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. 

 

Player II: J & J

The relatively new Player II instruments (released by Fender recently) included the Jaguar & Jazzmaster models. Note the simplicity: 1) Both models do not feature the tone circuit at the bass side cutaway 2) Both models also feature simple 3-way selectors. Reality check - these feature are somewhat preferred by many players who do not wish to meddle with switches during play. They like what the Strat & Tele have to offer in this aspect & Fender made it happen with the Player II iteration. Neat.

P II: Prices

Fender's Player II instruments are now available at Swee Lee, do note the prices above. As expected, prices are not reflective of the corresponding US listings. This anxiety (of sorts) was mentioned some days ago: CLICK 

Why am I uptight with this? 

• prices are going up, it's a cause for concern. Fender is looking for a reason to justify price hikes, launching a new series of instruments with 'different' features prove to be a good one. We all fall for this.
• price disparity - US vs SG. Need some insights to understand why prices are as such; could a single / dominant factor be it? Can that be curbed so that it's a win-win outcome for both retailers & buyers? If it continues to favour the seller, why should we even support this when there are other instruments out there?
• priced out - beginning players / students continue to be marginalized in this aspect. 

Pic: Fender

P II

Fender has 'improved' its Player Series instruments to become the Player II models. Major changes:

• Three body wood types: Alder, chambered ash, chambered mahogany
• Rosewood fretboard option (previously pau ferro)

That rosewood fretboard, well, it started with rosewood then Fender replaced it with pau ferro & it's now gone full circle. Chambered mahogany & ash bodies are interesting for Strats. The P-bass has no such options, body is alder with maple 'board. The Player II guitars were listed for USD799 on release day. This is about SGD1,072. Will be interesting to see how much these will go for once they reach here knowing that the current domestic prices for the Player Series guitars do not reflect the corresponding  US prices (USD699 / SGD938).

Pic: Fender