Fender 70th Anniversary American Professional II Stratocaster Electric Guitar Comet Burst

The Fender Stratocaster has a long and storied history. Leo Fender and Freddie Tavares, one of Fender's earliest and most valued employees, started sketching out the design of this contoured-body, double-cutaway masterpiece in 1953, and the first ones rolled out of Fender's Fullerton factory in 1954. This marks 2024 as the 70th consecutive production year of this iconic guitar, and to commemorate that massive milestone, Fender has designed a broad-ranging 70th Anniversary Stratocaster collection in limited quantities. One of the most distinctive is this stunning American Professional II Stratocaster.

70 Years of Stratocaster

When the Strat first appeared in 1954, it was like no guitar anyone had seen beforethose carved contours that fit the body of the player; the asymmetric double cutaways; three pickups (a first for solidbody guitars) and, most of all, that bridge. The aesthetics were perfectly in sync with the increasingly swooping, streamlined, vaguely futuristic automobile designs of the period. Unlike those cars, though, the Stratocaster still looks contemporary today, and Fender's constant small improvements have kept the Strat as modern and exciting to play as it was 70 years ago.

Pickups Designed for Tone

Fender's commitment to improving and advancing the art of pickup design dates back to their very beginning as a company, and the special 70th Anniversary V-Mod II single-coil Strat pickups on the Anniversary American Professional II Strat are an excellent example of that tradition. Designed to deliver smooth, dynamic and expressive tones, these pickups use a mix of Alnico II, III and V magnets to customize tonal balance from warm and full in the neck position to the classic, spanky chime with just a hint of bite you want in the bridge position.?

Woods Selected for Beauty and Tone

Combining a resonant alder body with a stunning flame maple top, accentuated by the limited Comet Burst finish and faux tortoiseshell pickguard, the 70th Anniversary Collection American Professional II Stratocaster is no piker when it comes to looks. The rolled-edge rosewood fingerboard on the Deep C profile "skunk-stripe" maple neck is fast and smooth, easy playing and as comfortable as your favorite jeans. Upper-fret access is made easier by the contoured neck heel.?

Classic Strat Hardware and Modern Electronics

The Fender Synchronized Tremolo Bridge (technically a vibrato, but tradition is tradition) was a feature that was revolutionary in the original 1954 design. While it wasn't the first six-saddle electric guitar bridge, it was the first one to offer both height and intonation adjustment for individual strings, and the combination of subtlety and brashness with which a player could approach the "whammy bar" was absolutely unprecedented. The evolution to a two-point pivot design enabled even more stability and made it easier to "float" the bridge without painstaking adjustments. Locking tuners complete the bridge and tuning setup, increasing stability and enabling wilder whammy action without going sour. The switching and control knobs are a subtle improvement, combining the 5-way switch with a push/push tone control that can add the neck pickup to the first two (bridge and bridge/middle) switch positions, expanding your tonal palette. The included molded hardshell case will keep this beauty protected for the long run.

Even if it weren't a special edition for the Stratocaster's 70th Anniversary, this guitar would be more than worthy of being a part of any guitarist's collection. As it is, in limited quantities, you'll want to jump on it quickly, to make sure that you can be part of the celebration now and treasure it for years to come.