The guitars are spec’d out down to the screws holding the pickguards in place.

After a couple of rumours, Fender’s new American Vintage II range is officially here. The range of Stratocasters, Telecasters, Jazzmasters, Precision Basses and Jazz Basses promise as-new vintage specifications without the price tag of a real vintage Fender.

The 12-guitar range spans classic Fender models from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Let’s dive into the details and take a trip through time.

This Telecaster is based on the very first guitars to bear that name – they were initially called Broadcasters, however a cease-and-desist from Gretsch (who at the time made a drumkit called the Broadkaster) stripped them of their name to create the so-called ‘Nocasters’. Inspired by the rise of Television, the Telecaster name was chosen.

Notable specs include an ash body, and a one-piece U-shaped maple neck finished in gloss nitrocellulose lacquer with a 7.25-inch radius fretboard with vintage-tall frets.

This is a very old-school P-bass indeed: there’s no split-coil hum-cancelling pickup as you would find on later models, instead there’s a single single-coil in the middle position. Other notable specifications include a two-saddle pickup and an old-school oversized Tele headstock.

This early strat features Pure Vintage electronics and hardware throughout, all recreating the specs you’d see on a 1957 Strat. The one-piece maple neck has a vintage-correct 7.25-inch radius and black dot inlays.

The body is either Ash or Alder depending on your choice of finish.

This precision bass might look a little more familiar than the 1954 version: here we have the split-coil pickup that became associated with the model, as well as a slab rosewood fretboard, clay dot inlays and a chunky C-shaped maple neck.

For the 1960s the Stratocaster also sees the addition of a Slab Rosewood fingerboard, as well as a medium C-shaped neck and a set of Pure Vintage pickups wound to 1961 specifications.

This Tele has the most dramatic tonewood shift of the guitars so far: its three-colour sunburst and Surf Green iterations both feature an alder body, while the Crimson Red Transparent finish is over a mahogany body. This change is coupled, like the other early-60s instruments, with a move to a rosewood ‘board – however round-laminated rather than slab. The old-school 7.25-inch radius remains, as do the vintage-tall frets.

This Jazz Bass has all the bells and whistles that made it a premium instrument at the time. It comes with white neck binding, pearl dots, two volume controls with master tone, and a matching painted headstock for a strikingly cool look.

This incredibly cool Jazzmaster (pictured up top) features a number of additional specifications found on 1966 units. The standard old-school rhythm circuit switching and floating vibrato are featured, as well as white neck binding, pearl block inlays and single-line “Fender Deluxe” tuners. Custom Colour iterations also feature a matching painted headstock.

The harder rock sounds of the 1970s prompted Fender to move to humbuckers, and the semi-hollow Telecaster thinline was the first of its guitars to feature them. Most notable here (and for the other wide-range humbuckers found in the range) is the inclusion of CuNiFe magnets in the pickups: this idiosyncratic alloy was used exclusively in vintage Fender wide-range humbuckers until production of it was recently restarted by Fender for vintage reissues.

The 70s strat has perhaps one defining feature: its big, chunky headstock, with dual-string trees and a bullet truss rod adjustment nut. Electronics and hardware are as they were in 1973, and finishes include Mocha, Lake Placid Blue and Aged Natural.

Here we come to Fender’s answer to the Les Paul: a dual-humbucker solidbody, again fitted with two CuNiFe wide-range humbuckers. Notably, this is the only instrument on the list to feature a flatter 9.5-inch radius rather than 7.25-inches. There’s also a three-bolt neck-plate, and a more modern six-saddle bridge.

The most recent instrument in the range, the 1977 Telecaster Custom strikes a balance between an old-school Tele and a Deluxe, with a Wide Range humbucking pickup in the neck position and a Pure Vintage ‘77 single-coil Tele pickup in the bridge position.

Find out more about the range over at fender.com.

Guitar.com is the world’s leading authority and resource for all things guitar. We provide insight and opinion about gear, artists, technique and the guitar industry for all genres and skill levels.

© 2022 Guitar.com is part of NME Networks.