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.
Fender CS Sheryl Crow 1959 Custom Tele
Fender is rolling out a limited edition signature Telecaster to honor singer-songwriter – and breast cancer survivor – Sheryl Crow, the Limited Edition Sheryl Crow 1959 Custom Telecaster®.
In 1994, Crow was readying to embark on her first tour as a solo artist when most of her band’s equipment–including her own Custom Telecaster–was stolen. The band quickly acquired new gear, and Crow’s backup guitar became her main instrument. Shortly thereafter, the band performed at the Backyard in Austin, Texas, and a fan who had read about the band’s stolen gear approached Crow with a slightly used 1959 Fender Custom Telecaster suggesting it was a suitable replacement for her stolen guitar. The guitar belonged to the fan’s mom who lost her battle with breast cancer. Touched, Crow accepted the instrument and continues to hold it very near and dear to her heart.
“I have a very strong affinity for this guitar,” said Crow. “This has just been a guitar I’ve loved forever. It feels good, it feels right and has had lots of loving fingers on it.”
Sheryl’s instrument was brought to the Fender Custom Shop in 2011 and was recreated in meticulous detail. In fact, Crow mistook it for the original. The original 1959 Custom Tele® was safely stored, and Crow has used the replica ever since.
Only 60 Limited Edition Sheryl Crow 1959 Custom Telecasters have been made, with one signed by Crow and donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation in observance of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Available in Faded Chocolate Three Color Sunburst, the guitar features a double-bound hand-selected lightweight alder body, mid-’60s oval “C”-shaped maple neck, rosewood fingerboard with vintage-style frets, vintage 1963 Telecaster pickups, and modern Telecaster wiring.
The model includes a limited edition case, a certificate of authenticity, Sheryl Crow concert memorabilia and a certificate depicting the story signed by Sheryl.
To learn more about the Limited Edition Sheryl Crow 1959 Custom Telecaster, visit http://www.fendercustomshop.com/index.php/news/article/sheryl_crow/.
Who’s your favorite Foo Fighter?
Foo Fighters lead guitarist, Chris Shiflett and bass player Nate Mendel now have Fender Artist Signature models with the introduction of the new Chris Shiflett Signature Telecaster® Deluxe and the Nate Mendel P Bass®.
Shiflett’s abiding love for Telecasters and for humbucking sound now comes together in one new instrument with his name on it–the Chris Shiflett Signature Telecaster Deluxe. The affordable was modeled closely on Shiflettt’s favorite ’72 Tele Deluxe, it features an Arctic White finish, a four-ply white pearl pickguard, a pair of new custom-designed high-output humbucking pickups, a 12″-radius rosewood fingerboard for easy bends with low action, custom-stenciled hard-shell case, and Shiflett’s signature on the headstock.
“Fender is as good as it gets for a guitar player,” said Shiflett. “So to have one with my name is a pretty special feeling. The setup is perfect for me, and to be able to take the time to look at the guitar from a few different angles really pays dividends.”
The Nate Mendel P Bass offers special body contours, extra-slim neck and nut width, a lightly worn Candy Apple Red finish with a black pickguard, a Seymour Duncan® Quarter Pound™ split single-coil pickup, Badass II bridge and Mendel’s signature on the headstock. It also comes with a spare neck plate engraved with a special hybrid Foo Fighters/Fender logo and a deluxe gig bag.
MSRP on the Chris Shiflett Signature Telecaster® Deluxe is $899.99. So, the street pricing should be in the $630 range.
Fender Reissues the Reissues
Since the mid-1980′s the Fender Vintage Reissue series Telecasters have been one of the mainstays of the product line. Periodically, Fender has reformulated the Vintage Reissues for greater accuracy and more period correct specs. Each time this is has been both good and sometimes controversal. See, Leo Fender was always changing his guitars right on the production line. If he found what he thought was a better way to do things, he would make the running change regardless of the point they were in in that model year. Not only that, but feedback from players, dealers and salesmen would spur various changes to make the guitar sell better, look better, play better and last longer. And, these too were incorporated as running changes.
What this means is that the true “vintage Telecaster” is not just one thing. It’s a wide range of ever changing specs. To this end, Fender has revamped the entire American Vintage Reissue line — and not just Telecasters, but Stratocasters, jaguars and Jazzmasters, too. I probably should note that Fender quit calling this series the “Reissue” series a while back. They are now called the American Vintage Series guitars even though many of us still call them the Reissues.
Since the TDPRI is a Telecaster website, we’ll cover the Teles and you can check out our other sites for more detailed info about the other models. The big news here is now there are a number of new American Vintage Telecasters to choose from: the American Vintage ’52 Telecaster, the American Vintage ’58 Telecaster and the the American Vintage ’64 Telecaster.
The lovely Pauline France of Fender’s PR department says this about the new models, “All the new American Vintage Series guitars feature thick and slim necks with profiles and edges carefully re-sculpted to reflect even greater period-correct authenticity, with both maple and rosewood fingerboards, vintage-style frets and bone nuts; all-new vintage-style pickups wound to period-correct specs and sound to accurately reflect specific model years, and even specific periods within specific model years; retooled pickguards, parts and hardware designed to accurately reflect specific model years (and again, even specific periods within specific model years), and standard and custom-color finishes re-formulated for even greater period-correct authenticity.”
Here are some more of the details of each model:
American Vintage ’52 Telecaster (and left-handed model)
- Ash body with slightly lighter Butterscotch Blonde finish and singe-ply black pickguard.
- Large maple neck with re-sculpted U-shaped profile and comfortably rolled edges.
- All-new pickups wound to period-correct specs and sound.
- “Barrel” switch tip and knurled chrome domed control knobs.
- Vintage-style bridge with three brass saddles.
MSRP $2,499.99 – $1,999.99 “Street” Price (MAP)
American Vintage ’58 Telecaster®
- Lightweight ash body with single-ply white pickguard.
- Early-1958 large maple neck with comfortable “D”-shaped profile.
- All-new pickups wound to period-correct specs and sound, with early-1958 staggered bridge pickup pole magnets.
- Solid steel “barrel” bridge saddles.
- “Top-hat” switch tip and flat-top knurled aluminum chrome control knobs.
MSRP $2,499.99 – $1,999.99 “Street” Price (MAP)
American Vintage ’64 Telecaster (and left-handed model)
- Lightweight alder body (ash on White Blonde model) with three-ply white pickguard with eight holes.
- Slimmer, more rounded maple neck with “C”-shaped profile and round-laminated rosewood fingerboard with larger pearl dot inlays.
- All-new pickups wound to period-correct specs and sound, with staggered bridge pickup pole magnets.
- Threaded steel “barrel” bridge saddles.
- “Top-hat” switch tip and flat-top knurled chrome control knobs.
MSRP $2,499.99 – $1,999.99 “Street” Price (MAP)
Watch for these to be available soon at dealers everywhere. And look for the “old” model American Vintage Series guitars to be reduced in price right now as well. Left-handed players will no doubt notice the inclusion of lefty models for the ’52 and ’64 Vintage guitars… but not the ’58 Vintage guitar in the series.
