The 2022 installment features some truly eye-popping six-strings. With a heavy emphasis on Telecasters, the Collection contains only one Stratocaster model, a sole bass guitar and two offsets, all of which sport a range of stand-out specs.
From the dazzling artwork of Greg Fessler’s Ghost Town Tele and Jason Smith’s Electric Sea Gems Esquire, to Ron Thorn’s elegant Hawaiian Dream Resonator and Yuriy Shishkov’s ornate quilted ‘60s Strat, the 2022 Prestige Collection isn’t short of show-stopping six-strings. Read the full article at Guitarworld
Fender last year released American Professional II T more than a guitar, is a symbol. But also a traveling companion, who since that April 10, 1954
The latest release from the iconic brand sees the American Professional II arrive with all the guts and gusto of a soon-to-be classic. (Faroutmagazine)
It’s not too long since Fender released their brand new line of American Professional guitars but perhaps as a testament to just how quickly the time has flown by us in 2020, now the guitar makers are sharing the brand new update. It has got most players really excited too.
The American Professional is a brand new take on the brand’s long-running series the American Standard — it’s still a classic guitar that is worth revisiting. But the brand new version of American Professional is a welcomed refreshment of a new trademark piece. There is no reinventing the wheel here but an optimising of the process to make it turn.Fender introduces the Stratocaster, a sleek new electric guitar with three pickups, a remarkably comfortable contoured body, an elegant sunburst finish and an ingeniously effective vibrato bridge.
NO OTHER GUITAR IN THE UNIVERSE DOES WHAT THE STRAT CAN DO.
JEFF BECK
“Over the past few years we have refined and elevated the American Professional series as a result of ongoing conversations with our artist partners. With their feedback and innovation, a priority, we reviewed every element across the series, incorporating new specs like a new sculpted neck heel, new pickups, supernatural neck finish, and various aesthetic refinements including bold colourways, tonewoods like Roasted Pine and Tortoiseshell guards on select models,” said Justin Norvell, EVP of Fender Products.
The Stratocaster rides the huge instrumental surf music wave, exemplified this year by debut Beach Boys album Surfin’ Safari and the exotic instrumental fury of Dick Dale’s “Misirlou.”
On Dec. 1, 1957 many get their first glimpse of a Stratocaster when a rock ’n’ roll trio called the Crickets performs on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Crickets’ leader is a bespectacled young Texan named Charles Hardin “Buddy” Holly.
Gibson Les Paul contends the most popular solid body title in history, and over the years we have seen it do everything: grind granite heavy metal riffs, ride the grooves of disco music, shine on the solos that have changed the history of rock and even to burn, in the hands of those who knew how to use it as a ferry between the primordial rock of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens and the music we hear today.
As for gear, David is mostly known for playing Fender Stratocaster(s). Perhaps his best known guitar is a 1969 model with black finish and matching pickguard, which he started using around 1970. In the 80s he mostly relied on 57′ Stratocaster reissue models, and on his solo album he 1995 Fender Esquire nicknamed “Workmate”. One piece of equipment that is perhaps David’s signature thing is the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, which he used extensively over the years.
