Fender Introduces Vintage Hot Rod Series Guitars

Jan 19, 2007

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Fender is proud to introduce the Vintage Hot Rod Series: reissues of the classic '57 Stratocaster, '62 Stratocaster, and '52 Telecaster guitars with some well-chosen modifications. These "hot-rodded" instruments incorporate the most popular mods and tweaks that pros have made to classic Fender guitars over the years—so it's like finding a broken-in, third-hand "player's guitar," but perfectly set up and without a single flaw.

The Vintage Hot Rod (VHR) Series instruments incorporate dead-on vintage styling and a thin-skin nitrocellulose lacquer finish, letting their tone shine through and providing well-worn looks more quickly. '57 StratocasterThese classic looks are married with modernized electronics, custom neck shapes with flatter radii, medium jumbo frets, and tone-enhancing "after-market" pickups like those players have been installing in their guitars since the 1970s.

"Customers have been asking us to make 'hot-rodded' vintage reissues like this for years," commented Fender Senior Marketing Manager Justin Norvell. "But we wanted to be sure we were doing the right mods to these guitars. So the various modifications were carefully chosen for each instrument."

Specifically, the '57 VHR Strat® offers modern playability thanks to a slimmer neck profile, a 9.5" fingerboard radius, a satin-finish neck back and medium-jumbo frets. Electronics have been hot-rodded with SCN pickups in the neck and middle position, and a DiMarzio® Tone Zone™ thin humbucking pickup in the bridge position, rewired to the tone control for more flexibility.

The '62 VHR Strat comes with a larger-than-stock C-shaped neck, a 9.5" fingerboard radius, satin-finish neck and medium-jumbo frets, all designed to enhance playability. Enhanced electronics include a reverse middle pickup and a tone control rewired to the bridge pickup—two of the most popular "player's mods" to this classic instrument.

Finally, the '52 VHR Tele® brings with it a 9.5" fingerboard radius, a satin-back neck and medium-jumbo frets, making it easier to play and bend strings. Electronics mods include a Seymour Duncan® mini humbucking pickup in the neck position and a custom bridge pickup—yielding slightly darker sounds than the original. Compensated brass saddles in the bridge for improved intonation round out the well-chosen tweaks.

All three guitars feature the aforementioned thin-skin nitrocellulose lacquer finish, enhancing resonance and giving the instruments a well-worn look much more quickly.

"With these high-end VHR guitars, we're bridging the gap between Fender's retail and Custom Shop lines," confirmed Justin Norvell. "These premium instruments are hot-rodded, modded, and ready to play."

Fender Vintage Hot Rod Series guitars will be available in limited quantities beginning January 2007.

For more information, visit their web site at www.fender.com.