[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1488100074' post='3245726']
One thing that Fender isn't is terrible value for money. Unlike custom builds, Warwick, Yamaha, Cort and Ibanez, they hold their price brilliantly. 15 year old US standard models sell for around £700, about the same they were new.
[/quote]
They're great value secondhand, you can almost certainly sell them on for what you paid for them... but the same is true for the others.
The American Standards might be the same price as they were 15 years ago, but they're production made and not custom built, and that's partly due to the fact that Fender has raised their new prices so dramatically. Pretty much all custom built stuff drops dramatically in value. Secondhand Masterbuilts are typically half the new price. Secondhand Fender Custom Shops are 1/2 - 2/3 of their new price.
Personally, the sweet spot for me is buying premium secondhand custom built stuff (as I have done with my Dingwalls, Sadowskys, etc), then spending a couple hundred to customise to my own preferred spec. A customised instrument just for me, at about half the price.