by Tone » Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:49 pm
Hi
The debate on whether Custom Shop and the like guitars are "better" than standard, cheaper models crops up with monotonous regularity and I guess it will continue to do so. But it really does all boil down to the old adage about one man's meat being another man's poison.
With regard to this specific guitar, and the questions raised, it has indeed been listed and relisted on eBay for months. I think it started with an asking price of £6500 which was way too much but the current price of £4250 is more realistic although still a little high. Whether it will be sold in the current economic climate is another matter. Hank2k refers to the neckplate and it is true that the Signature's is plain. There is some doubt regarding when the Signature "morphed" into the Autograph but the latter's neckplate is engraved with the Custom Shop logo, not Fender. I don't think this one is an Autograph and the serial no. (052) definitely puts it into the Signature run. Indeed, the colour of the body and neck tends to confirm this. There again, the pickup covers on the Signature are plain and the bridge cover is not marked DiMarzio as this one is.
So, there are a couple of anomalies but I still think it's genuine.
With regard to Neil's question about the slot in the neck plate, so far as I am aware the Signature and Autograph are the only ones of the various HBM limited editions to have this feature - the others have individual string holes.
Cheers.
Tony