Fender American Performer Series: Fender Does it Right

Fender recently announced the American Performer Series, a replacement for the American Special Series, and it may just be the most desirable series Fender has had in a long while. 

 Whether it's the excellent range of colors being made available, the subtle tweaks from their predecessor models, or the price point these will occupy, I'm convinced more than ever that the American Professional Series is going to get squeezed out in sales volume.

Killer Colors

OK, first things first: The colors are outstanding, and I have a feeling that the folks at Fender are just as engaged with guitar content on Youtube as the rest of us are.

Lake Placid Blue with a red tortoise pickguard? The folks at Fender watch Andertons just like the rest of us do. Surf Green on the Telecaster? Weren't the Guitar Nerds just going on about how great the Squier Affinity Telecaster looked in Surf Green?

 The new finish is the most eye catching one though.  Dubbed "Penny", in some light it looks exactly as you'd imagine its namesake, but in others, there is a near-pink tone to the color that is just killer.


The Arctic White Stratocaster with the black pickguard also looks killer, and if I didn't already own a white Stratocaster, I'd be very tempted to go after this one.

A Better Jazzmaster

The Lake Palcid Blue Jazzmaster might be the pick of the litter, not only because of the color, but because of the decision to give it a Stratocaster bridge.

Purists may scoff, but the truth of the matter is that the Strat bridge is a superior design, and while some out there may cry that part fo the Jazzmaster tone relies on the construction of the bridge, I think the opportunity to access those pickups and that body shape without dealing with the other crap that comes with Fender offsets is pretty cool.

Great, But not Perfect

Like most Fender stuff these days, these guitars are far from ideal, thanks to some crap hardware. This isn't unique to this series, and the American Professionals have the same problem: thin, pot-metal blocks for the Strat bridges, and non-compensated saddles for the Telecaster.

At this price point though, I don't think this is a big deal.  I'd be looking to upgrade the block, or the entire bridge in the case of the Tele, in very short order.  Callaham is a great choice in my opinion, but I have also bought a brass block from GFS and installed it in a Mexican Strat with fantastic results.

In fact, the thought of a brass block in that Jazzmaster has me drooling a bit.

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