Fender Announces New 2013 Select Series
Fender’s answer to PRS-Style guitars with “drop dead gorgeous” tops, the Select Series, is welcoming an all-new lineup of instruments for 2013. These undeniably beautiful models join last year’s seven previously released instruments. They offer stellar wood grains, extra finishing and a few features not found in standard production models, without going all the way to Custom Shop, but at near Custom Shop pricing. This year’s new contenders are:
The new Fender Select Telecaster® HH is both beautiful and light, with a pair of Wide Range Special humbucking pickups, chambered alder body, gorgeous Malaysian blackwood top, comfortable back contour and Natural gloss lacquer finish. Its modern “C”-shaped birdseye maple neck has a comfortable contoured heel, satin lacquer finish and Bi-Flex™ truss rod system; the compound radius birdseye maple fingerboard has 22 medium jumbo frets and a gloss lacquer finish. MSRP $2,999.99
The new Fender Select Carved Top Telecaster SH offers a chambered alder body, carved Tasmanian blackwood top and hand-stained Black Cherry Burst finish with gloss lacquer topcoat. If offers a “C”-shaped flame maple neck with satin lacquer finish and Bi-Flex™ truss rod system, and a compound radius rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets. MSRP $3,499.99
The Fender Select Telecaster Thinline presents a finely crafted take on the popular semi-hollow version of our very first guitar model. It has a semi-hollow ash body with a beautiful flame maple top and hand-stained Violin Burst finish with gloss lacquer topcoat. The Fender Select Telecaster Thinline with Gold Hardware offers the same specifications with the additional touch of gold hardware. Thinline MSRP $2,999.99 and the Thinline w/Gold Hardware MSRP $3,199.99.
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For those curious about the non-Tele guitars of the 2013 Select Series, there is a Fender Select Carved Maple Top Jazzmaster®, a Fender Select Stratocaster® HSS, and a Fender Select Active Jazz Bass® in the lineup as well.
Pricing for these new models is what you would expect for Fender’s Select Series instruments — at least one arm and one leg even at street level pricing.
Almost Custom shop quality, at Custom shop prices!
They’re all hideous AND over-priced.
agree
I like thinline, but the other two aren’t my cup of overly expensive tea
I do like the new Thinline too – I’m prob. gonna bolt together a Warmoth Thinline replica for 1/3 the price, w/o the gold hardware
The Warmouth will kick its ass when you’re finished. Fender already gave up the ghost when they licensed anyone with a lathe to build their knock offs. Now they try and play catch up with full size pots and pups that should be in all of their “Fender” models. Its too hard to judge their entries and have any idea if it’s components are arriving by container ship or from a domestic source. When you build a guitar with quality components, you know exactly how and why the combination of wood, pups and wiring affect the final tone.
The finishes at Warmouth are excellent. Good luck with it.
We gave away a Select Series Tele this past year – and a Custom Shop Tele Deluxe too. Both were great guitars but the Select was really special. It was both beautiful and extremely well made. Lots of little touches made it a really great guitar. I’d say it gave the Custom Shop Tele a definite run for it’s money. And, remember, I had both here at my house for over a month. So, I could easily compare the two.
Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4M1TQefeYk to see Redd Volkeart’s comments on the Select Tele.
The Thinline seems and sounds really great. But, personally I could do without the gold. Such a beautiful instrument with a “kinky” hardware finish. Maybe I’m just too old fashioned for my own good, but I just can’t cope with golden hardware. However, many people may love this beauty and the whole series is really wonderful.
It seems the Thinline comes in normal Chrome hardware or upgrade to gold hardware for additional. I generally don’t like gold hardware either.
I don’t mind the look of these guitars, even though they are kind of flamboyant for a ‘working mans’ production guitar, but they are a bit expensive at the listed prices here.
Great Uncle Leo gave us all the IDEA OF A GREAT GUITAR !!! From that idea has lead many different paths, styles,sounds,and works of art. We all envision our own unique tele or plural if were lucky. I view the tele like a beautiful women, we all have are favorite shapes, sizes, colors, cultures, and personalities. So there you go, warm women and teles. ENJOY BOTH , but only play with one of them for the tele is much more forgiving !!!!! Play your tele and love your women. PEACE, if and when possible ! And for the contrary, PREPARE WISELY !!!!
Is it me or are the demos from FMIC the lamest?
Not in the Tele spirit at all. Teles are rough and ready and meant for playing.
Beautiful!
I’m looking forward to checking them out.
Meh… What about a “Keith Richards” Custom with the 4-pots, upper bout pickup selector and “only” 21 frets?
First off, I don’t like them. Secondly and more importantly what the hell is the point in demoing a guitar through effects? If you want to show off what a guitar sounds like, DO IT CLEAN.
The tele looks a lot like a ProTone Bordellocaster, just a different color and costs ten times as much. Probably not made any better, either.