Fender seems to be stuck selling tribute “artist” model guitars for folks that once were notable but no longer seem relevant. There are 20 or more of these available, ranging in price from $850 to well over $3,000.
Many of Fender's latest creations are no longer made in the USA and given the designation of “Player” or “Vintera”. I am sure they are fine instruments, though they are pretty much the basic guitars that Fender had been offering since 1950.
Lately the Fender Musical Instrument Company has accrued some pretty bad publicity because of their cease and desist threats to other manufacturers and instrument retailers. The company's reputation has become so tarnished that they are now advertising their guitars on TV. I don't think my old granny cares a hoot about the new Mike Campbell Telecaster.
Perhaps emphasis on some of their previous creations might help boost the companies image and reputation. It couldn't hurt!
Over the years Fender has created some unique instruments that I wouldn’t mind seeing return. Here is a list of five guitars, and three amplifiers.
The Fender 51, and the Squier 51. These hard tail Strat shaped guitars included a single coil pickup in the neck position, and a humbucker at the bridge. While the control panel looked like it was taken from the original P-Bass.
The Fender 51’s was a little pricey, but the Squier 51’s retailed for less than $200. Back in the day a lot of folks modified the heck out of the Squier versions. Some had brilliant results.
The Squier '51 was first introduced in 2003 and made until 2006. Fender then introduced the Fender '51 in 2011 and offered it until 2013, when the Squier '51 was re-introduced. Production ended in 2013.
The '51 uses a humbucker pickup in the bridge position and a single-coil pickup in the neck position.
The 4-wire bridge pickup allows for coil splitting by pulling up on the volume control knob to limit the humbucker to single-coil output. The neck pickup is slanted with respect to the strings, better aligning the single-coil pole spacings under narrower spacing of the strings.
The lower control knob is a three-position rotary switch, selecting between the neck pickup, neck plus humbucker, or humbucker. It was a very unique electronic design.
In 1980 Fender designer John Page was given the task of producing an inexpensive guitar that would boost Fender’s sales. He created The Bullet #1.
This unique instrument had a Telecaster neck, and a smaller “Tele” style body. It had two single coil pickups that were in a similar arrangement to those on a Fender Duo-Sonic. This guitar had a 3-way Stratocaster style switch, and a volume and tone control. The scratch plate on the standard version was made of black, or white, anodized metal and had a lip at the distal end to attach the adjustable bridge saddles.
The Bullet #1 Deluxe came with a white scratch plate, and a separate metal plate to hold the bridge-saddle, and strings. Originally both guitars came with a molded hard-shell case and sold for less than $200.
In 1981 the American made Fender Bullet #1 was paired with a 20 watt Fender Harvard solid state amp as a Christmas promotion.
By 1982 the American made Fender Bullet was changed to have a Stratocaster style body shape. In 1982 the Bullet became the H-1, which had one humbucker and a coil tap switch. Fender also offered the H-2 with two pickups.
During this same time Fender also produced the American made B-34 Bullet Bass. This was made like a Precision Bass, but it was considered a budget or beginner instrument.
Then in 1996, under Fender’s Squier name, the Venus series of guitars were produced in Japan, and came in several version.. The Vista Series were uniquely shaped electric guitars that came in several different versions. My favorite was the Squier Vista Venus 12 string.
The Squier Vista Venus had a slanted single coil pickup in the neck position, a humbucking pickup near the bridge, and an adjustable tune-o-matic style bridge. The strings were anchored through the guitars body through six grommets or the front and back of the body.. The neck was bound.
The six string version came with a Strat-style headstock. The Maple body was wider than a Strat shape. The pickguard covered much of the instruments top. The Vista Venus had only a volume control and a pickup selector switch.
The much rarer Vista Venus 12 string came with all of these features, but included split pickups in the neck and bridge position, a volume and a tone control, and a selector switch. The strings were attached to a large adjustable, metal bridge/saddle. The pickups were split, like on the 1966 Fender XII.
The bound neck had a straight painted headstock. On the used market these guitars are selling for around $1800. They are definitely some of Fender's more unique guitars.
The Fender Lead ii and Lead iii were both offered in 1979 and lasted until 1982. Both instruments were built in Japan. They were seen as Stratocaster stylings paired with the simplicity of a Telecaster.
The Lead ii came with two offset single coil pickups that emphasized the bright sounds. In addition to the pickup selector this guitar had a phase switch allowing the guitar to achieve a unique "quacky" sound.
The Lead iii had a similar shape but came with two Alnico humbucking pickups, a 3-way pickup selector, plus a 3-way coil split switch. Both instruments came with a 22 fret neck, string through maple body, and volume and tone controls. The Lead iii was launched in 1982, then reissued in 2020. The later version had a Pau Ferro fingerboard instead of Rosewood.
And though it is not a guitar, the original Fender electric mandolin, aka The Mandocaster always fascinated me. In 1965 there was one hanging on the wall at my favorite music store. This unusual instrument first appeared in 1956. This solid body mandolin was shaped much like a tiny Stratocaster.
It had only 4 strings, and one single coil pickup. The original instruments had a miniature slab body made of ash, and a one piece maple neck.
By 1957 the body was reshaped with a rear contour and top forearm relief. For both years the pickguard was anodized metal.
In 1958 the body came with a three color sunburst finish.
In 1959 the pickguard was made of faux tortoise shell celluloid, and a rosewood slab fretboard was added to the neck. This was the instrument hanging on the wall at my favorite music store back in the 1960's.
The Mandocaster resurfaced in 1965. The specifications were similar, but the pickguard was now plastic instead of celluloid.
The Fender Mandocaster was offered until 1976. Although this is not a guitar, it was a very unique instrument. It found favor with Country Swing players like Tiny Moore, and Johnny Gimbel.
In 2007 Fender offered the tiny Fender Champion 600 tube amplifier at a very reasonable price. It was not a reissue, since it had a circuit board, but was more of a tribute to one of Leo Fender's earliest amps.
This little amplifier pumped five tube driven watts of class A power into a six inch speaker, courtesy of a 6V6 power tube, and a 12AX7 preamp tube. Around the time these amps first came out many of my friends purchased one. They discovered that the Japanese manufacturer put a dab of glue on the tubes to prevent rattling. One interesting fact is that the circuit on this version is the same as a Blackface Fender Champ.
The back panel includes two jacks, for high or low sounds, a single volume knob (that goes to 12), a pilot light, and an on/off switch. The basic six inch speaker was adequate, but a lot of folks swapped it out for an eight inch speaker. What you get with this amplifier are basic pure guitar sounds that can be overdriven at peak volume.
In January of 2012 Fender offered their Pawn Shop Prize amplifiers. These were a series of tube amps made in Japan. By 2014, two new amps were added to the collection.
My favorite was the Fender Vaporizer. This 12 watt amplifier looked like something from a late 1960's catalog. The amp was powered by a pair of EL84 power tubes, and two 12AXY preamp tubes.
This amp included two 10" 16 ohm speakers, a spring reverb, an independent volume and tone control, and a reverb adjustment knob. The two inputs were for normal, and bright sounds.
The special feature was to foot operated "Vaporizer" button. Activating this bypassed the volume, and tone controls giving the player a full strength overload for crunchy lead sounds. It was an interesting concept for Fender that had never been found on other amps.
This feature combined with the futuristic cabinet design made this a wonderful, desirable amplifier.
These are still available on the used market in the $550 range.
The first series of Fender Pawn Shop Prizes from 2012 included The Excelsior Amplifier. This amplifier put me in mind of a 1965 Supro Thunderbolt amplifier that was advertised as a a bass amp because of the 15" speaker.
Much like the Excelsior, the Supro did not have enough power to drive a bass, but it was an excellent guitar amplifier.
The Excelsior is equipped with a 15" speaker, twin 6V6 power tubes, and twin 12AX7 preamp tubes. It only produced 13 watts of class AB power.
The controls were minimal; one volume knob, a bright/dark switch, and a tremolo adjustment. There were three inputs. One for guitar, one for microphone, and one for accordion. The accordion feature harkens back to the 1950's when many bands included an accordion player.
This amp tends to break up after three when using the guitar input. The cabinet design is reminiscent of amplifiers found in an old Sears, or Montgomery Ward catalog. These amplifiers are still available for $300-$350 on the used market.
Although I would love to see Fender reissue some of these products, it is unlikely to happen since they are stuck in a rut of creating some instruments that seem to appeal more to the creators than the customers. I would be more likely to purchase a Squire '51 for $200, than a Jack White Telecaster for $3800.
Perhaps revamping one or more of these products might help improve Fender's current tarnished image.
