American Standard series introduces Fender's first 5-string Precision bass and more

Following several years of research, experimentation, interviews with musicians, and isolated variable examination, Fender Musical Instruments Corp.unveiles the new Fender American Standard series of guitars for 2008. With detailed improvements to the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass guitars, this iteration of the American Standard series is designed to offer superior tone, performance, durability, and style. “Rock ‘n’ roll history does not follow a straight line,” said Justin Norvell, senior marketing manager for Fender electric guitars. “Every generation has had its artists that made that line take a sharp turn in a new direction, whether it be the fuzz-drenched psychedelia of the ’60s, the angular punk of the ’70s or the sturm und drang of the “Seattle Sound” in the ’90s. At the forefront of all of those evolutions was Fender. Fender is ready for the next batch of players who will be creating and discovering that next sound.” Relying on a reverse-engineering approach, Fender utilized precision tools and expert ears to isolate the elements that make their instruments so great: tone, comfort, playability and durability. Fender’s goal - to create instruments that inspire today’s players to “make history” with their music, from country to punk, blues to funk, and everything in between. Significant improvements to the electric guitars include a redesigned bridge, new bent-steel saddles with elongated string slots, a new neck and body finish, and a Fender-exclusive high-tech molded case. Similarly, the bass guitars feature a new neck and body finish, a Fender-exclusive high-tech molded case, lightweight tuners, height-leveled pole pieces, and the new HMV high-mass vintage bridge. And for the first time, Fender will be offering the traditional Precision Bass in a five-string passive version, taking the classic platform to a new level. “To take these instruments and to respect all of the classic aspects of their design—all of the things that Leo Fender got right at the outset, which are so remarkable—but also to say, ‘We can still improve perfection,’ is exactly the spirit that Leo Fender himself brought to his imaginative work every day,” said noted Fender historian and author Tom Wheeler. Leo Fender founded the company bearing his name in 1946 in Fullerton, Calif., and by 1950 was leading what has become the most potent creative surge in the history of electric instrument design and manufacture. Fender’s accomplishments include designing the first commercially successful solid-body guitar - the Telecaster; the invention of the modern electric bass guitar, which transformed popular music; and the introduction of the most influential of all electric guitars—the Stratocaster. As testimony to their original rightness, Fender instruments have existed largely unchanged for more than half a century. Yet time and time again exciting new life is found in them by the myriad artists who are inspired to play a Fender and express themselves. Leo Fender himself was continually discovering new life in his instruments as he strove to improve upon his incredible designs. That spirit of innovation and the interrelation of artist and instrument are still driving forces at today’s Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.