Fender has been releasing these babies since 1951 (Telecaster) and 1954 (Stratocaster), and somehow they are still producing variations on these familiar themes. The American Elite Series are now some of Fender’s finest guitars in production. Don’t let the traditional look fool you – this guitar has been very carefully updated and crafted for exceptional comfort, playability, and tonal opportunity.
The American Elite Stratocaster
The necks on these guitars have a compound profile shifting from 9.5”-14” fretboard radius and from “C” shape transitioning to a “D” shape as you move down the neck, allowing for effortless playability in higher registers without compromising your picking hand. The 2-point Deluxe Synchronized tremolo with pop-in arm is both smooth AND won’t screw up your tuning. Speaking of which, the short post tuning machines have an increased break angle from the nut to prevent buzzing.
These guitars have the traditional 5 tier pickup switch, tone and volume controls with aged white soft touch knobs. Still built from Alder with a gloss polyurethane finish, and you can choose either rosewood or maple fingerboard. For those who do their own setups, the truss rod adjustment has been moved to the butt of the neck for easy access. 22 frets, bone nut, and a beautiful Black Chrome Fender headstock decal.
The Shawbucker HSS version of the guitar has the raging Shawbucker open-coil pickup at the bridge, which has aggressive mids and plenty of body, ideal for distorted or overdriven tones. Add a push-push passing lane switch which bypasses the tone electronics acting like a boost pedal to jolt your tone into overdrive with richer harmonics, along with the new “Noiseless” middle and neck pickups (4th generation) which have a vintage tone minus the hum, and you’re looking at an exciting tonal palette to work with.
The American Elite Telecaster has the same sweet specs as the Strat, with a maple combined-profile modern neck, the Noiseless single-coil pickups, small post tuning machines, and updated truss rod positioning. There is no tremolo on this model, and with its two pickups it has a 3-position pickup selector (bridge, bridge/neck, neck).
Also, since it’s a Tele it’s better. Am I allowed to say that? Whatever, we all have our preferences. Hello, Elite twang!
The Thinline Semi-Hollow Body has a special bridge – it has three brass saddles that allow you to intonate your guitar, with a screwless mount which increases vibration transfer, providing the already more resonant tone with additional sustain.
Always aesthetically minded, these Fender guitars really are gorgeous. With color titles including Mystic Black, Autumn Blaze Metallic, and Olympic Pearl, if your guitar playing isn’t that great at least you know your guitar’s color allows it to perform wizardry, accomplish athletic feats beyond your wildest dreams, and set Autumn on fire with its beauty.
The molded cases come with sturdy TSA locks to keep your baby from jumping in puddles.
What a dream!
