GUITAR TONE - Fender American Strat vs Custom Shop Strat

Custom Shop guitars are very nice and rather expensive. In this video I compare the tone of a Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster to that of an American Standard Stratocaster.

No effects used. Reverb comes from the Amps. The OR15 has no reverb, so the sound was left dry.

Guitar Amps used in this video:

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III Tweed Edition
Orange OR15
Peavey 6505 MH

Recorded with a Shure SM57 Mic

[fuzzcous]

The American had more output, The custom shop seemed more balanced.
The dirty channel/neck pickup on the custom was my favorite tone.
Nice orginal songs.

[montysth]

Honestly I preferred your standard, especially for $2.5k price difference.
So pleased you've popped back into my feed. Your videos are still the standard that I judge other channels by.

[onlytherighteousprevail]

Really good video jamman, as always, but we need more, you can't stop uploading videos for so long and then upload just one more. Is your chsnnel, your decision but yo can't do that thing. Just saying with love and redpect to you because you are one of the best doing 'truly' guitar comparisons in youtube.
Keep going mate.

[markwalter]

The American standard held its own very well, those fat 50s are really good!!!

[RRW]

The neck on the CS is beautiful! The whole guitar is a beaut. But... the sound of the Am Std. is classic. I always enjoy your vids!
You compared this guitar to I believe it was an SG and you sampled Hallelujah... gosh that was so good! I can hear it now. :)

[YellowJack]

Glad to see one of your videos in my feed!

[oscargoya]

First time visiting your channel. Very good demo. I enjoyed it. I have 3 American Strats and am on the fence about buying a custom shop but after your video...hmmmm, not much difference. Anyways thanks for posting.

[renato]

I just did a blind test and liked the American Standard a lot more. I really thought the clear winner was going to be the Custom Shop, but I was really impressed at the end. What are the pickups on the white one? I'm sure the overall work and finish is better in the CS, but I really love that Standard. Great video!!

[bryanhatch]

I have both a 2017 CS with 69's, and a 2011, swamp ash std. I like the feel and sound of my std better if truth be told. I do prefer the fret work on my CS better, and I like the treble bleed on the CS. They are both great guitars with minor differences. I would not pay for another CS again, however. If I could only carry one out of a burning building, it would be the CS. Why? It's worth more money.

[blainemullins]

I think the key differences are not in the finishes, but in the trem blocks. The standard has the thinner block that holds the ball ends of the strings about half way up the slots. The custom shop most likely has the vintage block with much more mass and the ball ends are flush at the bottom of the slots.

[chaingangzta]

finally decided to get a CS strat after watching your video. Keep on rockin' man

[hawkgeoff]

As a former CS strat owner I have to let the cat out of the bag... Every guitar is different. Every single one of them. I've had Mexicans that sounded better than my CS(...after a pickup change), A head to head shootout is somewhat telling, but again, each and every guitar will sound slightly different. If you buy a custom shop strat you are way more likely to get a gem of a guitar, but it's not a guarantee. They are cool as shit, but it's not a guarantee... Also, in most instances, any tonal variations can be tweaked with an EQ. Find a good strat and don't let it go... I've done that and hope you learn from my mistake/s... nice video!

[doctari]

The custom shop seemed to have an edge on smoothness. But then again, I may have biased my opinion by knowing which was the custom Shop in advance. I wish you had made us guess which was the custom shop so I didn’t go into it listening for 300% $ difference in quality.

But, even having known that, I don’t see or hear 300% difference to warrant that much extra money.

[hgostos]

Both sounded great!!! Great video and playing.

[nitegoat]

I like the neck pickup on the Custom better, and the bridge pickup on the Standard better.The Standard also sounded a bit hotter.

[mahmudaz]

That’s the way to make comprehensive comparison!

[johnhutsenpillerjr]

the custom shop is a touch better but for the price ??
the American standard with maybe a different bridge pickup ??
good video jamman !!
is this the first video in a while jamman ?
haven't seen you're videos in a while.
maybe I just missed em.
all the best Sir.

[tomashenaovillada]

Dude what's the first song? That blew my mind

[thewomanwithnohead]

The American one has a more modern sound but no balance at all between mid and treble :-)

[frinchk]

Very nice video ! Thank you! Would be interesting to do the same with an Am Strat Pro!
What about the noiseless pickups of the custom shop? Are they the new N4? The ones you would also find on the Elite series?