Fender Guitars and Basses From the New Player Plus Edition
In 2018, Fender introduced the Player Edition to replace the popular American Standard, a line in the company's portfolio ithat included the most affordable instruments made in California. This year, the brand decided to expand the three-year-old Mexican collection with the more luxurious Fender Player Plus series. The new models differ from the previous Player models mainly in the type of pickups, the wiring of the electronics, the modified fingerboard and, last but not least, the variety of finishes.
The Fender Player Plus series consists of the Stratocaster Player Plus SSS, Stratocaster PP HSS, Telecaster PP, Nashville Telecaster PP, as well as the Precision PP bass guitar and the Jazz Bass PP, which will also be available in a five-string version. The common features of the whole collection are alder bodies, maple necks with a comfortable Modern-C profile, maple or durable pau ferro wood with rosewood properties was used for the construction of the fingerboards with a flatter 12-inch radius, the frets are medium jumbo, the walnut is made of synthetic bone and the final surface of the body is provided by a layer of polyester lacquer, the necks are sprayed with satin urethane lacquer.
The newly designed Player Plus Noiseless single-coil pickups are a major upgrade. The guitars in this collection feature lockable tuners and the aforementioned more modern fingerboard radius with rolled edges, increasing left-hand playing comfort—as owners of Fender's more expensive series can attest.
The Stratocaster SSS with its trio of single coil pickups is equipped with a two-way vibrato with block saddles, and the second tone pot features a push pull switch that allows the neck pickup to be activated in positions 1 and 2 of the main switch. An identical switch is found on the Stratocaster HSS, where the coils of the PPH (Player Plus Humbucking) bridge humbucker are opened in this way.
The Telecaster Player Plus is equipped with a Noiseless Tele bridge single and a similarly designed neck pickup with chrome cover, while the Nashville variant adds a third Player Noiseless Strat middle single. The Precision Player Plus bass guitar will offer a medium half single complemented by a single-coil JB pickup located at the Hi-Mass bridge, while the Jazz Bass Player Plus models use a pair of these pickups.
The bass guitars were given active electronics with an overall volume control, a balance potentiometer for smooth adjustment of the pickup ratio, three-band equalization and a small lever switch to choose between passive/active modes. The strings are anchored in a Hi-Mass bridge, and tuning is handled by classic open-gear tuners with large Cloverleaf tuning keys.
The official European prices of Fender Player Plus Stratocasters and Telecasters are under €1,049.00, the Stratocaster HSS and Nashville Telecaster versions cost around €1,099.00, the price tag of the four-string Precision PP and Jazz Bass PP is around €1,199.00 and the "five" version should be available for around €1,299.00. The instruments come with a deluxe padded gig bag.
Color finishes of individual models:
Fender Stratocaster Player Plus SSS: Olympic Pearl, Aged Candy Apple Red, Tequila Sunrise, 3-Tone Sunburst, Opal Spark
Fender Stratocaster Player Plus HSS: Tequila Sunrise, Silverburst, Belair Blue, Cosmic Jade, 3-Tone Sunburst
Fender Telecaster Player Plus: Cosmic Jade, Silver Smoke, Aged Candy Apple Red, 3-Tone Sunburst
Fender Telecaster Nashville Player Plus: Opal Spark, Aged Candy Apple Red, Butterscotch Blonde, 3-Tone Sunburst
Fender Precision Player Plus: 3-Tone Sunburst, Olympic Pearl, Cosmic Jade, Silver Smoke
Fender Jazz Bass Player Plus: Aged Candy Apple Red, Belair Blue, 3-Tone Sunburst, Olympic Pearl
Fender Jazz Bass Player Plus V: Tequila Sunrise, Opal Spark, 3-Tone Sunburst, Cosmic Jade
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