Fender has unveiled a wholesale refresh of its flagship US lineup of electric guitars and basses, as the American Professional Series II is replaced by the American Professional Series. That’s right, no numbers to confuse things, just regular old AmPro, and a host of new features.
Those features include Fender’s all-new V-Mod III electric guitar pickups, Deep C neck profiles on the guitars, Medium and Slim Cs on the bass guitars, plus reengineered hardware and electronics (you will absolutely appreciate the taper and feel of the new ClassicGear Precision pots, and there are push-push tone functions for alternate pickup voicings).
The American Professional lineup plays the Fender hits. There is a Stratocaster and an HSS Strat, a Telecaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, four and five-string Jazz and Precision Basses, and there’s a real joker in the pack in the form of the Hotshot Telecaster, which has been adapted from the more vintage version in the American Professional Classic range and adds a V-Mod III Strat single-coil to the middle position.
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You’ll notice subtly contoured neck heels, rolled fingerboard edges, a “Super-Natural” satin finish on the neck.
These are priced just south of the two-grand price point and are designed and built for jobbing players and serious amateurs. This is not Fender reinventing the wheel as it does on, say, the American Ultra lineup. These straddle the vintage-modern continuum with practical upgrades.
“You don’t evolve an instrument like the Strat or Tele by changing things just to make them new,” says Justin Norvell, Fender chief product officer, guitars and basses. “We balance modern, useful improvements with the familiarity of what has made them iconic.”
The finish options speak to this design ethic. For instance, the Strat is available in some of the more bold new paint jobs, like Aged Cherry Burst and Dark Night, but also in Olympic White and 3-Color Sunburst.
Also, you can now get the AmPro Stat and Tele in Oxblood (Troy Van Leeuwen fans take note). This is a welcome import from the Player II range.
The Strats in the lineup feature 2-point tremolo systems with ClassicGear Radial bent steel saddles. The AmPro Telecaster’s bridge sits on a metal plate as before but can be top-loaded or strung through the body, with ClassicGear compensated brass bullet saddles to improve sustain. Norvell says these new features were inspired by player feedback and is a testimony to Fender’s commitment to invest in “original design”.
What we especially like about these Tele bridges is the fact the screws are recessed so the feel nicer under your palm. As for the offset guitars, both Jag and Jazzmaster have the ClassicGear J-Bridge and Panorama vibrato combo, while the Precision and Jazz Basses are equipped with redesigned HiMass Modern bridges.
“We start with the players – how they’re playing today, what they’re asking for and where there’s an opportunity to make the experience better,” Norvell says. “We put that insight in the hands of the designers, engineers and builders who know these instruments inside and out.”
“They listen to players, test ideas and work through the details to make meaningful improvements for players,” adds Fender CEO Edward ‘Bud’ Cole. ““They listen to players, test ideas and work through the details to make meaningful improvements for players.
“The American Professional series reflects that combination of player insight, experimentation and craftsmanship as we continue to push ourselves to make great instruments even better.”
As ever, these models are available with the choice of rosewood or maple fingerboards, and your finish options for each are a little different. But there’s something here for everyone, and that’s very much the spirit of the AmPro collection. The prices hover around the £/$1,999 mark and that price includes a deluxe moulded guitar case.
You can see more of them over at Fender.
