Strat Attack

Two new lower-end, similarly priced Stratocasters cater for both vintage and more modern tastes and blur the line between Fender's USA and Mexican manufacturing. Which one has your name on it?

- Dave Burrluck

FENDER AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL CLASSIC STRATOCASTER & LIMITED EDITION VINTERA II ROAD WORN '60S STRATOCASTER £1,499 & £1,349

CONTACT Fender Musical Instruments EMEA PHONE [phone] WEB www.fender.​com

What You Need To Know

1 American Professional Classic that sounds new?

Don't worry, as is usual after four or five years, Fender likes to refresh or replace its ranges. So the new American Professional Classic replaces the American Performer range, which came along in 2019.

2 Why should we be interested?

Well, these new models sort of bridge the gap between vintage style and overly modern, and come in lightly faded gloss colours. Along with our standard Stratocaster, there's an HSS version, a Telecaster, a 'Hotshot' Tele that blends in some Strat, a Jazzmaster and a Jaguar, plus Precision, Jazz and Mustang basses.

3 And the Road Worn models are back again. This one doesn't look very worn, though...

This latest limited run of the Road Worn series uses a proper nitrocellulose finish, which is lightly cracked, and a lower gloss. Any more ageing and dings are all down to you.

Although Fender has had a busy year with plenty of artist models and special-run guitars, there's been considerable speculation about what changes will be made to its core USA- and Mexican-made ranges. The modernist American Ultra II range, for example, recently got a sibling, the American Ultra Luxe Vintage mini-range, which adds in the lightly-aged 'Heirloom' nitro finishes to those modern specifications.