Fender Blacktop Series

[newey]

The good news from Fender- the release of the "Blacktop Series"- a Tele, Strat, Jag or JM, your choice at $449 USD each.

Not sure where they're making these to hit that price point, but hey, it says genuwine Fender on the headstock!

www.musiciansfriend.com/blacktop

The bad news:

Each of these is equipped with "high-output Duncan-designed humbuckers". To my mind, this sort of defeats the purpose of owning a Strat, Tele, Jag or JM. If I wanted a guitar with high-output 'buckers in it, there are plenty to chose from.

And the Jag version is switched like a JM, and lacks the extra Jag switching. The JM version has the whammy, while the Jag is a hardtail (?)

But the nearest JM or Jag costwise is north of $800. I'll bet I could buy one of these for $450 and drop in a new pickguard and a set of decent SC pups, and still come out ahead. The JM would be easier, just a change of pups- to get a semi-real Jag, you'd have to get the extra switches and guard, control plate, etc.

[ijustwannastrat]

I think that grey tele and the grey Jag look sexy.

[Yew]

Hmm. these could be absolutely brilliant, or worse that a top end squirer

(ie Gibson melody maker vs Epiphone les paul supreme scenario)

one of those Jaaaaggs has a P90 in never really though of P90s as fender pickups, probs just fender thying to get on the humbucker craze thats sweeping midange guitars atm

[thetragichero]

my blacktop jazzmaster showed up at my door yesterday
i'm surprised at the quality.... fret dress is impeccable
stock pickups are pretty good but i've got some gfs pickups ready to go into them along with 500k pots for more brightness
this thing is TONS lighter than my strats/tele
already have the schaller straplocks on it, with the pickups and redone wiring this thing is going to be a PLAYER
they're made in mexica, by the way

[sbgodofmetal]

hum??? mexico huh? well i've been craving taco's and cervasas for days now ;D i've never until here recently cared for fender guitars but they're kinda growing on me especially the strat and the tele, only thing i still and will continue to hate is that darned ugly, unangled head stock...

[teking66]

Has anyone had a chance to play the Strat HSH from the Blacktop series?

Is so, How do they sound? and, are they worth the money?

[Deleted]

Oct 23, 2012 8:37:00 GMT -5 teking66 said:

Has anyone had a chance to play the Strat HSH from the Blacktop series?

Is so, How do they sound? and, are they worth the money?

from youtube videos i think they sound very good.

generally, i think that design nowadays has improved. Quality control has fallen tho. So if you are lucky to get a problem-free instrument, most probably it would play fantastic!

[Deleted]

Sorry for the late response. I played a HSH yesterday (again in Bosnia, it seems i'll do all my guitar business in former-YU), for about 30 mins. Well the quality is better than my partscaster, which i built up for 400 euros. I would like to point out :
- Made in mexico
- nice quality of the wood, of the construction
- neck feels good, but is a little bit too thick for my tastes (i liked MIA standard better in this regard)
- sounds good and the sustain is on the good side.
- electronics : i did not like them. Bridge humbucker sounded ok. Neck too weak. Also in positions 2/4 there was hum, which i find ridiculous, was coil splitting *that* hard to do?
- setup : horid, but we are talking about a place (ex-yugoslavia) where temperatures range from +40 in the summer to -20 in the summers.

[ux4484]

Zombie thread is alive!

Having two BT's (HH strat & Tele) I think they were almost made to mod.
Setupwise, My Strat needed only a slight truss adjustment after I had it about 3 months, and had been rock solid ever since. It is probably the easiest to play guitar I have, but the pups were always lacking in sound. It's now got a USA standard torty pickguard (Alnico V's) with a toneshaper in it, 2nd tone set for blender (neck or bridge blend depending on switch position). Yes, it's almost a regular Strat now, but it does play nicer than most of the MIM's I've tried, and it's got an extra fret!
The Tele's pups were lackluster as well, and they weren't even split wiring (not worth the work trying IMO). They are still selling them (and expanding the line), so it must be worth it for them.
BTW, I noticed on a John Fogerty concert televised recently that one of his guitarists was using almost EXCLUSIVELY Fender Blacktop and Pawnshop models (including a Tele HSH and a '51). It was like a commercial (John himself hardly picks up a Fender badged guitar these days).

[backwardlefty]

I wish they came in a lefty version. I'd scoop one up in a heartbeat

[ux4484]

Yea, Fender doesn't drift too far from stock offerings for lefties. Though they do have many LH models in the same price range.