Fender launched the American Standard Series of guitars and basses in 1987, and the collection was Fender’s flagship line for serious artists and players for nearly 30 years. In 2017, Fender replaced this venerable line with the enhanced American Professional Series featuring 92 different guitars and basses.
Each guitar features rosewood and maple fretboards, and the series introduced three new colorways: Sonic Gray, Mystic Seafoam and Antique Olive. Other colors included in the series are Olympic White, Black, 3-Color Sunburst, Sienna Sunburst, and the return of classic Butterscotch Blonde available only on Telecaster models.
Here’s a quick look at the important features.
Pickups
A huge element of an electric guitar’s tone is the pickups that it uses. The Fender American Professional series of guitars is using a brand new blend of alnico pickups – the new V-Mod and Shawbucker pickups.
Normally, pickups will be made using only one type of magnet. Fender has changed this up by using a proprietary blend of alnico magnet types. They are using a blend of alnico 2’s and alnico 5’s. This blend of magnets gives the guitar a new and innovative voicing, while still maintaining a tone that is true to Fender.
By using a combination of these pickups, Fender is providing tone which has been specifically voiced for each position on the guitar.
The Playing Feel
Playing on an American Pro will be unlike anything you’ve encountered from the Fender stable in the past. The Fender American Professional guitars all have an asymmetric neck, having moved from the American Standard’s Modern C neck to the new ” Deep C” shape.
To clarify, this means that the neck is fatter at the low end of the guitar and gets progressively thinner as you move up the neck. Because of this, you will have a meaty neck feel when playing open chords, but when you start soloing above the 12th fret, you will have a fast and comfortable neck.
The Precision bass guitars in the professional range use a vintage ’63 P Bass neck profile, whereas the Jazz bass uses a modern “C-Shaped” profile. This will ensure the greatest amount of speed and comfort while playing.
Other Updated Elements
You’ll find the sames staggered modern tuners, small or classic headstock, and the 9.5-inch fretboard radius featured on the American Standards, but there were a few changes. The frets changed from medium jumbo to narrow-tall, and the synthetic neck upgraded to genuine bone.
The American Standard 2-point bridge now has a pop-in arm added, and of course you’ll be playing on the aforementioned new “deep c” shaped neck.
The treble-bleed circuit maintains the high end when turning down the volume knob to reduce gain, letting your tone shine through, no matter where the instrument’s volume is set.
The Style
In addition to the ever-present Stratocaster, Fender has added 3 new shapes to the Professional range of guitars. Namely, the Tele® Deluxe, Jazzmaster® and Jaguar® guitars.
To add to the appeal, these guitars come in a range of new colours.
American Professional guitars currently in stock...
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Fender American Pro 5-String Bass 3-Tone Sunburst
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Fender American Professional Telecaster® – Maple Fretboard – Mystic Seafoam
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® – Maple Fretboard – 3-Color Sunburst
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® Guitar – Maple Fingerboard – Olympic White
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® Guitar – Maple Fingerboard – Black
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® Guitar – Maple Fingerboard – Sienna Sunburst
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® Guitar – Maple Fingerboard – Sonic Gray
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® – Rosewood Fretboard – Olympic White
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® – Rosewood Fretboard – Black
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® – Rosewood Fretboard – Candy Apple Red
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® – Rosewood Fretboard – Sonic Grey
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® HSS Shawbucker – Rosewood Fretboard – Sienna Sunburst
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® Rose wood Frettboard Sienna Sunburst
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Fender American Professional Stratocaster® Left Hand Rosewood 3-Tone-Sunburst
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Fender American Professional Telecaster® Maple Neck 3-Tone Sunburst
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Fender American Professional Jazz Bass® Left Handed Sunburst (Display Model)
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Try One Out for Yourself
If you would like to try one of these guitars out, contact your local Paul Bothner Music or Village Music store. The guys there will be able to bring one into the store for you to test drive.
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