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Hey.
This is John with Fender, and I'm really
excited to show you the American Performer Stratocaster guitars.
Amazingly versatile tone with the option
of three single coils or a humbucker
with two single coils.
Awesome colors and features make this guitar
incredibly cool on so many different levels,
so let's get right into it and take a look
at what it has to offer.
The American Performer Series is for the guitarist
who wants a combination of timeless Fender style
and contemporary features.
This guitar blends traditional Fender design
with some newer elements, including our new Yosemite
pickups, special circuitry, modern neck profiles,
fingerboard radii, and more.
Great tone, classic style, ultimate playability,
and handcrafted in Corona, California.
So the tone you heard in the beginning
is the guitar plugged into the Fender MTG tube distortion
pedal, and then over to the 68 custom deluxe reverb amplifier.
So let's roll through some clean sound
so you can get familiar with the different tonal characteristics
of the guitar.
I'll add a touch of reverb coming from the marine layer
reverb pedal.
I'll stay with the neck in middle position
single coils for now, which are the same in both models,
the SSS and the HSS.
And then we'll explore some more distorted tones later
and hear the difference between the single
and humbucker in the bridge position.
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So now let's get into the features of the guitars
and look at the differences between the three single coil
model and the HSS.
Now the body is the same on both.
We have a beautiful alder body.
And now depending on the color, it'll
either feature a gloss or a satin finish.
And this one is a honey burst, and this is a gloss finish.
It's a modern C shaped neck with a satin finish on the back.
And if you're sweating during performances,
you won't stick to the neck, which is a nice feature.
We have jumbo frets so you can dig in and easily do
those wide bends.
The guitars feature Yosemite single coil pickups,
which are voiced for each instrument and position,
and calibrated for equal volume in all switching combinations.
So what that means is going from your neck to your bridge,
you have overall equal volume across all five positions.
And let's hear what that sounds like.
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Now there's a lot going on with the controls,
so let's take a closer look.
So on the three single coil model,
we have the standard master volume.
We have a tone control for the neck in middle,
and then we have a tone control for the bridge.
Now the tone control for the bridge,
which controls only this bridge pickup,
is what we call the grease bucket tone circuit.
So this allows you to cut some of the treble
without losing gain or muddying up your sound at all.
So let's take a listen.
I'm on the bridge pickup, and I have the tone control up to 10.
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All right.
So I'll back off a little bit, about halfway.
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You don't lose any volume, and you still
have a little bit of presence coming through
and it just doesn't sound muddy in any way.
So that circuit is very usable if you
want to warm up or darken the tone but still have the attack.
And as well, the bottom tone knob is also a push-pull pot.
So that allows you to add the neck pickup
to positions one and two.
So in position one, you can have the bridge pickup and the neck
pickup like a middle Tele sound, or if you're
in the second position you can have all three pickups on.
So let's take a listen.
So here's just the bridge.
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Push-pull.
Now I have the bridge and the neck.
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Now go to position two.
Now I should have all three pickups on.
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Now I've switched over to the humbucker guitar.
This one is actually a satin surf green color.
All the same features as the three single coil model,
except for two things.
This guitar features a double tap humbucker in the bridge
position, and there's a different function
for the push-pull pot.
So instead of adding the neck pickup, when I pull up
on the push-pull pot we go from a full humbucker tone
to a brighter single coil tone.
So let's hear that.
I'll start with the full bridge humbucker tone.
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So now I'll pull up on the pot.
Now I should have more of a single coil type tone.
This is also really cool for position two.
So instead of having the full humbucker and the middle
pick up, now I have two single coils going there
so I get more of that classic Strat second position sound.
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Some other features I want you to know about.
One is the vintage style synchronized tremolo,
giving you classic style performance and tone.
We have an awesome looking fat 70s headstock
with a silver logo and Classic Gear Tuning Machines.
So let's hear a few more tones.
I'm going to start with some clean tones.
I'm going to roll in maybe some reverb delay,
and then ultimately the MTG tube distortion again.
So let's have some fun.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And there's your look at the American Performer Stratocaster
series.
Brilliant colors, amazing features,
and they just sound awesome.
For more information, you can go to Fender.com.
And stay tuned here for more videos.
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