In a time where it is easy to feel slighted by elitist guitar store employees, or to wait weeks for customer service directly from the big guys, it is a relief to run across a company that actually cares about their customers and recognizes what we all know – if it weren’t for our devotion to the instrument, they would be out of business.
Moser Custom Shop – helmed by experienced luthier Neal Moser – places a premium on serving their customers. One way they do this, of course, is through quality assurance; every guitar that leaves the shop must pass the Neal Moser Test, and the standards are simple: Neal accepts only perfection. In addition to this, however, the Moser Custom Shop serves their customers by listening intently to their needs, whether it is an individual ordering a custom axe, or repeated requests from their customer base.
It is through the latter option that they have come to expand the options on one of their most popular lines – the Templar series. Templar guitars and basses are among the company’s most popular choices because they feature the same handmade quality with a lower price tag and less wait time than their fully-customizable guitars. Their popularity is augmented by attractive hand-rubbed oil finishes that let the walnut body’s natural beauty shine through. Templar guitars also feature a 22 or 24 fret bolt-on laminated maple neck that, due to meticulous hands-on construction, has sustain that rivals their neckthrough models.
Despite the existing popularity of the series, customers wanted more of the options that were available on the company’s neck-through models and Moser obliged. Templar series guitars are now available with more than ten new body shapes, most of which will be in bolton styles for the first time, including Morpheus, Bastard V, Moser V, Starblazer, Faststar, Siren, Genesis, Wraith, Scythe, Arachnid Ultra and Phoenix 10/6 (pictured with ten strings). The bodies range from more traditional to strikingly sharp, unique shapes. Also new to the Templar series is the addition of two limited-availability body shapes: Vintage (limited to ten each year) and the Moser 6/10 (limited to 100 each year).
As if the new body shapes weren’t enough to appease the requests, Moser Custom Shop also added all of their headstock shapes to the Templar series, along with a new option to request simple fretboard inlays and alternate pickup choices. Some of the headstock choices include the Reaper, Claw, and Batwing (which is available at an extra charge due to its intricate design). Templar guitars start at $1200 and basses at $1300.
With the exception of the expressly-named Import series, all Moser Custom shop guitars are built completely in the USA in their shop, from the shaping of the bodies and necks to the stringing of the guitar to the Neal Moser Test before shipping out. Neal Moser brings more than 40 years of building know-how to the Moser Custom Shop, which results in quality and attention that can only be learned through experience.
Moser Custom Shop
mosercustomshop.com