I collect Stagemasters/Showmasters.. so far I have:
Squier
Squier '99 Stagemaster Vers.1 Cobalt Metallic (China)
Squier Showmaster Vers.II Black (Indonesia)
Squier 2001 Stagemaster VII Vers II Cobalt Blue Metallic (China)
Squier 2003 Stagemaster Deluxe Vers. IV ShorlineGold Metallic (Korea)
Fender
Fender 2003 'Showmaster' Strat Korean Custom Shop
That last bit bugs me.. its not a Showmaster unless its got:
Reverse headstock
Floyd Rose style bridge w/ locking nut or equiv.
Which the Korean Fender doesn't have. It's just a set neck Strat.. a good one.. but still a Strat and not a Showmaster imho. pet hate of mine there.
Also there is no 'Fender Korean Custom Shop'.. this is just a nickname these guitars have picked up.. as they are on par with Fender's Custom Shop, but due to Fender's handling of moving to Korea in the 80s.. they and all Korean Fenders or Squiers sell for bunk. no resale value.
Showmasters are great guitars.. (I won't buy a Vers. III as it has none of the good bits the others have.) I also won't buy a Vers. V as it is simply a Vers III with a fancy paint job and rebadged Squier as a Fender.. the 'SubSonic' goes for crazy money and I already have the Vers II seven string.
Kramer and Fender had a disagreement over the use of the name Stagemaster and Fender agreed to stop using that name..but there is no reason they cannot reissue Showmasters (inc all Stagemaster model features).
As a collector and fan of these models.. what would I like to see? Korean Fender Showmasters done right! Same quality and build as the previous models, but.. reverse headstock, floyd rose (flip even a Squier System One would be an improvement).. tbh I don't need the fancy tops.. any decent B grade mashed figured top would be nice.. I don't need a carved top.. keeping the set neck or even like the Vers. IV thru neck would be great!.. deep carves and a neck that crowns the body instead of it going deep into the body.. I would enjoy that.. SG style for a super strat.. coooll
Price? Originals go for around £300.. so probably double that for a new one with the above features and build quality.. £600?
Fender could do a made to order build lots.. they offer it for £600 (£670 with hardcase) when 1000 people order one, paying upfront, only then does the order go to the factory, Fender skim 10% off the top for basically doing nothing :D.. and people get their guitars. If the order hasn't filled within 12 months.. the people who still have it on order and have paid get their money back.. and if Fender feel nice throw in a Fender hat and free set of strings as a commiseration the order didn't get filled.
Fender wouldn't need to worry if the quality was too high either.. this whole cycle might take ? to 18 months.. depending on how quickly the order was filled and how quickly the factory makes the guitars and how quickly they got shipped.
This means this style of guitar can have much higher build quality without being a direct threat to Fender's american guitars.. as people are impatient.. they will get fed up and buy another Fender while waiting to release the tension of waiting on this one hehe
Dava
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