Fender has ushered in the next generation of its top of the line American Professional series of electric guitars and bass guitars.
It is one of Fender’s most significant launches in recent memory. Even without all the noise surrounding the company’s Stratocaster copyright campaign, the new collection introduces some of the most comprehensive updates ever added to Fender’s flagship lineup. More surprisingly, it’s not accompanied by a price hike, either, with the overhauled models starting at $1,799.
The new drop comprises your usual Fender suspects: Stratocaster, Stratocaster HSS, Telecaster, Hotshot Telecaster, Jazzmaster, Jaguar and Precision / Jazz Bass models.
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The headline features are new pickups, updated hardware and tweaked electronics, but perhaps not in the arbitrary way that often gets thrown around with regular launches.
Instead, Fender insists it’s gone deep on development and taken a player-first approach that hopes to correct decades-old gripes and markedly improve upon existing specs.
First, you’ll notice the number delineation has been dropped. This isn’t American Professional III; just American Professional – a mark of intent as the firm attempts to create clarity between its series.
The range is built chiefly around those three aforementioned core upgrades. Across the board, new V-Mod III pickups have been rolled out. However, these are uniquely spec’d to each model, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Notably, the Stratocaster, Jazzmaster and Telecaster pickups each get new magnet staggers, meaning the magnets follow the radius of the fretboards more closely. Fender Senior Design Engineer Steven Casado tells Guitar World this results in a tone that holds up better under heavy distortion and feels easier to play under chords.
The pickups also have a few additional turns for more output and a more ‘modern’ tone, and a more complex combination of magnet types and wire gauges. The humbucker found in the HSS Strat, meanwhile, uses two coils with different pitch and wire gauges for a more balanced tone.
The next big headline is the hardware. The American Pro range looks to correct a number of long-established player woes on the tail end, by rolling out new bridges for its core models.
The Strat bridge saddles no longer have screw ends sticking out the top, preventing any nasty hand scratches when resting, while the Telecaster bridge now has compensated brass bullet saddles with grooves.
Perhaps most notably, though, the offsets get a redesigned HiMass Modern Bridge and Panorama tremolo for a more robust and reliable setup. These are all things guitar fans have picked apart in the past and have been waiting for Fender to fix.
Those offsets are particularly a big deal. Aftermarket bridge upgrades to Jazzmasters and Jaguars are common. This, on paper, should solve those problems.
“The charge was led by the bridges and the pickups overall,” Fender’s Justin Norvell tells Guitar World. “We didn’t want to just say we changed everything. But we were like, ‘What can we do here? How can we make it better?’
“The Stratocaster having a new saddle that enables the screws not to stick up, that [solves] a 70-plus year gripe,” he continues. “And the Jazzmaster bridge – you know, everyone’s loved the Custom Shop RSD bridge. That bridge is one of one, handmade and milled. It was like, ‘How can you make it in quantity?’”
Another key foundation is the updated electronics. Fender is making a big deal about its new ClassicGear Precision pots that offer an improved taper and an ‘ideal’ tension when moving through the motions. Every guitar also gets a push-push tone control for an additional voice.
It might sound like a small update but it shows Fender’s desire to dive into the nitty gritty of it all: “It’s under the hood,” Norvell admits. “90% of people won’t notice and won’t care, but we do.”
Elsewhere, we should mention the updated Deep C neck profiles which are paired with rolled fretboard edges, and suite of classic and contemporary colorways on tap. There’s 3-Color Sunburst, Olympic White and Butterscotch Blonde, but also Oxblood, Aged Cherry Burst and Dark Night.
(Image credit: Fender)
“Fender was built on original ideas – instruments designed from scratch that changed what music could sound like,” Norvell echoes in a press release. “These are not interchangeable instruments. For generations, Fender’s most iconic designs have carried distinct identities.”
The new American Professional electrics start from $1,799. As mentioned, the price point puts a surprising halt on the long-running upwards trajectory of Fender’s US build prices.
Head over to Fender for more.
