Fender's American Professional Classic family of guitars

he arrival of Fender guitars in the Crutchfield stable has thrilled the large number of musicians on our team. It's also great news that our customers can now get Fender's legendary tones with Crutchfield's legendary service. And, it coincides with the release of Fender's vintage-leaning American Professional Classic line.

It's one of the most affordable options if you’re looking for a new, American-made Fender guitar or bass. The guitar models include two Telecasters, two Stratocasters, plus a Jaguar and Jazzmaster. Bass models include a Jazz Bass, a Precision bass, and a Mustang bass — all classic designs. I really like the combination of a vintage aesthetic with subtle modern touches that enhance playability and tone in this line.

Where American Pro Classic fits in Fender's lines

Let’s orient ourselves among the different lines in Fender’s universe, because there are enough of them that it can be a little confusing at first. Everything generally fits into good, better, and best build-quality levels, and their prices reflect that. And at each level, there are a few different flavors, from more vintage spec to more modern.

American Professional Classic models use vintage-style Fender colors — like this beautiful 3-color Sunburst.

Fender’s entry-level offering is the Standard series, then you jump up to the made-in-Mexico Player II series and the Vintera II series. From there you step up into the American-made Fenders with this American Professional Classic series and the ‘70s-inspired American Performer series.

Continuing up the line of American-made Fenders, you can go for the American Professional II, American Ultra II, American Vintage II, and finally, the American Ultra Lux series.

American Professional Classic features

The gloss urethane body finishes on these guitars and basses come in some cool colors: Faded Dakota red, Faded Sherwood Green Metallic, Faded Black, Faded Firemist Gold, and Faded Lake Placid Blue. There's also 3-Color Sunburst, and — for the Telecasters — classic Butterscotch Blonde.

A Goldilocks medium C neck profile

All of the American Professional classic models have a comfy medium C back of the neck profile. It has a not-too-fat, not-too-slim feel in the cradle of your fret hand. They're finished with a smooth satin urethane that a lot of players (myself included) prefer to the more traditional gloss.

The comfy 9.5"-radius, medium C neck is finished in vintage-tint satin urethane for old-school looks and smooth playability.

All of these instruments feature a 9.5” fretboard radius. That's flatter than Fender’s vintage 7.25” spec. And all use medium jumbo fretwire for easy fretting and notes that ring clear. This all adds up to a fast and easy-playing neck.

Staggered vintage-style tuners with headstock-access truss adjustment

The Fender ClassicGear™ tuners on the guitars have a vintage look. They also feature staggered split-shaft tuning posts, for easy string changes, a perfect break angle for each string, and excellent tuning stability. I’m a big fan of the venerable and ingenious split-shaft design: simply stick the end of the string straight down into the hole, give it a 90-degree bend through one side of the shaft and tighten it up to tune.

Modern touches on the vintage-style headstock include staggered split-shaft tuners and truss rod access.

The basses use Fender’s vintage-style lollipop tuning machines, also with split-shaft posts. And all of the guitars and basses use a high-quality synthetic bone nut, which lets the strings move smoothly through its slots.

You'll find model-correct vintage-style headstock shapes with the old-school Spaghetti-script Fender logo on all models. Truss rod adjustment access is at the headstock, so you don’t have to take the neck off to adjust the fretboard relief. And the necks have a four-bolt connection to the body with another Fender logo on the neck plate.

Coastline pickups with Greasebucket tone circuit

As far as electronics go, these instruments feature model-specific versions of Fender’s Coastline pickups, which are slightly overwound to give them a bit higher output and warmer tone than more vintage spec pickups.

The American Professional Classics' Coastline pickups are slightly overwound for high output and warm tones.

And every model features Fender’s Greasebucket tone circuit, which still cuts high frequencies like a traditional tone control, but doesn’t completely squelch all treble. In practice, that means you can still get a usable tone even when you roll down the tone knob all the way down.

Should you get an American Professional Classic?

All of the instruments in this line that we’ve gotten our hands on here at Crutchfield have been great players, so if you like what you see in the specs, chances are you’ll love the way it feels in your hands.

You can check out our video demos of the American Pro Telecaster, Stratocaster, and Jazz Bass. And the line also includes a Hotshot Tele with three pickups and 5-way Stratocaster switching, and an HSS Stratocaster with a humbucker in the bridge position. There’s also a Jaguar and a Jazzmaster for those players who appreciate Fender’s lesser-known but still-around-for-a-reason models. And in addition to the Jazz Bass, there’s a Precision Bass and a short-scale Mustang Bass.

Guitar insight from our experts

Our music pros can help you choose the right guitar and answer any questions you have about the American Professional Classic line, or about any other Fender gear we carry. Give one of our Fender Advisors a call at 1-800-315-0443 or contact us online. Free lifetime tech support is included with your Crutchfield purchase.