During our trip to NAMM 2012 in California in January we were lucky enough to visit Fender's Corona factory and Visitor Center (opens in new tab). Amongst the three-dimensional guitar porn on display is the Fender American Design Experience, where visitors can choose from dozens of bodies, necks and components to make up their own custom electric guitar or bass.
Fender experts are on hand to talk you through the selection process and there's even the opportunity to select a one-off finish from the paint shop that will never find its way onto the regular production line.
Once you've spec'd up your dream guitar, Fender will build it for you and deliver it within a month. Pricing is reasonable and pitched somewhere between American Standard instruments and the Custom Shop, so if you are in California and thinking of buying an American-made Fender then you should definitely consider the American Design Experience.
Check out our video to see where the magic happens and visit Fender for more from the Visitor Center (opens in new tab).