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I came across a similar thread in the fenderforum and was wondering if anybody had played the above? How did they compare against each other?

The one thing that I've heard lately is that a Fender has mojo and the custom builders don't. What's your opinion?

Fender doesn't need the money. Fender also makes 1000s of guitars a week, and has a worldwide distribution network. And 'custom' in Fender-speak means the choice of maybe 7 different neck profiles, any body shape as long as it is a Fender one, and any headstock shape as long as it is Fender and the logo can be anything, as long as it was something they have used before. It doesn't sound like a 'custom' guitar to me. The other builders can build you *anything*. Want an LP with a Fender headstock? They'd do it. Want a headless V with only a piezo pickup and your name ingraved in gold on the backplate? They would do it too. With Fender, you can't even talk to the builder directly, you have to talk to a dealer to order your guitar. No direct communication with the luthier is a big problem to me. At least $1k of that Fender CS is this mythical mojo, made popular by Fender themselves (it is a marketing ploy!) and vintage dealers. I'd rather give my $$ to a small builder anyday.
I have ragged on Fender before, but I like some of their guitars (I own an 82 Strat), and I think the Mexi ones are great. Are the US ones worth 3x as much? No, especially if, like other people in here, you mod them to death. You wind up paying for a guitar you don't use half of. But they charge that much for the 'mojo'. Funny, huh?

I've played all 3. Grosh and Suhr are two of the nicest guitars money can buy, hands down. I personally prefer my Grosh, but Suhr makes one heck of a great guitar and you'd be hard pressed to find anything much better. Honestly, when it comes to master luthiers like John Suhr or Don Grosh, it's splitting hairs.... you're never going to lose with that kind of quality.

agreed. ive played grosh and suhr strats and they are great instruments, not that fender cant make a great guitar (the 50th ann 1954 masterbuild yuri that i played was one of the best strats ive ever put my hands on) but in general i like the smaller builders.

honestly, id probably never buy a suhr or grosh since i know guys locally that do just as great a job. building a guitar isnt that hard, its time consuming and you must be very precise to get it perfect, use good materials ect... but most luthiers could build you an amazing strat if they took the time

If you're looking for a Vintage Fender mojo, than look no further than Tyler. Their headstocks are a little funky, but the guitars just ooze quality and vintage mojo. They're the best quot;vintagequot; strat copy out there IMO.