Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Fender Introduces New Road Worn Series

For many musicians there exist few bigger turn-ons than a beautiful shining new electric guitar straight off the rack with its unblemished plastic parts still wrapped carefully with that protective transparent covering. For others, the sight of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rory Gallagher, and Jaco Pastorius using and abusing their Fenders night after night would change their lives-and spending habits-forever. With the lusts of the latter in mind, Fender has introduced the new Road Worn Series of electric guitars that pair the beautifully broken aesthetics of the Fender Relic guitars with recession-grade affordability.


For years since the introduction of the Relic guitars Fender fans without a spare three grand to drop have wanted and searched, even destroyed, many fine instruments in order to harness some of the raw appeal of a guitar that’s seen far too many long nights in honky tonks, juke joints, and dive bars. The Road Worn series offers a 

  • 50’s Telecaster, 
  • 50’s Stratocasters
  • 60’s Stratocasters, 
  • 50’s Precision Bass, and 
  • 60’s Jazz Bass 
models to satiate all manner of vintage Fender longing. All five models feature period-correct features including the nitrocellulose lacquer that gave those vintage Fenders their fantastic resonance and was later replaced in the name of aesthetic consistency.

The 50’s Tele features an Ash body with distressed maple neck, 3-saddle bridge, and one-ply pickguard reminiscent of the Teles of yore with the end result being a guitar that appears as though Luther Perkins forgot he stored it in a closet 25 years ago. The 50’s Strat also features the maple neck and fretboard of the era along with an Alder body, synchronized tremolo, and one-ply pickguard. The 50’s Strat in black (also available in Two-Tone Sunburst) essentially appears as Eric Clapton’s Blackie Strat did circa The Last Waltz. The 60’s Strat features the Alder body with a rosewood fretboard, synchronized tremolo, and three-ply mint green pickguard. All three models feature Fender’s slightly over-wound Tex-Mex pickups for vintage tone with a little extra muscle.

The 50’s P-Bass features a maple neck and fretboard, an alder body, reverse tuning machines and a super-cool gold anodized pickguard. The 60’s Jazz Bass is sure to satisfy any Jaco or John Paul Jones fan with its alder body, rosewood fretboard, vintage bridge, four-ply shell pickguard, and availability in Fiesta Red and classic Three-Tone Sunburst.

Instrument concepts such as this always bring their fair share of praise and criticism alike. After all, musicians are passionate people who generally feel pretty strongly about what we consider to be traditional, classic, new, or innovative and often formulas that involve several of those elements are subject to heated debate. If you are either a lover of beautiful, new, flawless guitars or a vintage collector, these instruments are obviously not for you. If you refuse to buy new jeans till your favorite pair disintegrates, like a little dirt on your truck, or believe whole-heartedly that chicks dig scars, check out the new Road Worn Series available this January. They are truly hip guitars that you won’t have to take a loan out to afford.

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