The American Performer series represents the point of entry for players looking for an American-made instrument from Fender. This Stratocaster, which comes in a luscious Honey Burst finish and is hand-built in California, delivers the classic single coil Strat sound with a few modern adjustments and comes at an astonishingly affordable price. It's impossible these days to imagine a world without Fender's legendary Stratocaster, the first guitar to feature three pickups and one of the most versatile models in the history of music. And with its brand-new Yosemite pickups, Greasebucket tone circuit, and push-pull pot for the neck pickup, the American Performer Stratocaster also expands the Strat's already impressive repertoire and delivers an outstanding sound, classic looks, and excellent playability. All in all, this is a sophisticated and stage-worthy instrument that is ideal for musicians who want to be heard.
At a first glance, the American Performer Stratocaster with its alder body and sweeping contours is hardly discernible from the original. And that is not a bad thing - after all, the design has remained virtually unchanged since 1954. The maple neck features a modern C profile to ensure optimum comfort for the player's fretting hand, and the fingerboard is adorned with 22 jumbo frets that make string bending extremely easy. What is more, the back of the neck features a satin finish, so moving around the neck will be easy no matter how sweaty things get on stage. The body also features a vintage six-point Synchronized Tremolo that is perfect for subtle, expressive use when playing chords and melodies. All of these features combine to create a guitar that unites traditional looks with modern playability and comfort.
The American Performer series has been designed for guitarists who love the timeless style of Fender instruments but don't want to forego the enhanced functionality provided by modern features. This model has the proven combination of an alder body, maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard found on classic Strats, but also delivers extra sonic options that not every Strat can deliver thanks to its Yosemite pickups. These have been specially selected for each model and each pickup position, and they are calibrated to produce a uniform level of volume in every combination. While a conventional tone control merely "rolls off" the treble frequencies to produce a more bass-heavy sound, the Greasebucket circuit works like a band-pass filter that tames the high-end response while ensuring that the guitar's signal does not lose any gain or sound muffled.
Fender is without doubt one of the most legendary guitar and amplifier manufacturers of all time. The company was founded in 1946 by its namesake Leo Fender († 1991), whose innovative ideas brought a breath of fresh air into the musical world. His Telecaster, Stratocaster, Precision Bass, and Jazz Bass are not only classics – they also continue to shape the styles of musicians in countless genres to this day. Timeless Fender amplifier models such as the Bassman, Twin, Deluxe, and Princeton also enjoy a stellar reputation. Besides maintaining its classic product portfolio, however, the company is also constantly developing new products that make Fender a driving force in today’s music industry.
If you could only play one guitar ever again, the Fender American Performer Stratocaster would be an excellent candidate: A "real Fender" that is hand-made in the USA and offers a greater level of sonic versatility than the majority of its contemporaries. The push-pull potentiometer in the second tone control position activates the neck pickup whatever position the selector switch is in, which makes it possible to combine the bridge and neck pickups (as can be done on a Telecaster as standard) or even have all three pickups working at once. Very few guitars have found use in as many different genres as the Stratocaster, which is associated with legendary names like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Nile Rodgers, John Frusciante, and George Harrison. Of course, countless other guitarists from the fields of Blues, Disco, Funk, Soul, and Classic Rock also swear by this classic American instrument.