REVISITED
WORDSCHRIS VINNICOMBE
Consolidating upgraded Classic Series and Classic Player
models under one banner might not sound like the most
headline-grabbing launch in Fender’s recent history. But you
can be sure that the vintage-inspired, real-world instruments
in the Vintera Series will sell by the truckload to players looking
for their fi rst serious electric guitar or bass. Time to take a trip
through three decades of tone in a custom-colour candy store...
V
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he last few years have seen Fender work
its way through its extensive catalogue,
reorganising and revamping at key price points.
With the American Performer, Professional,
Original and Elite lines now bang up to date, the
company’s big launch for Summer 2019 is Vintera –
21 vintage-inspired electric guitars and basses made
in the coastal Mexican city of Ensenada, available
in a rainbow of vintage hues and priced between
£689-999.
If some of the Vintera Series instruments
(vintage... era... geddit?) look especially familiar,
it’s because Vintera is essentially an amalgam of the
old Classic Series and Classic Player Series. Popular
models such as the Baja Telecaster and Classic
Player Jazzmaster survive here, albeit in updated and
rebadged form. In this first look at the 2019 range,
we’ve got our hands on the ’50s Telecaster, ’60s
Jazzmaster Modified and ’70s Stratocaster.
The Vintera Series can be split broadly into two,
based on whether a model has ‘Modified’ in its name.
Like their Classic Series forebears, the 15 models
that aren’t ‘Modified’ cherry-pick features from a
particular decade, rather than zeroing in on a specific
model year. As you might expect, at this end of the
catalogue we’re not talking about forensic vintage
recreations and a certain degree of pragmatism has
been applied to the specifications on offer.
On our ’50s Telecaster, for example, you’ll find a
7.25-inch fingerboard radius and a fat U-shaped neck
with a revamped carve, but the alder body and maple
neck are finished in gloss polyester and urethaneREVIEWSGUITAR MAGAZINE 23