitars and artist inspired. They are works of art

[@cravinbob]

Tim Horan! You got the milkshake line all wrong then you rant about others? Get your own shit right first.

[@Nazzz65]

+cravinbob Yes indeed, I stand corrected. It was a FIVE dollar milkshake wasn't it? and remember, ''(they) don't put bourbon in it or nothin'??'' I was not adequately paying attention and you were. Yes $10 for a milkshake without bourbon seems excessive even in a Quentin Tarantino movie. A $10 milkshake sounds surreal. Arguably, P.Fiction was about farce, surrealism not so much....

[@notalkguitarampplug-insrev784]

...and Fender asks 7k for that marketing shit.. Masterbuiders are cool dudes but sorry their guitars aren't better than any Tom Anderson, Suhr or Xotic. They still lacks of nice feature like perfectly polished stainless steel frets, proper shielding, plek or perfect settings. Mine (Todd Krause) have the E string who go of the fretboard because not very well centered. These Masterbuid are just "hand made" guitar with a lot of serious imperfection and they are only collectors pieces as all the work is on marketing stuff like signatures everywhere (back of the pickguard, pickups, neck pocket! he put his name everywhere!!! god how can you be so narcissic, this is just a strat!)

[@OrbitlynX]

Yes and no. I am pretty sure that Tom Anderson, Suhr or Xotic you mentioned have more attention to detail and probably are overall better guitars. But magic of Fender is that Leo had it surprisingly almost right from the beginning and these are in a way still finer instruments with some personal touch. And in a way these instruments are slightly finer than series but it is sort of a case of having vintage Ferrari and some new Supersport. New car is objectively better and you might win some races but you would still enjoy ride with old Ferrari more. This guitars are not for everyone, and I personally would never pay that money for a guitar. Had second hand heavy relic 57 custom shop for 18 hundred euro but even that was way too much for a guitar and sold it last year, not that I would need it but rather I was picking guitars worth 1/3 or 1/4 more. I am playing mostly Mexican Strats and Teles and they are terrific guitars. Only blame can be on me and my fingers. There was great music done on worse guitars that I have. In the end it is only idea and how are you able to use possibilities and be comfortable with your specific instrument.

[@john-zw9rw]

Thats a huge opinion.. but opinions are like a certain body part....everybody's got one..

[@user-be9ey4jb3c]

Actually they are not real guitar builders.They just assemble parts that produced from cnc machine as all other fender guitars.

[@101point5TMG]

I've never liked Strat bodies. They're so ugly. Tele's and Jaguars are a whole different story.

[@LfunkeyA]

no one cares. and of course strats are beautiful.

[@ThrashRoC]

Strats are DEFINETLEY the SEXIEST , COOLEST Electric Guitars , Who Cares that you More like "Paddle Guitars" OMG John , Just send this NICE Green vintage Baby to Me ;-D

[@ThrashRoC]

Who the FUCK cares about IGNORANTS Like You :-D,

[@101point5TMG]

Jimi Hendrix Dude... shut the fuck up. It's called having an opinion you slimy piece of shit,

[@barristanselmy2758]

Strats are sexy as fuck. I didn't buy a tele cause it looks like a fucking robot. And doesn't have that smooth feel of a strat. Your opinion is crap on strats is bleak.

[@davescupper5789]

Rip off stuff, but interesting

[@SxDx1986]

Lol this is why they're so expensive.he car reset n talks about every guitar he makes to a live audience for a whole day before putting it together jk

[@Dexterrjoe]

Annoying people in the background speaking over him

[@scshepherd]

Fender sells these new guitars but use all these “vintage” words so idiots will compare the prices to real vintage instruments and not be outraged. Why pay all that cash for meaningless details? There are so many great affordable instruments these days.

[@daniele230193]

worst color ever

[@ThrashRoC]

No , its a Nice green , and with Time and Patina it will look Cooler . I would Like this Babe !

[@Mark70609]

Jimi Hendrix I think you need to read your posts, they are offensive and childish. Okay so people disagree with you, you find their replies negative and you love your Fenders. That's all great but that doesn't give you the right to use a great guitarists name and act foolishly. I'll forward this link to Jimi Hendrix's site, they'll find out who you are due to your IP address and you can explain yourself to their lawyers. It will be a great experience for you, you'll learn to think first before acting.

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

No Fender doesn’t recommend 8/32 pickup height. That’s not the 7 fret. No fender never recommended 4/32 action. But 4/64. This is so so wrong. He’s got everything wrong.

[@shaunrish9516]

Fender realy need to stop this so called master build business there is no one at fender making guitars from scratch from planks of wood , they take a cnc neck and body and bolt them together they are assembling them , fender guitars are very good value for money MiM or USA however this over priced master build thing going on is not a good idea , for a start ALL fender guitars should be all the same quality.