It’s been a while since we’ve seen some new guitars from Fender – and now we get 3 in a single hit!
In the lead up to Musikmesse 2011, Fender have announced their new Pawn Shop Series which they are billing as “Guitars that never were, but should have been”.
I have to admit that when I first received this news last Friday – given the unusual name and the date (April 1st), that I didn’t write anything immediately – but now that Fender are featuring these on the front page of their website, I’m no long concerned it may have been a guitar joke.
Fender says:
-
“These instruments draw inspiration from the eccentric and sometimes wildly innovative Fender creations of the mid-’60s to mid-’70s era that sometimes found their way to the outside world and into the more esoteric pages of Fender history.”
“With this adventurous spirit in mind, Pawn Shop Series instruments emerge as all-new Fender guitars with a boldly creative alchemy of diverse Fender components. And while they are brand-new members of the Fender family crafted with thoroughly modern sound and quality, Pawn Shop Series instruments now take the stage with a remarkable new identity as “guitars that never were but should have been.”
Pawn Shop 51
With a Stratocaster body and a C-shaped Telecaster neck, with a single-coil Texas Special neck pickup, Fender Enforcer humbucking bridge pickup and an early-’50s Precision Bass-style dual-knob chrome control plate – this guitar blends some of the mosting interesting Fender features from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
Pawn Shop 72
Fender took a bit of a different approach with this one by going with a semi-hollow Strat body with an f hole uniquely morphed with a U-shaped Telecaster neck, rosewood fretboard with modern 9.5” radius and 6105 frets, Fender Wide Range humbucking neck pickup and Fender Enforcer humbucking bridge pickup, early-’50s Precision Bass-style dual-knob chrome control plate with master volume and center-detented pickup blend controls, ’70s-style hard-tail Stratocaster bridge, ’70s-style Fender “F” tuners, mint green pickguard, and bullet truss rod.
Pawn Shop Mustang Special
Start with a modified offset Mustang body to get that 60s feeling, add a dash of 24” short-scale maple neck with a 60s C shape, on a base of rosewood fretboard with modern 9.5” radius and medium jumbo frets, mixed with dual Fender Enforcer humbucking pickups with ’70s-style covers, pickup toggle switch, three-way coil selector slide switch for each humbucking pickup (enabling 18 different tonal options), and a side of ’70s-style hard-tail Stratocaster bridge, vintage-style tuners and strap buttons, and finally garnish with a mint green pickguard.
Here’s a preview from Premier Guitar – hopefully it won’t be too long before we have some more video demos from Frankfurt.
For more information race over to www.fender.com/products/pawnshop
Related News:
Fender Pawn Shop Special Ramparte