Fender’s new American Deluxe guitars debut in 2010, consisting of four Stratocaster® and two Telecaster® guitar models that bring the series singing and screaming into a new decade of tone, tradition and innovation.
The instruments are the American Deluxe Stratocaster, American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS, American Deluxe Stratocaster V Neck, American Deluxe Stratocaster Ash, American Deluxe Telecaster and American Deluxe Telecaster Ash. They differ from their predecessors of the previous incarnation of the American Deluxe series in three new and major ways:
•N3 Noiseless pickups. These replace the Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups used on previous American Deluxe Stratocaster and Telecaster models. N3 noiseless pickups, made with alnico magnets, supercharge the Stratocaster guitar’s sparkling bell-like chime and the Telecaster guitar’s signature snap, all with no hum.
•Compound radius fretboard. Never before offered as a standard feature on a Fender guitar, the 9.5”-14” compound radius fretboard allows exhilaratingly effortless string bending anywhere along the neck, letting you bend high and chord low with ease.
•Reconfigured S-1 switching. Delivers even more tonal options than before.
•New cases. Tough SKB/Fender high-tech molded cases with TSA locks.
Further new features vary by model. The Stratocaster models, for example, now have tremolo units with copper-infused blocks rather than the earlier resin-infused blocks, increasing mass and sustain. The Stratocaster HSS model also boasts an LSR roller nut for improved tuning stability and the new “passing lane” switch, which instantly routes the signal from any pickup position to the bridge position with the tone circuit bypassed, heightening overtones and volume.
And like its Stratocaster brothers, the new American Deluxe Telecaster models now have staggered locking tuners for increased sustain and improved tuning stability.
The American Deluxe series still features the body contours (except the Telecaster Ash, which has a slab body), gloss urethane finishes and medium jumbo frets as before.
