The American Vintage series introduces an all new lineup of original-era model year guitars that bring Fender history and heritage to authentic and exciting new life. With key features and pivotal design elements spanning the mid-1950s to the mid 1960s, new American Vintage series instruments delve deep into Fender’s roots – expertly preserving an innovative U.S. guitar-making legacy and vividly demonstrating like never before that Fender not only knows where it’s going, but also remembers where it came from.
The American Vintage Series has a long presented some of Fender’s best selling guitar (their early-80s introduction, in fact, was one of the first signs that Fender was “back” as the CBS era ended.) Today, Fender has boldly cleared the slate to make way for a fresh American Vintage series with new features, new specs and the most meticulous level of vintage accuracy yet. Rather than just replacing the previous models with different ones, Fender completely and comprehensively re-imagined the entire vintage reissue concept restoring original tooling dies, voicing new pickups, reformulating vintage colors and more based on actual vintage guitars Fender tracked down to make sure Fender had it right. Fender did all the work, and it shows, because there’s pure tonal magic in each new American Vintage instrument.
The 1965 Strat:
The 1965 Stratocaster saw the return to a thick C-shaped maple neck, this time with a round laminated dark rosewood fingerboard and larger pearl dot inlays. It was also the first year for enamel-covered pickup wire. That’s what players will find on the American Vintage ’65 Stratocaster, along with other authentic features including a three-ply white pickguard with 11 holes, lightweight alder body, aged plastic knobs and vintage accurate pickups, bridge saddles, tuner spacing and more.
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The 1959 Strat:
1959 was an important and highly evolutionary year for the Stratocaster because that’s when slimmer necks, rosewood fingerboards and multi-ply laminated pickguards first appeared.
The American Vintage ’59 Stratocaster presents two versions of that year’s pivotal transitional model; one from early 1959 and one from later 1959. Both have the slim profile D shaped maple neck of that year, with the earlier version featuring a maple fingerboard, faded Three-color Sunburst finish and single-ply white pickguard with eight holes; the later version (in faded Three-color Sunburst, Black and limited faded Sonic Blue finishes) featuring a dark rosewood slab fingerboard and three-ply mint green pickguard with 10 holes and vintage-style edge bevels. Both also feature a lightweight alder body, aged plastic knobs and vintage accurate pickups, bridge saddles, tuner spacing and more.
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The 1956 Strat:
The American Vintage ’56 Stratocater takes you straight back to mid 1956, when the model was still new and when what is quite possibly the most prized and popular neck ever affixed to the instrument first appeared- a thick one-piece maple neck with a soft “V” shape, comfortably rounded edges and a then-new butterfly string tree on the headstock. Such meticulous authenticity even extends to the single-ply white pickguard with eight holes, lightweight alder body (ash on white blonde) with deep contours, and vintage accurate pickups (alnico 3 pickups debuted in 1956), bridge saddles, tuner spacing and more.
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The 1958 Tele:
1958 was an important year for the Telecaster because that’s when slimmer necks started appearing on the instrument, and when (in early-year models) string-through bridges with solid-steel saddles first showed up, magnifying the guitar’s prized signature twang.
The American Vintage ’58 Telecaster harkens back to early 1958, when the Telecaster graduated from its original U-shaped neck profile – a real handful – to a still-large but more comfortable D-shape for its maple neck. Other spot-on early ’58 touches are here too, such as a lightweight ash body, staggered bridge pickup pole magnets, solid steel “barrel” bridge saddles, a single-ply white pickguard. “top-hat” switch tip, flat-top knurled aluminum chrome control knobs and more.
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The 1952 Tele:
With its big maple neck, the 1952 Telecaster was a landmark guitar in Fender History, and nowhere is today’s re-dedication to detail more evident than on the American Vintage ’52 Telecaster, which returns to the fold with body, neck and pickups refined with the best features (tones, curves, perimeters, radii and more) from a handful of extraordinary ’52 Tele specimens Fender examined. Premium features include an ash body with a single-ply black pickguard and thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish in lighter butterscotch blonde, deep maple neck with “U” shaped profile and generously rolled edges, sculpted headstock volute for even more first position comfort, long lost recessed top “barrel” switch tip, vintage tuner spacing for truly straight string pull over the bone nut, vintage style bridge with three brass saddles, and knurled chrome domed control knobs.