Trends and fads might come and go, but the Vintera II Road Worn are buying into something that makes sense.
Across fashion, furniture and now musical instruments, there’s a stylised effort for our purchases to feel loved, worn in, thrifted, gifted and, in the case of Fender, Road Worn. We’re no strangers to the Vintera series – Fender’s range of period-correct guitars and basses at incredibly accessible prices.
The Road Worn range all play like a lived-in jumper or a well-loved La-Z-Boy (especially poignant when discussing 1950-19560s American aesthetic), and tie together Fender’s rich history and modern technological advancements. Spanning from the Precision Bass to the Strat, Tele and Jazzmaster we’ll be discussing here, the Fender Vintera II Road Worn series is an homage and tribute to classic designs that’ve stood the test of time, while retaining that played-in, familiar feeling of your favourite guitar.
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Vintera® II Road Worn® ’60s Stratocaster®
The Road Worn ’60s Stratocaster pushes Leo Fender’s design to the fore. The Strat was initially released in the mid-50s, and this ’60s Stratocaster honours the guitars produced after about a decade of fine-tuning. Comprising an Alder body and maple neck, the Vintera II ’60s Stratocaster is a rock-solid, triple single-coil electric guitar with total tonal controls at your fingertips.
The fretboard features a 7.25” radius, which might be a little tighter than modern guitars, but stays true to Fender’s roots. This lends the guitar well to classic rock and blues style playing, the double cutaway design offering access to higher frets without the hurdle. The pickups are Fender’s own single-coil Vintage-Style Mid-’60s Pickups, controlled by a master volume, dual tone controls and a five-way switch. The Vintera II Road Worn ’60s Stratocaster also features a tremolo system with Bent Steel Saddles forming the bridge. It’s available in the oh-so ’60s Sonic Blue (inspired by American cars at the time!) and classic Black.
Vintera® II Road Worn® ’60s Telecaster®
Pre-dating the Stratocaster by a few years is the Telecaster, named after a tussle over the original name ‘Broadcaster’ and a short period of nameless ‘Nocaster’ guitars. The Telecaster of today hasn’t differed too much design-wise since the ’50s and ’60s, and for good reason. The Vintera II Road Worn ’60s Telecaster is available in the dusty Burgundy Mist Metallic or the iconic Blonde, the latter featuring a maple fretboard and the former with slab rosewood. The fretboard features the same 7.25” radius fretboard (common for the time) and has a worn-in Nitrocellulose lacquer finish.
The classic single-cutaway design is all tone with no inhibition, again with Tele-style Vintage-Style Mid-’60s Pickups controlled by a single master volume and a master tone control. Tuning stability is aided by the period-correct 3-Saddle Bridge and vintage-style tuning machines, lending the guitar’s classically good looks and tried-and-true design.
Vintera® II Road Worn® ’50s Jazzmaster®
Finally, and somewhat an oddball of the bunch, is the ‘50s Jazzmaster. Released in the late ’50s and marketed as a total tonal solution for the modern guitar player, the Jazzmaster was possibly too forward-thinking for the time. The 1958 Jazzmaster, immortalised here, was finished in a three-tone sunburst and featured an anodised pickguard. Fender paired that with separate lead and rhythm circuits, both with independent tone and volume controls. It wasn’t until about a decade later that it was adopted by the wave of surf rock (pardon the pun) that defined the ’60s.
The ’50s Jazzmasters weren’t at fault here, and this classic design is available in the Vintera II Road Worn ’50s Jazzmaster, available in either the classic burst or a Fiesta Red, another Fender staple inspired by classic cars of the time!
The ’50s Jazzmaster features a slab rosewood board in either colour, the neck having the same worn-in nitro finish as the rest of the Vintera II Road Worn series. Dual ‘50s style pickups are controlled by switching between either lead or rhythm circuits, the rhythm circuit having jog wheels on the upper horn, while the lead circuit has volume and tone pots in the traditional position on the guitar’s body. This lead circuit is coupled with a pickup selector.
The Vintera II Road Worn series borrows from decades of Fender’s most iconic designs, rebuilding them with modern QC and adding desirable (and highly sought after) design features like slab rosewood, nitro finish and vintage fretboard radii, into a really accessible and totally playable package. Real vintage guitars show the wear and tear of years of use and abuse, while a guitar worn-in at the factory retains the charm and feel of a well-loved guitar, but with the confidence that rust, corrosion and faults won’t be present like a secondhand guitar.
The iconic Strat, trailblazing Tele and forward-thinking Jazzmaster make up just a part of the Vintera II series. These are iconic colours and classic design aesthetics that shaped the future (now the present day) of guitar design. The Vintera II series offers Fender’s best designs at a price that’s hard to beat. These limited edition Road Worn finished guitars might just play like your new favourite guitar.
