Newly Designed Pickups, Exotic Finishes Highlight the “Best Fender Guitars Ever!”
(Fender | Posted 2003-11-25)
For more than 50 years, the name Fender® has been synonymous with all things rock ‘n’ roll: from Buddy Holly to Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton to Kurt Cobain and everything in between. Fender’s iconic instruments—the Stratocaster®, Telecaster®, Precision Bass® and Jazz Bass® guitars—are known the world over as the instruments that started the rock revolution. Just as importantly, the versatility, quality and innovation found in these instruments have come to embody everything a musician looks for in the tools with which he or she expresses their passion.
In January of 2004, Fender is proud to announce that it will introduce the finest, most versatile instruments it has ever made, the all new American Deluxe Series of electric guitars and basses. The new instruments in the American Deluxe Series are the epitome of classic Fender craftsmanship, combining the most innovative of today’s technologies with the finest materials available to create a beautiful, timeless series of guitars that musicians will cherish for years to come.
To faithfully capture the characteristic sounds that Fender guitars are known for, each instrument in the new American Deluxe Series comes equipped with different configurations of the newly designed Fender Samarium Cobalt Noiseless (SCN) pickups. Designed by legendary pickup designer Bill Lawrence, who worked closely with Fender’s engineering team, the new SCN pickups utilize miniature Samarium Cobalt magnets and special alloy pole pieces.
Combined with Fender’s acclaimed S-1 switching, which comes equipped on every guitar in the American Deluxe Series, the new SCN pickups bring a near endless array of superior tones and pickup configurations that even further defines that “Fender sound” like never before.
Says Mike Tonn, Marketing Manager for Fender Electric guitars, “The new Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups really bring out the essence of what a Fender guitar was always meant to be. Right now, the people who made the first Fender guitars are out there somewhere, looking at and listening to these new pickups, and they’re smiling.”
Visually, the guitars and basses in the American Deluxe Series boast stunning new finishes, including both quilted and flame maple top options. The 1/8” solid maple tops on these guitars are hand selected, and then painstakingly hand bent over the contours of premium alder bodies to perfectly compliment the visual and tonal qualities of both woods. New transparent and solid colors have also been added as options on the American Deluxe Series.
Additional new features and options for the American Deluxe Series include premium solid ash or alder bodies, a variety of new pickguard colors, detailed fretwork, and a locking bridge with LSR roller nut and locking tuners on certain models.
“The instruments in the American Deluxe Series truly are the best guitars we’ve ever made, in every respect,” adds Mike Tonn. “They are versatile, high performance playing machines that musicians who know Fender are going to love, and they’ll certainly grab the attention of those who are unfamiliar with our products. Every musician owes it to themselves to pick up one of these new guitars and take it for a spin.”
All of the new guitars in the American Deluxe Series can be seen and heard for the first time at Fender’s booth at this winter’s NAMM show in Anaheim.
