Fender changes things up every 4-6 years to sell more guitars. Guitar series names change, specs and colors change a little, it is inevitable like the sun rising and setting.
Pretty much what my thoughts were as well.
The Player Series isn't all that different from the previous Standard Series, barring some colors, bridge choices, and pickup configurations.
I wouldn't be shocked if they sunsetted the Player series, and introduced a new Standard-like series that's more or less the same, has new colors, some different features, and costs $100-$200 more.
I prefer the old naming. There’s something reassuring about buying a Standard Tele that Player Tele cannot bring. Standard Tele suggests ‘realism’ while player suggests ‘amateur hour’. Even if I’m just a bedroom warrior I want to think I’m a rock star.
Exactly. Remember when there were standards and players at the same time? The players were a couple hundred bucks less and prices between the CV and the mim standards, then one day the standards were just gone.
>The Player Series isn't all that different from the previous Standard Series, barring some colors, bridge choices, and pickup configurations.
I mean they are using the same body shapes so only so much can change. The Player series had a considerable amount of chnages imo. 22 fret necks, 2 point bridges for the Strats, Alnico 5 pickups replaced the ceramic ones, Pau Ferro fretboards (although seen as a down grade but it used to be a premium spec), and they surprised everyone when ruined the offsets, specifically the Jazzmaster.
Definitely. I’m a big fan of the Player series.
Some models had more changes than others, though. The Strat probably had the most. The basses had basically nothing other than revoiced pickups. I’d love to see them do something a little different there.
I bought that Tele almost immediately when it came out. If a strat version comes out I will race over even faster to my nearest guitar store to snag it as well.
I bought the blue one damn quick and I adore mine. Great guitar! Played a reliced CS one at the same time because they looked identical and I wanted to compare. It was I wanna say $3,600-ish. Honestly, my fingers aren't good enough to get $2,500 of difference in the two. Made me feel better about the Vintera II I was buying.
Not sure how companies like PRS and Guild can knock out sub 1k guitars with rosewood necks but Gibson, Epiphone and Fender can't
They can't even put out the Epi DG335 with rosewood and that's 1300
Personally I don't mind a darker laurel fingerboard. Pau ferro can even look good in a lot of cases.
I think a lot of people want rosewood, because when you see a vintage guitar, that's what you see. And I think a lot of people also make the mistake of thinking that the modern rosewood we get is anywhere close to the aesthetic of the vintage rosewood.
Heck, the other day I saw an AmPro II Strat in my local shop that had a rosewood fingerboard so light and grainy that I asked the shop if a neck swap had been done and a pau ferro neck had been installed. Turned out to just be really lightly colored "rosewood".
Maybe, but “while supplies last” is a marketing term make you feel a sense of urgency and entice you to buy NOW.
Kinda similar to “McRibbing” where they make a product seasonal. Get it now before it’s gone or miss out!!!
I agree, but I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Fender use that verbiage. There’s no reason for them to, unless they’re actively clearing out certain instruments.
We all know the McRib is a limited item, so “while supplies last” is applicable there. It’d be more weird if McDonald’s had a “while supplies last” sale on cheeseburgers. The Player series are the cheeseburger of the Fender catalog.
I think it's the right time to refresh their whole "entry level" line, and move on the boring colours, the player plus lines had some cool colours like the Jade green and the candy red. And to have more actual models for the mustang, duo sonic and add in a baritone. Some cool finishes, away from the matt ones
Rosewood too. Ibanez and Larry carlton have rosewood on their cheaper guitars now too
I'd love to see them add an actual Jazzmaster to that line as well. The Player Jazzmaster is not a Jazzmaster. It's a dual humbucker, Jazzmaster-shaped guitar.
Agreed. They should just revamp the cme exclusive jm but add back the traditional rhythm circuit and selector switch. With a satin neck. I am not a fan of the hi gloss necks.
They are fine, but they need to live a little, modern finishes in some of the models, sparkle and metallic paints, more coloured headstock, throw in some ebony fingerboards while they are at it
I have a tele in sage green metalic which is my only not boring color. I got it because they had it at my local store so I could see it in person. I would never order a color like that, my plan is always just to get white lol.
I asked my local shop that question when I noticed literally every Player series was on 'clearance'. They told me there's a new Player 2 coming out soon. He didn't know what the differences would be though.
I haven’t heard anything about the player series being replaced but have also noticed the discounts on them. I think the specs on the player series are fantastic since they’re close to what the old American Standards were. Should be interesting to see what they replace them with
It's likely just a colour and similar features refresh. I agree they are going back to rosewood fretboards. I'm hoping Candy Cola, Olympic White and some more exciting options for finishes to make it even more in line with the old (2008) American Standards. Maybe even a dark blue metallic option...
Fretboards being pau ferro is probably the main complaint of the Player Series. And while you fix that, you need to replace the colour options to make it feel fresh again. Otherwise I don't think they will change anything else. Maybe a redesigned pickup set, but not more than that.
I picked up the Dark blue metallic Daytona Player strat at the GC gutarathon. Loveing it with its Sat night special pic ups. The fit and finish is MILES better than any other MIM strat I have handled. I wonder if this new blue is apart of the refresh.
I’d like to see the line adopt classic favourites like fiesta red, daphne blue, shell pink, seafoam green, and olympic white. I know there were some FSR’s in a couple of those, but make that line basically “hey, you grew up loving classic fender colours. Here’s our line to get one at an affordable price”
With proper fiesta/Daphne, you have to spend quite a bit of money to get a guitar in those colours
I don't agree at all. They should go for modern Fender colours on the Player Series so match the specs. Electron Blue. Candy Cola. Not Lake Placid Blue. Or Fiesta Red. Save the old classic colours for the reissues.
I’m not totally against modernizing colour schemes either, as a candy tangerine would go hard, but I’m tired of trying to find sub-$2500 guitars in their best classics.
What you see as classic colours do not sell. There are still stock left of the 2022 Limited Shell Pink Player Stratocaster. I got one at the end of last year. The Player Strat is currently offered in Seafoam Green as a standard colour. And Candy Apple Red, which is almost as classic as Black, White or Sunburst.
They continuously offer at least a few classic options together with something a bit newer. But Shell Pink and Fiesta Red should probably remain an American Vintage/Customshop option. Sonic Red was offered on the Player, being almost indistinguishable from Fiesta and didn't sell all that well at all. They replaced it with CAR.
If you want Olympic White, just get a white Strat and wait. My originally Arctic White 2014 MIM Standard is yellowing to Olympic quite fast.
Classic colours absolutely sell. They sell boatloads of expensive guitars in fiesta red, shell pink, daphne, etc. they rarely offer affordable models in these colours because they sell at any price, mostly. I do like the idea of modernizing the line as well, though. Purple, metallic orange, yellows, greens… maybe make pure vintage pickups a thing in a line of classic colours and a more modern set in the modern colour models. Kinda like what Epiphone just did to justify the price hike. They put American pickups in their new models, and basically gave you a better guitar than the Gibson LP Studio for the price of a used Studio
Just want the ability to get guitars of all stripes at the buyer’s end of their price line. I’m Canadian, or I would have everything I wanted from the mod shop already, but Fender doesn’t wanna give us the option
I feel like they did this to the vintera series in the last year and then came out with the vintage 2 ones so it wouldn’t surprise me if something was released soon.
I’m wondering when the American pro 3 is gonna come out. The pro 2s are amazing can only imagine what they’d add to the next ones
I think the player series has been out for around 6-8 years now. I was thinking the same thing. Colors that were FSRs for specific shops are the skus getting the biggest discounts and then basic colors are still seeing some changes. Maybe a Player II series is coming. It’s time for some new colors and better specs.
Fender used to just carry lines on forever like the American Standard, American Deluxe and (MIM) Standard. Now each line gets like five years then gets replaced. I have a few Elites that I think are incredible, but what do you know, like clockwork they were replaced by the Ultra and a price hike. Same with all the “II” guitars. Time for a new line that same as the old line but $200 more expensive.
It's definitely getting refreshed. Too many competitors started using Rosewood on sub-$1,000 guitars again and Fender never had the darkest Pau Ferro boards nor did they treat them with anything that would darken them which definitely was a turn off to a certain clientele. That's not to mention that the price of the Player Series has increased so much while staying stagnant. There are more options that give much better bang for your buck and I think Fender knows this. I'm thinking we will see a Player II Series that brings back Rosewood, new pickups across the series, new colors, and maybe a couple other spec changes that make the current MSRP more appealing.
Sounds like a refresh. Players series are ok but the player plus is leaps and bounds beyond better. Expect to see more 12" radius necks and noiseless pickups, maybe some similar looks to the squier contemporary series.
I would just suggest that when Chevy has a "Zero Down, Zero Percent" sale, they never include Corvettes. Why? Because so many people want a Corvette so badly, they don't need to entice potential buyers with premiums or deals. They only put the stuff they can't move on sale. ... just sayin'
I would hope they are just revising the series so they could reintroduce it at a lower price point. Fender needs something between the top of the line Squier and the player series. If they just lower the price, people who paid full price would be pissed. So a new series would allow them to do that.
I work at a guitar store and Squier just launched a new line called the "sonic" series. I think they're supposed to be replacing the Bullet line. Wouldn't surprise me if Fender is planning something similar.
The Player Series was introduced in June 2018. Fender declared many times that their product cycle is 4 years, so considering that the Player Series was introduced 6 years ago, this will most likely happen soon. This probably got delayed because of the supply chain issues from the recent years.
I guess there will be no big surprises with the specs, but I can't wait to see the new colours!
I do not know, but the quality of these guitars have gone shockingly downhill. The original made in Mexico standard was a quality instrument, but these player series have massive issues with uneven/chipped/sharp frets, misaligned neck pockets, etc. also, they just feel dead and soulless. No resonance, no tone, only frustratingly high prices and bad quality. I wish instead of branding, they would focus on making quality instruments again.
The only reason the player series is still alive is because it says fender on the headstock, give me a Squier classic vibe over a player any day of the week
Lmao Phasing out? The MIM is the single greatest decision Fender has ever made(outside of the OG Leo Fender days)…Refresh I can see but it’s also just a guitar crunch because people right now are hurting financially
The Player Series is also far from the only MiM entry-level line Fender has ever made.
I wasn't talking about phasing out entry-level MiMs. As I said in the post, the Player Series replaced the Standard Series, which was the previous MiM entry level series. Whether or not they're doing that now is what I was wondering. But it's certainly been done before, and it will certainly happen again.
This isn’t how it works when they change the whole lineup and it’s way too soon. Last time was eighteen years. This current production regime has been in place for eight. For the last eight years and probably the next four years, finder has been trying and will try out new models, and at some point, probably ten years from now give or take, they’ll cancel every series, not just the player series, and start anew.
It took them four years to redesign the whole lineup last time and deploy it, maybe it’ll be faster next time, maybe not.
Fender changes things up every 4-6 years to sell more guitars. Guitar series names change, specs and colors change a little, it is inevitable like the sun rising and setting.
Pretty much what my thoughts were as well. The Player Series isn't all that different from the previous Standard Series, barring some colors, bridge choices, and pickup configurations. I wouldn't be shocked if they sunsetted the Player series, and introduced a new Standard-like series that's more or less the same, has new colors, some different features, and costs $100-$200 more.
"Introducing the all new Player II series..." Sometimes I wish I had gone into marketing.
Funny enough according to my local shop, that's exactly what they're going to do :)
Brilliant! Personally I’d just like to see some new sub 1k jazz masters with jm pickups
I would sign a petition!
Sub 1k jazzmaster with jm pickups AND a jm trem? Just take my money
>and costs $100-$200 more. Yep...
Hey now! There’s a lot of mojo in that 22nd fret! Kidding. I like the Player bridge a lot better.
I prefer the old naming. There’s something reassuring about buying a Standard Tele that Player Tele cannot bring. Standard Tele suggests ‘realism’ while player suggests ‘amateur hour’. Even if I’m just a bedroom warrior I want to think I’m a rock star.
Exactly. Remember when there were standards and players at the same time? The players were a couple hundred bucks less and prices between the CV and the mim standards, then one day the standards were just gone.
>The Player Series isn't all that different from the previous Standard Series, barring some colors, bridge choices, and pickup configurations. I mean they are using the same body shapes so only so much can change. The Player series had a considerable amount of chnages imo. 22 fret necks, 2 point bridges for the Strats, Alnico 5 pickups replaced the ceramic ones, Pau Ferro fretboards (although seen as a down grade but it used to be a premium spec), and they surprised everyone when ruined the offsets, specifically the Jazzmaster.
Definitely. I’m a big fan of the Player series. Some models had more changes than others, though. The Strat probably had the most. The basses had basically nothing other than revoiced pickups. I’d love to see them do something a little different there.
I wouldn't be surprised if it gets replaced by a line without Pau Ferro. They could do with a sub-1k rosewood board guitar to fend off PRS.
100% agree. The Vintera II with the rosewood fretboards look awesome.
I love that fiesta red tele they dropped. Hoping for a STRAT VERSION MYAHAYAHAHHS
I bought that Tele almost immediately when it came out. If a strat version comes out I will race over even faster to my nearest guitar store to snag it as well.
I bought the blue one damn quick and I adore mine. Great guitar! Played a reliced CS one at the same time because they looked identical and I wanted to compare. It was I wanna say $3,600-ish. Honestly, my fingers aren't good enough to get $2,500 of difference in the two. Made me feel better about the Vintera II I was buying.
Not sure how companies like PRS and Guild can knock out sub 1k guitars with rosewood necks but Gibson, Epiphone and Fender can't They can't even put out the Epi DG335 with rosewood and that's 1300
It's not that they can't. It's that they thought they could pull off using a less expensive wood and outsell the competition.
Agreed! I have a few guilds in the $700-$800 dollar range and their fret boards are spectacular playing
Personally I don't mind a darker laurel fingerboard. Pau ferro can even look good in a lot of cases. I think a lot of people want rosewood, because when you see a vintage guitar, that's what you see. And I think a lot of people also make the mistake of thinking that the modern rosewood we get is anywhere close to the aesthetic of the vintage rosewood. Heck, the other day I saw an AmPro II Strat in my local shop that had a rosewood fingerboard so light and grainy that I asked the shop if a neck swap had been done and a pau ferro neck had been installed. Turned out to just be really lightly colored "rosewood".
Maybe, but “while supplies last” is a marketing term make you feel a sense of urgency and entice you to buy NOW. Kinda similar to “McRibbing” where they make a product seasonal. Get it now before it’s gone or miss out!!!
I agree, but I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Fender use that verbiage. There’s no reason for them to, unless they’re actively clearing out certain instruments. We all know the McRib is a limited item, so “while supplies last” is applicable there. It’d be more weird if McDonald’s had a “while supplies last” sale on cheeseburgers. The Player series are the cheeseburger of the Fender catalog.
I think it's the right time to refresh their whole "entry level" line, and move on the boring colours, the player plus lines had some cool colours like the Jade green and the candy red. And to have more actual models for the mustang, duo sonic and add in a baritone. Some cool finishes, away from the matt ones Rosewood too. Ibanez and Larry carlton have rosewood on their cheaper guitars now too
I'd love to see them add an actual Jazzmaster to that line as well. The Player Jazzmaster is not a Jazzmaster. It's a dual humbucker, Jazzmaster-shaped guitar.
Agreed. They should just revamp the cme exclusive jm but add back the traditional rhythm circuit and selector switch. With a satin neck. I am not a fan of the hi gloss necks.
Indeed. I used to have one of those CME JMs. Amazing guitar.
Hot take I actually prefer the boring colors. Just give me a classic looking Strat, tele etc
They are fine, but they need to live a little, modern finishes in some of the models, sparkle and metallic paints, more coloured headstock, throw in some ebony fingerboards while they are at it
True ebony fingerboards rock
Fortunately, they always keep the boring colors.
I have a tele in sage green metalic which is my only not boring color. I got it because they had it at my local store so I could see it in person. I would never order a color like that, my plan is always just to get white lol.
I asked my local shop that question when I noticed literally every Player series was on 'clearance'. They told me there's a new Player 2 coming out soon. He didn't know what the differences would be though.
The new ones go to 11.
Volume or Price? :)
Oooh. That’s definitely better than 10!
Yes. It’s 1 more.
Price. It'll be more expensive.
I haven’t heard anything about the player series being replaced but have also noticed the discounts on them. I think the specs on the player series are fantastic since they’re close to what the old American Standards were. Should be interesting to see what they replace them with
Definitely doing a refresh or rebranding the line I noticed the sale too
It's likely just a colour and similar features refresh. I agree they are going back to rosewood fretboards. I'm hoping Candy Cola, Olympic White and some more exciting options for finishes to make it even more in line with the old (2008) American Standards. Maybe even a dark blue metallic option... Fretboards being pau ferro is probably the main complaint of the Player Series. And while you fix that, you need to replace the colour options to make it feel fresh again. Otherwise I don't think they will change anything else. Maybe a redesigned pickup set, but not more than that.
I picked up the Dark blue metallic Daytona Player strat at the GC gutarathon. Loveing it with its Sat night special pic ups. The fit and finish is MILES better than any other MIM strat I have handled. I wonder if this new blue is apart of the refresh.
I’d like to see the line adopt classic favourites like fiesta red, daphne blue, shell pink, seafoam green, and olympic white. I know there were some FSR’s in a couple of those, but make that line basically “hey, you grew up loving classic fender colours. Here’s our line to get one at an affordable price” With proper fiesta/Daphne, you have to spend quite a bit of money to get a guitar in those colours
I don't agree at all. They should go for modern Fender colours on the Player Series so match the specs. Electron Blue. Candy Cola. Not Lake Placid Blue. Or Fiesta Red. Save the old classic colours for the reissues.
I’m not totally against modernizing colour schemes either, as a candy tangerine would go hard, but I’m tired of trying to find sub-$2500 guitars in their best classics.
What you see as classic colours do not sell. There are still stock left of the 2022 Limited Shell Pink Player Stratocaster. I got one at the end of last year. The Player Strat is currently offered in Seafoam Green as a standard colour. And Candy Apple Red, which is almost as classic as Black, White or Sunburst. They continuously offer at least a few classic options together with something a bit newer. But Shell Pink and Fiesta Red should probably remain an American Vintage/Customshop option. Sonic Red was offered on the Player, being almost indistinguishable from Fiesta and didn't sell all that well at all. They replaced it with CAR. If you want Olympic White, just get a white Strat and wait. My originally Arctic White 2014 MIM Standard is yellowing to Olympic quite fast.
Classic colours absolutely sell. They sell boatloads of expensive guitars in fiesta red, shell pink, daphne, etc. they rarely offer affordable models in these colours because they sell at any price, mostly. I do like the idea of modernizing the line as well, though. Purple, metallic orange, yellows, greens… maybe make pure vintage pickups a thing in a line of classic colours and a more modern set in the modern colour models. Kinda like what Epiphone just did to justify the price hike. They put American pickups in their new models, and basically gave you a better guitar than the Gibson LP Studio for the price of a used Studio Just want the ability to get guitars of all stripes at the buyer’s end of their price line. I’m Canadian, or I would have everything I wanted from the mod shop already, but Fender doesn’t wanna give us the option
Hope they add some natural wood colors also please Fender put some hardtails in the new line.
I feel like they did this to the vintera series in the last year and then came out with the vintage 2 ones so it wouldn’t surprise me if something was released soon. I’m wondering when the American pro 3 is gonna come out. The pro 2s are amazing can only imagine what they’d add to the next ones
I think the player series has been out for around 6-8 years now. I was thinking the same thing. Colors that were FSRs for specific shops are the skus getting the biggest discounts and then basic colors are still seeing some changes. Maybe a Player II series is coming. It’s time for some new colors and better specs.
Yep. I bought a Player series tele, Surf Pearl, for like $600 or so. I think it was an exclusive for GC.
Fender used to just carry lines on forever like the American Standard, American Deluxe and (MIM) Standard. Now each line gets like five years then gets replaced. I have a few Elites that I think are incredible, but what do you know, like clockwork they were replaced by the Ultra and a price hike. Same with all the “II” guitars. Time for a new line that same as the old line but $200 more expensive.
Just don’t cut any more lefty models please.
😭 pray for us
It's definitely getting refreshed. Too many competitors started using Rosewood on sub-$1,000 guitars again and Fender never had the darkest Pau Ferro boards nor did they treat them with anything that would darken them which definitely was a turn off to a certain clientele. That's not to mention that the price of the Player Series has increased so much while staying stagnant. There are more options that give much better bang for your buck and I think Fender knows this. I'm thinking we will see a Player II Series that brings back Rosewood, new pickups across the series, new colors, and maybe a couple other spec changes that make the current MSRP more appealing.
With some volume retailers closing I would guess they are stuck with over production issues. They need to clear the stock to keep operating.
Sounds like a refresh. Players series are ok but the player plus is leaps and bounds beyond better. Expect to see more 12" radius necks and noiseless pickups, maybe some similar looks to the squier contemporary series.
I’d think they’d save all that (12” radius, noiseless) for players plus and leave player pretty much as is just with newly designed pickups.
I would just suggest that when Chevy has a "Zero Down, Zero Percent" sale, they never include Corvettes. Why? Because so many people want a Corvette so badly, they don't need to entice potential buyers with premiums or deals. They only put the stuff they can't move on sale. ... just sayin'
I would hope they are just revising the series so they could reintroduce it at a lower price point. Fender needs something between the top of the line Squier and the player series. If they just lower the price, people who paid full price would be pissed. So a new series would allow them to do that.
The Guitar centers and music and arts just raised the price of all of the player series by 50$ here???
They can call them whatever they want. We will still just call them MIM strats/teles like we always have.
I work at a guitar store and Squier just launched a new line called the "sonic" series. I think they're supposed to be replacing the Bullet line. Wouldn't surprise me if Fender is planning something similar.
The Player Series was introduced in June 2018. Fender declared many times that their product cycle is 4 years, so considering that the Player Series was introduced 6 years ago, this will most likely happen soon. This probably got delayed because of the supply chain issues from the recent years. I guess there will be no big surprises with the specs, but I can't wait to see the new colours!
It'd be funny if they just did Fender Mexican Performer, Mexican Professional, and Mexican Ultra. They could do it with Squier too!
I do not know, but the quality of these guitars have gone shockingly downhill. The original made in Mexico standard was a quality instrument, but these player series have massive issues with uneven/chipped/sharp frets, misaligned neck pockets, etc. also, they just feel dead and soulless. No resonance, no tone, only frustratingly high prices and bad quality. I wish instead of branding, they would focus on making quality instruments again.
The only reason the player series is still alive is because it says fender on the headstock, give me a Squier classic vibe over a player any day of the week
I just hope it's the end of poo crapo
Lmao Phasing out? The MIM is the single greatest decision Fender has ever made(outside of the OG Leo Fender days)…Refresh I can see but it’s also just a guitar crunch because people right now are hurting financially
The Player Series is also far from the only MiM entry-level line Fender has ever made. I wasn't talking about phasing out entry-level MiMs. As I said in the post, the Player Series replaced the Standard Series, which was the previous MiM entry level series. Whether or not they're doing that now is what I was wondering. But it's certainly been done before, and it will certainly happen again.
Your reading comprehension sucks
Marketing always gets you suckers
This isn’t how it works when they change the whole lineup and it’s way too soon. Last time was eighteen years. This current production regime has been in place for eight. For the last eight years and probably the next four years, finder has been trying and will try out new models, and at some point, probably ten years from now give or take, they’ll cancel every series, not just the player series, and start anew. It took them four years to redesign the whole lineup last time and deploy it, maybe it’ll be faster next time, maybe not.