“It’s like getting a pre-washed pair of jeans: they’re broken in so they’re comfortable right out of the store”: The making of the American Professional Classic series – the brand-new “lived-in” (but not relic’d) US Fender line

The new Fender American Professional Classic range is photographed here against a tour bus.

One of our gear highlights of this year has to be Fender’s American Ultra Luxe Vintage mini-range, which combines the modernist style of the ongoing American Ultra II models with a lightly bashed and aged nitro finish.

While those guitars top the USA Fender line in price, the new American Professional Classic models – which replace the American Performers in the line-up – are effectively half the price, centering on that modern/vintage duality. Is there a theme emerging, we ask Max Gutnik, chief product officer at FMIC?