Player Fusion

This looks promising to those who are in the market for a contemporary Fender Tele; it's a Mexican Player Fusion Tele HH. The throw off - Floyd Rose Special bridge.

Pic: Fender

Silence

This is the seemingly new, limited edition, American Pro Classic Strat that looks like the previous Strat you saw at your dealers'. The highlight here is the Fender Silent System which, according to the manufacturer's promo clip, includes a dummy coil to eliminate the single coil hum & it's battery-free. Have we heard of this tech before? The answer is rather obvious.

Pic: Fender

Domestic cyclone

Pre-lunch indulgence, a Cyclone episode. I bought this one because: 1) It's neither a Strat / Tele 2) It sports a 24.75" scale length sitting between the Jazzmaster (25.5") & Jaguar (24") 3) It was listed for a clear-out. 

A set of 10s to accommodate the afore-mentioned scale length.

The pickups in this guitar (Seymour Duncan): JB (bridge) / SSL-1 (neck). Was actually at Beez's yesterday to sort out the out-of-phase situation when both pickups were selected (middle position of the toggle switch). I need to rotate the selector toggle so if flicks up / down instead of the current left / right.

Singles

Nothing excessive, just single pickups for the weekend. Had been listening to a lot of The Dellinger Escape Plan so I don't need extra pickups for inspiration. That Charvel is lighter than the Strat, awesome tone for distortion applications.

79s Thinline

This is a good release (to me) by the Japanese end of Fender. Ash body, 3-bolt attachment, CuNiFe pickups, the works. That's right, the thing with limited edition Japanese stuff is always the probability of it not making its way here.

Pic: Fende Japan

Japan-inspired

Fender calls this the Japan-Inspired series. I have absolutely no idea what those terms are supposed to conjure; is there a unique Japanese inspiration out there going into these guitars exclusively? After reading the specs, I did not see any such inspirational inputs that went into these guitars leading to the term used to describe this series. Whatever, Fender.

Pic: Fender Japan

National Day deals @ SL

Swee Lee is having seasonal discounts (National Day 2026) for selected products. 

I'm attracted to this Fender FSR Hybrid II P-bass. Usually not a finished headstock fan but this one looks very flushed together with the rosewood 'board. That white pickguard adds class, IMO. This is about the only thing I'm interested in this time round 😅

Pic: SL web store

Active Modern bottom end

I must say that I find the JB version of the Fender (Japan) Active Modern to be attractive. The subtle appeal here is the fact that the body outline was re-calibrated a little bit to allow access to the 22nd fret. This makes the body look somewhat more compact & contemporary. Then again, I'm not someone who can easily adapt to the bass' (any bass for that matter) overall longer / bigger outline.

Pic: Fender Japan

Active modern

New Japanese Stratocaster, Active Modern, they call it. Yes, as the name suggests, it's an active circuitry but with some funky circuit in there to propel the activity & hush things up so you you enjoy playing, not fighting feedback. 

Actually quite intrigued by the 5-bolt neck joint with an elegant cutaway to boot. This guitar reminds me of the Aerodyne model more than anything. I find the Aerodyne more futuristic with the curved top design. Both models feature a hard edge outline, not the rounded version that everyone loves.

Pics: Fender Japan

Liar

There's a video going round. It shows the new Fender CEO, Edward 'Bud' Cole talking to Fender dealers about the recent antagonism between Fender & other brand names who are allegedly copying the Stratocaster body shape. For the most part, it's rather obvious that he's fire-fighting, trying to sedate the hostility. He's also using this opportunity to explain why Fender's actions in the mean time are legit moves to protect the Stratocaster heritage. 

But one thing's for sure, he's lying about Fender not telling the targetted manufacturers to destroy inventory & compensate Fender monetarily for the damages done. These instructions were documented in black & white & shared (online by podcasters / influencers) for all to see. So there; you did something but you are now telling the world you didn't. We are not dumb. It's not gonna go down well for sure. If this is an attempt to Make Fender Great Again, there's an incompetent driver at the helm.

Broken F

This is a major concern in the mean time; Fender putting other manufacturers to legal task for infringing its Stratocaster body design copyright. I'm reading this with interest as an individual who used to be in the legal fraternity here once upon a time. It was a brief stint but an eye-opening experience. I refrained from commenting because my legal knowledge is strictly based on domestic understanding & more importantly, I'm not a lawyer. 

Fender claimed there are enterprises out there infringing the Stratocaster body design copyright. In my opinion, this is the glaring fundamental legal failure that should put Fender's efforts to nought. With reference to intellectual property rights, a design cannot be copyrighted. Copyright protects authorship (Osborn, 1993). Leo Fender invented the Stratocaster body shape & by virtue of this understanding (its capability of industrial application, Osborn 1993), it would move into the patent domain. Until Fender is able to show a definitive legal ownership / registration of the Stratocaster body, it has no case to begin with.

Another important point to note here is the default judgment obtained by Fender (Regional Court of Dusseldorf, March 2026). This judgment type merely acknowledges the complainant's points of contention in view of the respondent's failure to appear in court. There were no damages awarded or entailment rights conferred to the complainant so Fender has absolutely no authority to tell others what to do with potentially offensive inventory (stop production, destroy inventory, pay compensation, etc.). Also, I am not aware of cross jurisdiction in this case; can a judgment in a German court be used as a basis to initiate legal action in the USA? 

Pac Man

Once again, Fender never fails to entice us with novelty. This Player II Telecaster would perform equally well without the Pac Man graphics. Then again, should we be buying Fenders in view of what it's doing to others?

Pic: Fender

Player @ DGMC

Was at Davis GMC after lunch, saw this Fender Strat going for a very reasonable price. FYI, the Player Series are made in Mexico. I'm of the opinion that the Mexican Fenders should be close to the $1K mark & should not stray away from it. But Fender being Fender, it's trying to elevate the Mexican made stuff via re-introduction & bit-part upgrades which many of us are not looking forward to pay for. I'm largely ignoring the Player / Vintera models for this very reason. The price you see here is the lowest for a Player II if you wish to purchase one brand new. 

 

Price watch (103)

Just to be clear, the objective of doing this is to give fellow gear enthusiasts a heads up when they are dealing with certain individuals who offer certain instruments at a certain price under the impression of perceived value. Take this Fender Modern Player Tele for instance. Just because it's a Fender & it's discontinued, doesn't mean it should sell for a fortune. It's a case by case consideration at best. Yes, the Modern Player Series had been discontinued but these were made in China. I've nothing against the Chinese Modern Player Series - I own three. These instruments were not even $800 when they debuted. An asking price in excess of $2k is a scalper's valuation.

Same seller but now a Gibson. Once again, riding on brand name & discontinued status, this asking price is unfounded to say the least. The Gibson Tribute Series, back in the day, was the more affordable version of the Studio range. The Studio remains to be Gibson's most affordable range to date. The Tribute was more affordable than the Studio because the manufacturer subtracted some finishing processes that added costs to its upper tier range. An obvious exclusion was the final lacquer overcoat. The current LP Studio lists for $2,399 (35 Guitar Avenue) & that's very close to this used Tribute which is at least 5 years old.

At the end of the day, it's your money. If you don't mind paying caviar prices for cod roe - it's your money.

More 75th

More Fender 75th Anniversary goodness from Japan, this finish is bona fide attraction. The burst effect was done on the pickguard as well as the headstock. By the way, the Tele feature a 4-way selector in case you're interested. Currently offered only as an online exclusive for the Japanese market. Bummer.

Pics: Fender

UC update

Fender's new Ultra Core strings are now available at Swee Lee. Prices are as follows:

• Regular ball end (1250): $15
• Bullet end: (4250): $19

We can get a non-Fender ball end set for $9. We are paying more for the brand name, yes?

Pic: Fender

 

G-Dist

No idea if this would be made available here. Fender's Godzilla Diction pedal (a distortion pedal) is already available in Japan. The manufacturer cites an op-amp based circuit which is not entirely exclusive because other manufacturers were there before Fender. There's an additional midrange trim pot which is located in the pedal's innards. Currently, the Japanese online store limits the purchase of this pedal to two per customer. Maybe something big is happening there. Maybe.

Pic: Fender

75th UII

In the mean time, Fender has some 75th Anniversary stuff going & this Ultra II Tele is quite a stunner. That flip-flop finish is something that I like. As you can see, these are not meant to emulate the traditional Tele single coil tones as the bridge pickup is a humbucker (Fender's own Fastlane pickup). This one also sports a compound radius, together with the D-profile neck, the guitar moves away from traditional specs. Downright desirable but it's gonna be costly.

Pic: Fender

Ultra-core

Fender has new strings. They call it the Ultra Core. When was the last time you bought a pack of Fender strings? More importantly, when was the last time you bought a pack of Fender strings & actually like them? As for me, the last time I bought a pack of Fender strings were the bullet end ones, which got stuck in the trem block holes.

Pic: Fender

Strobo

Really hope this one isn't a hyped up tuner pedal. It's always good to have strobe tech in tuners to enhance accuracy. It's already sold out in Japan...

Pic: Fender