Fender Masterbuilt Yuriy Shishkov vs Todd Krause

[Joost Assink]

Silly question maybe, but my dream has always been to get a real custom shop masterbuilt strat. I've always thought Todd Krause was the man for the ultimate guitar. Now I've found a masterbuilt strat to my specs by Yuriy Shishkov. From the Custom Shop website, I see they're both Senior Master Builders.

How do you rate these builders?

 

[Joost Assink]

Nothing huh? Well, for those interested in the answer, I've done some calling around and talked to people with knowledge and it turns out Yuriy is very highly regarded, the man even has his own fanclubs (plural)! The top three is Krause, Shishkov and Cruz from the people I've talked to, in any order.

Shishkov is known for his great consistency. I'm getting that Masterbuilt strat baby!!

 

[rickc007]

Don't imagine a lot of people have seen a lot of samples from both

I've had my hands on quite a few Masterbuilts, yet not that
many from Shishkov. The ones I've played I have not been impressed with.
Mostly because of playability. Most were vintage spec though
Tiny frets, big necks, high action and heavy.
Everything I'm "not" looking for in a guitar.

I'm a huge fan of John Cruz, have a couple of his
Killer V necks, and the best relic'ing if you ask me.

Huge fan of Todd Krauss also, had a few of his.
He knows his stuff, I talked to him a few times at NAMM
I would ask for him in a heart beat.

Played quite a few from Greg Fessler. Outstanding playability.
I would ask for him in a heart beat as well.

 

[trisonic]

It's difficult to tell any difference (assuming you are comparing the same guitar i.e. Strat).

I think nearly all of EC's latest axes have been built by Todd.
I think Mandolin Bros has a 2nd hand Yuri in Gold Leaf! It may be new, though but mildly reliced......

Best, Pete.

 

[alschnier]

I own 2 teles built by yuriy & consider myself lucky!