Fender has kicked the board and redefined the rules of the musical instrument market more than once. Every time, the waves that came after the initial earthquake reshaped the map.
I know I’m blowing a scoop here, but they did it again, folks. The re-release of the Standard Series might change the game of the lower-mid-priced guitar and bass market shortly.
You might be tempted to say I’m going too far with my opinion here, but we got our hands on the newest entrants to the Fender lineup after they were unveiled at NAMM this year. So, don’t worry, everything I say here is backed up with feeling and playing these guitars.
I’m going into the details and tell you the good, the bad, the ugly, and the amazing.
The new Fender Standard Series is not to be kept waiting, so, shall we?
The Fender Standard Series
On the first day of NAMM ’25, Fender surprised everyone with a brand-new line of instruments — well, more like a re-release of a series the brand had in the past.
The line is comprised of:
- SSS and HSS Stratocasters
- Telecasters
- Jazz Bass
- Precision Bass
- Acoustasonic Telecaster
- Acoustasonic Jazzmaster
The solid-body electrics are made of poplar, which is an affordable replacement for Fender’s number-one wood of choice, alder. Although it’s a step up from the Squier Classic Vibe 60s Stratocaster, for example, that sports a nyatoh body.
Moving to the neck, it’s made of maple, as you would expect, and comes with a maple or an Indian laurel fingerboard. This is exactly what you’d find in the same Classic Vibe mentioned above, and is far from the Player II and its slab board rosewood fingerboard.
The satin finish feels velvety to the hand and, if you live in a humid area (my case, sadly), you can be sure your hand will never stick to the back of the neck and slow you down. This is a feature also found in the Player II Series but not in the Classic Vibe guitar.
The frets on the Classic Vibe are the typical vintage narrow-and-tall frets while the Player II and the Standard come with medium-jumbo frets. The standard comes with 21 frets, which, to me, is a mistake. We like that extra space and this is not a vintage-style guitar. For example, it features a modern two-pivot tremolo system instead of the six-springs one.
Fender Standard Series Stratocaster in Candy Cola - the new Standard series guitars come with 21 frets.
In comparison, the Player II series (which was released last year, and costs $200 more than the Standard series on average) offers 22 frets, which is the standard for Strats.
Another mismatch, in my opinion, and I will get to this in detail per guitar, it’s the ceramic pickups. They just lack the proper Fender-esque thing that alnico has. They do sound bigger, bolder, with more gain, but they don’t have the tone or color alnico pickups have.
That said, and more about this later, the humbucker in the HSS is mighty, oh mighty!
Finally, these guitars come with no gig bag and are currently the most affordable Fender model.
The Fender Standard Series Stratocaster
The Standard Stratocaster comes in two configurations: SSS and HSS.
Let me begin by saying that the slightly rolled edges of the fretboard along with the 9.5” radius make this a guitar you can’t stop playing. The whole thing feels like it fits your hand as an old friend. Although it comes with 21 frets, chords and leads were comfy to play all over.
The playability and finish are superb. I had the Candy Cola in my hands and the maple fretboard sounds and feels just like it should.
Perhaps, in this configuration (SSS with a maple neck) the brightness of the pickups is even more pronounced. The guitar has some of that Strat-approved glassy quality, but it’s something you can’t tame even in the neck position. That said, I especially liked positions 2 and 4. They gave me that quintessential Strat sound we all love.
The HSS model transforms as you flip the switch back and isn’t as balanced as I would have liked it to be. You feel a gain but also a volume push when you play the humbucker. It’s round and mighty and helps bring the guitar’s brightness down a bit. It has a mid-infused rocking tone with a tight bottom end.
The Indian laurel fretboard adds a bit of sweetness to the mix and leads sound more bluesy than shreddy. That said, this guitar works great in all its combinations.
As your first real Stratocaster, to add a new flavor to the arsenal, or to go on tour leaving your CS behind, this guitar is just perfect. Perhaps, if you want to make it even more Strat-sounding, you can upgrade to some alnico pickups. But it’s nothing urgent.
The Fender Standard Series Telecaster
The Fender Standard Telecaster in butterscotch blonde with a black pickguard and a maple fretboard is as close as it gets to the icon. I’m telling you, when you strap this guitar on, what you get is the feeling that you’re playing a guitar that sounds and plays like a real Fender Blackguard Telecaster.
This is not a minor detail, it’s one of the most famous solid-body electric guitars in history. And it looks just like it, with a couple of welcome upgrades.
For example, it comes with a six-saddle bridge and a 9.5” radius. This improves the guitar’s playability. I know, it drifts from the vintage design, but it’s easier and more accurate to adjust intonation and bend beyond the 12th fret.
The string-through-body design and metal bridge give this guitar that Keith-Richards-approved Tele twang and honk that made rock and roll a thing back in the day. If you know a couple of Stones riffs and play them with this guitar, you’re very close to the original.
Perhaps, what I found that’s not so Fender-esque is that the ceramic magnet gives, especially to the bridge pickup, a distinct fatness. It sounds big and round and it has some serious body. That’s an unexpected thing that’s not entirely bad, but different.
Finally, and here I think is the biggest difference, the poplar body sounds more tamed than the ash body in the Player II Series Telecaster and not as vibrant as the Classic Vibe’s pine body.
Although this difference is something that’s more for the player than the listener (these wood types react differently to your playing), they’re very noticeable. In this sense, the Indian laurel fretboard proved to be a better combination for poplar to my ears. The roundness was better and the ceramic pickups reacted better to that extra low-mid in the overall sound.
I’d say that, as your first Fender Telecaster, as an extra guitar for the collection, or even as your main and only instrument, this guitar continues the tradition of the Telecaster as the workhorse of the working musician or the songwriter’s tool.
Basses & Acoustasonics
Just to mention them briefly, the Standard Series doesn’t just have the solid-body electric guitars mentioned above. It also offers a Precision Bass and a Jazz Bass model featuring the same wood combination and pickup magnet. Both come with maple or maple and Indian laurel necks with 20 medium-jumbo frets and a 9.5” fretboard radius.
The Precision Bass can do that bigger-than-life low-end while keeping the mids sharp and focused. Playing it with a pick you’re in Ramones’s territory, and with your fingers you’re in Pino Paladino’s land. The Jazz, to my ears, was a little unbalanced between pickups but sounded great nonetheless.
The acoustasonics are even more of a surprise for their price range. They don’t have all the fancy appointments of the US or the Mexican-made version, but they’re the working guitarist’s dream. You can go from a Shawbucker to a piezo system, and even blend the two by turning a single knob. I fell in love with the acoustic sound and the whole practicality and portability.
That said, I did miss some of that Fender-esque twang and percussiveness with the nyatoh body and neck. Finally, the Shawbucker sounds great and very articulate. I loved the blended-in sound with 30% magnetic and 70% electric and some mild delay and reverb trails behind.
Fender’s Smart Move
Now that you know about these guitars in-depth, let me share the other part with you; the part about Fender’s move.
To begin with, none of us knew anything about the release of these models. They surprised everyone at NAMM’s day one. No wonder that’s what everybody is talking about, it’s a great marketing trick. But that’s not all.
Epiphone, Gibson’s second brand, overhauled its entire mid-tier range with Inspired-By-Gibson guitars. They released heavy-weight models like Dave Grohl’s and Kirk Hammett’s “Greeny”. They seemed to be made to compete against Fender’s mid-tier, the acclaimed Player II Series, revamped entirely very recently.
Gibson/Epiphone invested heavily in this market segment and now Fender doubles the bet releasing Fender-branded instruments at half the price. I’m guessing Epiphone and Gibson executives are going “And now what?!”
I think this was a smart move by Fender aiming to kick the board and redefine what to expect from an instrument in this price range. As always, waves will be made and other companies will respond. It’s a good time to be alive and try those guitars too.
A Recent Attempt
This isn’t the first time that the company with the Big F tried to make Fender-labeled guitars in Asia. What’s the difference between those guitars and these new ones? Well, they weren’t just an experiment in terms of the origin, they were odd guitars. I remember the made-in-China Fender Coronado and Starcaster. They were discontinued very shortly after their release.
The middle step was building Tom Delonge’s signature Starcaster guitar in Indonesia. The results were so good that Fender decided to put not only the company name but its most iconic models in the line this time.
If they succeed in making this new Indonesian-made Fender line a hit, the map will be redefined for all the competition.
A Great In-between Step
When you, as a Fender player, “graduate” from Squier, the Player II Series is, at least, twice the money you paid for your instrument. There was nothing between Classic Vibe and the Player II Series.
Justin Norvell, Fender’s Executive VP of product recently said, “A Player series Strat at one point was $500/$600 – and that doesn't exist anymore. So that's how it was born: we wanted to make Fender more affordable and to a wider amount of people.”
The price of a MIM Fender created a big gap between the top of the Squier line and the bottom of the Fender line. Perhaps, Fender was losing customers in that price range. Furthermore, according to Justin Norvell, this wasn’t always the case. He also said, “Squier and Fender used to touch each other, basically – and I think Squier does have a ceiling and the Player Series has moved up – but Fender is always supposed to be accessible.”
Finally, this aligns not only with the legacy and spirit of the brand but also with its history. Regarding this, he said, “It was called the ‘working man's guitar’ back in the day, so that's been our goal. We were like, ‘Well, how do we do this?’ We're not just plugging holes, it's a feasible instrument that could exist between Modern Classic Squiers and what a Player is.”
The Bottom End
Fender came up with an unexpected move. They created a new category, a new price range, and a way to fill the gap. Will they pull it off? Will youngsters and players in search of an affordable, classic (with a couple of modern twists) Tele, Strat, Precision, or Jazz Bass gravitate toward the Standard Series?
In my opinion, it has serious chances.
Furthermore, it’s named perfectly for what it is. They created a series of guitars that represents the Fender spirit fully, especially the no-frills approach to tone the brand is widely known for, with a name that holds no pretensions. You don’t expect exotic woods or fancy appointments from anything called “Standard”. This is exactly the case with this guitar series.
That said, a paragraph apart goes for the Acoustasonics, an innovative instrument that worked very well for Fender in recent years.
If you have the chance to try one out, go ahead and do it. To my ears and hands, they fulfill their promise sitting right between the Classic Vibe and the Player II Series with a modern approach to classic tone.
Happy playing!
