Fender Classic Player series Guitars

Custom Shop Designed Guitars without the fearsome price

At A&C Hamilton we love the simplicity and outright sexiness of the classic guitar designs. The Stratocaster is quite possibly our ultimate favorite! The Classic Player series manages to pull off the look and feel of an original 50's or 60's, Strat or Tele Fender guitar but can it pull off the sound and playability?

Each one of the models was designed by a Fender custom shop designer and because of this these guitars wear the badge of honour that is the "Custom shop neck plate" . Due to their Mexican manufacture however, they won't cost you a small fortune! One of the most critical factors in a guitar's design is the choice of pickups that it uses, and that's why each model in the Classic player series has a set of pickups chosen specifically to suit the desired sound of the era it's aimed at.

Starting with the Baja Telecaster, designed by Fender Master builder Chris Flemming we have an excellent recreation of a 50's era Maple neck, Ash bodied Telecaster. The neck also has a shallow "V" shape to it, ideal for wrapping your thumb up and over the top of the fret-board when you play. Tone comes courtesy of a Custom Vintage Broadcaster bridge pickup and a Custom Twisted Tele neck pickup. For even more versatility we've even been given S-1 switching to mess around with! Think Rolling Stones and twangy country when it comes to the sound and with a slightly higher action this guitar sounds superb played with a bottle neck. Available in the traditional "blonde" or the more contemporary "desert sand" finishes; the Baja Telecaster is a wonderful way for a budget conscious player to get their hands on a custom Tele.

Next up is the 50's Stratocaster designed by another Fender Master builder; Dennis Gluszka. The guitar features the tried and tested Alder body typical of the best Strats and a comfortable 9.5" radius 21-fret neck. Loaded with the excellent American Vintage series pickups and sporting an aged look with it's yellowed pickup covers and dials. Available in the rather snazzy shoreline gold or the retro Two-tone sunburst. This guitar simply fails to disappoint. Chording and rhythm work remains comfortable even for prolonged periods. (Due to the roundness of the fretboard and the size of the frets) and lead work is inspiring due to the lovely V shaped neck, which allows plenty of movement for a wide expressive vibrato this particular guitar has become one of our favorites, come in store today to check one out!

Last, and certainly not least is the 60's Stratocaster. Designed by yet another Fender Master builder Gregg Fessler. Jimi Hendrix, Mark Knoppfler, Stevie Ray Vaughn all used 60's era stratocasters because quite frankly they kick ass. Sporting Custom shop designed '69 Strat pickups custom two-point vintage tremolo (as does the 50's model) aged knobs pickup covers and a mint green (not as hideous as you would expect by the description, think off-white with a green tint) pick guard and a 21 medium jumbo fret neck with Rosewood fretboard. This guitar sounds and looks every bit the part. It plays superbly and like the 50's model is easy to play, it has a slightly different neck setup (C shape) and the fretboard is slightly flatter at 12" radius. Which means the 60's Strat has more of a leaning towards lead guitar roles This is not to say that chording is uncomfortable by any means, rather that wrist based techniques such as vibrato and bending are made easier and will be less likely to choke out on the higher frets.

All of the Custom player series guitars include a gig bag