NAMM 2025's Highlight is...The BRAND NEW Fender Standard Series!
Published on 23 January 2025
A new Fender range?
A very competitively-priced Fender range named the Standard Series?
What’s the story here then?
Worry not, friends. I have all the answers you seek! Read on to learn everything about the brand new Fender Standard Series…
Contents
What is the Fender Standard Series?
Why Are These Being Built in Indonesia?
Where Does the Standard Series Sit Against Fender’s Mexican Guitars?
The Fender Standard Series Range
Who is the Fender Standard Range For?
What is the Fender Standard Series?
The Fender Standard Series is a brand new range of guitars and basses from Fender. These are Fender-branded guitars and are being built in Indonesia. This will be the new entry point into the world of Fender: the most affordable way to own a Fender branded guitar.
Why Are These Being Built in Indonesia?
Fender are building this range in Indonesia for mainly economical reasons, though as we all know by now, Indonesian factories are putting out some exceptional guitars these days! They are one of the biggest guitar manufacturing countries in the world, and Fender actually have ‘past-form’ with Indonesia, having made certain models there for years. The Fender FMT Telecaster is a good example, as is the Tom DeLonge Starcaster.
This, however, is the first time in a long time that they’ve launched an entire brand that’s Indonesian. Laws in the US regarding labour costs south of the US border for American-owned companies have meant that Fender guitars that are built in Mexico will become more expensive. This is not only to offer a relatively low-cost F-branded collection of guitars, but potentially to dominate that area of the market. Who wouldn’t want a genuine Fender guitar at that price?
Where Does the Standard Series Sit Against Fender’s Mexican Guitars?
The new Fender Standard Series will be their most affordable range of Fender-branded guitars. They will be positioned above Squier instruments and just below the likes of the Player II Series from Fender Mexico. Given what we all know about Squier Classic Vibes and Player II guitars, that means that these are going to be pretty excellent guitars!
The Fender Standard Series Range
So, what guitars comprise this new range? As of January 2025, we have the following:
- Fender Standard Stratocaster
- Fender Standard Telecaster
- Fender Standard Stratocaster HSS
- Fender Standard Precision Bass
- Fender Standard Jazz Bass
So, all of the expected big hitters are included, but there are - as yet - no offsets available, so Jazzmaster and Jaguar fans will need to look to the Squier Classic Vibe offerings or aim for a pricier Mexican-made Fender.
The general specs look a little like this:
- 25.5” scale length maple necks
- 9.5” radius fingerboards in either maple or laurel
- Ceramic pickups
- Poplar bodies
- Modern bridges (i.e. two-point tremolos on the Strats) with satin steel saddles
- 3-ply pickguards
Classic Colours Resurrected
There are 6 finishes in total, with the available choices spread through the range. Do you want to hear something really cool? There are two colours here that are absolute player favourites, and they’ve not been available for years on any production model Fender guitars! I’m talking about this series’ red and blue hues, or should I say: Candy Cola and Aqua Marine Metallic!
This is quite a surprise, to be honest. Fancy colours like this are usually reserved for top-dollar Fenders, so to see them used here on such affordable guitars is a pretty excellent thing, coming from a long-term Fender aficionado.
Another lovely surprise is that the white shade is ‘proper’ Olympic White, that wonderful, slightly off-white cream colour that used to be on the American-made guitars. Still is, in fact!
Fender seem to have done a lot to make this range have its own identity that isn’t based on being the ‘cheap cousins’ of any other range.
Who is the Fender Standard Range For?
Who is the potential match for these guitars? I’m tempted to say ‘everyone’, since who doesn’t want a classic Fender at this price? Bassists in particular will really enjoy the value of being able to buy a genuine Fender Jazz or P-bass at these kinds of prices: after all, it’s industry-standard stuff from the biggest brand on the planet, at prices that will not break the bank.
But diving in deeper, these are great second guitars, excellent upgrades from Squiers, and an amazing choice for guitarists who prefer other types of guitar but want a Fender around for those moments when only a Strat or Tele will do!
On top of that, guitarists who record at home and are in need of a decent bass at a good price will likely stretch to one of these models since they are ‘proper’ Fenders that look nice, play nice and sound nice.
The New Standard
If you like electric guitars in any context, then this new Fender Standard range is big news. Over the last few years, Fender have been very astute in how they’ve dialled in new brands, and I see this move as a viable way of wiping the floor with the competition in this cutthroat area of the market. I’ve had my hands on a number of these, and whilst I’ll get into more detail about that another day, I will say that I was more than impressed with what Fender are bringing to the market at this price. I’m a fan.
All I need to do now is settle on a model and a colour…
Click to View the NEW Fender Standard Series
