Fender is introducing a new line of American Standard guitars, marking the first overall part-by-part detail improvement of the iconic instruments in eight years. Released in January 2008, Fender say that the new American Standard series of guitars stay true to the original classic models that made them timeless, while incorporating modern advances in design, materials, and production to make them the most versatile instruments available to today’s players and pros.
Here’s the full story in Fender’s own words…
In a perfect evolution of form, the American Standard series of instruments have adapted over time to continually meet the needs of every type of musician by relying on their input to fuel improvements. Rooted deeply in tradition, Fender instruments have stood the test of time and become American icons by continually responding to the evolving needs and desires of musicians while exceeding their expectations.
These classic American Fender instruments - the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass - have sonically and visually influenced every genre of popular music for decades, including rock, blues, country, western swing, rockabilly, roots rock, punk rock, surf rock, hard rock, metal, Motown, progressive, jazz, funk, and grunge. Rock music itself, with all its myriad sub-genres, has evolved along the lines of these instruments.
“Rock ‘n’ roll history does not follow a straight line,� said Justin Norvell, senior marketing manager for Fender electric guitars. “Every generation has had its artists that made that line take a sharp turn in a new direction, whether it be the fuzz-drenched psychedelia of the ’60s, the angular punk of the ’70s or the sturm und drang of the “Seattle Sound� in the ’90s. At the forefront of all of those evolutions was Fender. Fender is ready for the next batch of players who will be creating and discovering that next sound.�
Following several years of research, experimentation, interviews with musicians, and isolated variable examination, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. has unveiled the new Fender American Standard series of guitars for 2008. With detailed improvements to the Stratocaster®, Telecaster®, Precision Bass® and Jazz Bass® guitars, this iteration of the American Standard series offers superior tone, performance, durability, and style, while retaining the quality and design that have made Fender instruments popular for more than half a century.
Relying on a reverse-engineering approach, Fender utilized precision tools and expert ears to isolate the elements that make their instruments so great: tone, comfort, playability and durability. Fender’s goal - to create instruments that inspire today’s players to “make history� with their music, from country to punk, blues to funk, and everything in between.
Significant improvements to the electric guitars include a redesigned bridge, new bent-steel saddles with elongated string slots, a new neck and body finish, and a Fender-exclusive high-tech molded case. Similarly, the bass guitars feature a new neck and body finish, a Fender-exclusive high-tech molded case, lightweight tuners, height-leveled pole pieces, and the new HMV high-mass vintage bridge. And for the first time, Fender will be offering the traditional Precision Bass® in a five-string passive version, taking the classic platform to a new level.
Leo Fender founded the company bearing his name in 1946 in Fullerton, Calif., and by 1950 was leading what has become the most potent creative surge in the history of electric instrument design and manufacture. Fender’s monumental accomplishments include designing the first commercially successful solid-body guitar - the Telecaster; the invention of the modern electric bass guitar, which transformed popular music; and the introduction of the most influential of all electric guitars—the Stratocaster.
With such an enormous effect on popular music worldwide, it is safe to say that music simply would not sound the way it does today without Fender instruments. Elegantly enduring and revered classics of design, the Telecaster, Stratocaster, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass guitars transformed the way that music was performed, recorded and perceived by the entire world such that their very existence fueled not only musical revolutions, but also cultural revolutions. They changed the way musicians work with their tools, facilitated new sounds and techniques, and revolutionized the way the entire industry designs and builds instruments.
“To take these instruments and to respect all of the classic aspects of their design—all of the things that Leo Fender got right at the outset, which are so remarkable—but also to say, ‘We can still improve perfection,’ is exactly the spirit that Leo Fender himself brought to his imaginative work every day,� said noted Fender historian and author Tom Wheeler. “The results of this reintroduction of the American Standard line will be very impressive to those who take great care and interest in every detail of their instruments.�
As testimony to their original rightness, Fender instruments have existed largely unchanged for more than half a century. Yet time and time again exciting new life is found in them by the myriad artists who are inspired to play a Fender and express themselves. Leo Fender himself was continually discovering new life in his instruments as he strove to improve upon his incredible designs. That spirit of innovation and the interrelation of artist and instrument are still driving forces at today’s Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
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