SeriesFender Blacktop

This Tele's main draw is the high output alnico humbuckers, and as advertised it delivers crunchy tone like few others in Fender's lineup of teles. Mine has an alder body with a maple neck and rosewood board, 22 frets, and is a hardtail. The controls are: One master volume and master tone, and a 3 way switch, just like any other tele, but the knobs are cool, elongated witch hats that give off a cool old school vibe. UTILIZATION The tuners were not so great, I find that they slip with extreme bending. The pickups cleaned up well, and you can get a useable clean tone out of 'em, especially if you roll off some high end with the tone knob. I liked the neck on it. It's Fender's take on a modern C shape, which is less obtrusive than a regular Tele neck, and not as rounded as a strat neck. Medium jumbo frets make this easy to play, although I prefer jumbo frets, you really only find those on superstrats. SOUNDS Very convincing woman tones can be had if you roll the tone all the way off. The neck pickup doesn't get muddy at all, it still stays sweet and articulate. The bridge can really rip, it does sound a bit thin, but it's got lots of snap and high midrange. One thing I can't stress enough is the articulation of these pickups. I've never got a muddy tone out of it. OVERALL OPINION The overall feel of the guitar is a touch unrefined however. It might just add to the appeal if you're bashing out rock songs on it, but there's a lack of solidity and weight to this guitar that leaves me wanting. The tuning stability is a problem I liked the clarity and bit of the pickups, and the neck feels really good.

The Fender Blacktop line of guitarsis a line of guitars that comes with humbuckers and other pickups not normally found in Fender guitars. They have had a Blacktop strat for a while but this one comes in an HSH configuration which for some reason isnt common in stock strats. The guitar has an alder body and is finished in black or titanium color. The neck is a bolt on maple unit with a rosewood fretboard. There are 22 medium jumbo frets on the fretboard. The neck has a soft C shape with a 9.5 inch radius. Up top you get 6 standard tuners and a standard Fender style bridge. The pickups are a set of the hot Blacktop humbuckers with a Telecaster neck pickup in the middle. The controls are a master volume with a tone knob for the bridge and another tone knob for the neck and middle pickups. There is a 5 way selector to switch between the pickups. UTILIZATION The feel is very familiar on this guitar. It is basically a strat with a set of humbuckers in the neck and bridge. It still has all the same problems that a normal strat has. The Tremolo is non locking so it will go out of tune if you use the tremolo too much. The tuners up on the headstock are non locking so they do not help with stability either. The neck is comfy for the most part but there is still a large bolt join on the upper frets like on most strats. SOUNDS I dont know why they decided to use a Telecaster neck pickup in the middle position on this guitar. They should have just used a normal pickup. There are not many people who like the Telecaster neck pickup when it is in a Telecaster and now it is in the wrong position on a strat. Its like it is there for looks or something. Like they had 2 covered humbuckers and they just wanted a covered single coil to go in the middle and they threw in the first thing they came across. The two humbuckers are fine. They have a nice thick heavy sound to them which matches well with the natural brightness most strat guitars have. With the 5 way switch you can get some single coil sounds but with the Telecaster neck pickup in the middle position they wont be like you expect. Personally I would swap in a regular strat middle pickup in this guitar if you wanted to emulate more accurate strat sounds in split coil modes. OVERALL OPINION Fender came close to getting it right with this guitar but the Telecaster pickup ruined it. With the Telecaster pickup in this guitar you dont get much more usefullness than the normal HH Blacktop. I didnt find myself mixing in the Telecaster pickup with the humbuckers, I just found myself using the humbucker tones as if it was an HH guitar. As a modding base this guitar is great. You can throw in 3 pickups of your choice and have a really nice workhorse strat.

Model Name: Blacktop™ Stratocaster® HH Series: Blacktop™ Color / MSRP* / Part # : Black $739.99 014-8100-506 Candy Apple Red $739.99 014-8100-509 Sonic Blue $739.99 014-8100-572 Black $739.99 014-8102-506 Candy Apple Red $739.99 014-8102-509 Sonic Blue $739.99 014-8102-572 Body Body Material: Alder Body Shape: Stratocaster® Neck Number of Frets: 22 Fret Size: Medium Jumbo Position Inlays: Black Dots on Maple, White Dots on Rosewood Fingerboard Radius: 9.5" (24.1 cm) Fretboard: Rosewood or Maple Neck Material: Maple Neck Finish: Gloss Urethane Nut Width: 1.650” (42 mm) Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm) Neck Plate: Vintage Style 4 Bolt Truss Rod Nut: 3/16" Hex Adjustment Electronics Pickup Configuration: H/H Bridge Pickup: Hot Vintage AlNiCo Humbucking Pickup (Bridge) Neck Pickup: Hot Vintage AlNiCo Humbucking Pickup (Neck) Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade: Position 1. Full Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Two Inside Single Coils, Position 3. Both Full Humbucking Pickups, Position 4. Outer Neck Single Coil, Position 5. Full Neck Pickup Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. (Bridge Pickup) Hardware Hardware Finish: Nickel/Chrome Bridge: Vintage Style Synchronized Tremolo String Nut: Synthetic Bone Switch Tips: Black or Aged White Tremolo Arm Handle: Vintage Style Tremolo Arm, Black Tip on (506),(509); Aged White Tip on (572) Tools Truss Rod Wrench: 0.1875" Miscellaneous Strings: Fender® USA Super 250L's, NPS (.009-.042 Gauges) Unique Features: HH Pickup Configuration, Custom Switching, Black Skirted Amp Knobs Accessories Included Accessories: Truss Rod Adjustment Wrench, Saddle Height Adjustment Wrench Control Knobs: Skirted Amp Knobs UTILIZATION This is a solid guitar from Fender. The traditional Stratocaster is very fun to play - the three single coil pickups give a lot of fun, usable tones. However, most traditional Stratocasters suffer from a noise problem - using any kind of high-gain sound is almost impossible to do. This is where the Blacktop HH comes in. This guitar gives all the good Strat benefits like playability, balance, comfort - yet the pickups are humbuckers, which help block out the hum that single coils can be plagued with. One thing that's very impressive to me is this Candy Apple Red finish! It is expertly applied, and the hue is phenomenal. Another nice detail is that Fender decided to use amp knobs on this guitar, rather than their usual Strat knobs. The finish, with the knobs and the covered humbuckers make for a very classy looking Strat. SOUNDS These pickups were surprising to me at this price level. They remind me of a late 60s Gibson SG-type response and output. They are hotter than normal, but with plenty of definition and warmth. The bridge pickup is blazing, cutting, and dynamic, where the neck pickup imparts a nice singing quality to the notes. This is essentially a Strat that sounds like an old SG, which is a very good thing! OVERALL OPINION Overall, this is quite a good instrument. I'm glad Fender is branching out of their more traditional fare and offering more modern features that players are looking for. Humbucking pickups now are far more popular than single coils, simply because so many more players are using the high-gain setups, and to have a classy Strat that can help provide this is very nice. Thanks, Fender!

The Blacktop series of Fender guitars is a nice mid level line of guitars. They are usually stripped down rock machines with humbuckers or P90s. This model comes with P90s has it is based on the classic Jaguar design. The Jaguar for most of its history was a smaller less fancy version of the Fender Mustang. The Mustang usually got P90 style pickups while the Jaguar got single coils. This has the traditional Jaguar setup with a 24 inch scale neck and the large headstock. This makes the guitar a bit easier to play with less Tension on the strings. To make this guitar even simplier it comes with a tune-o-matic bridge which isnt very common on Fender guitars. The body is made from alder with the offset Jaguar design. The neck is a bolt on maple unit with a rosewood fretboard. The neck has 22 medium frets and a 9.5 inch radius. The shorter scale is helpful for people with smaller hands. Kurt Cobain liked the shorter scale on the Jaguar guitars. This means the frets are closer together so you do not need as much of a stretch to play chords. This also means that the tension on the strings is a bit lower which makes bending easier. This hurts if you plan on tuning down. This guitar works best in standard tuning with this shorter scale. The pickups are a set of P90s like I mentioned earlier and the controls are simple with a master volume and master tone with a 3 way switch. The tone from the P90 pickups is great. P90s are true single coils but they have a different sound than normal strat style single coils. They have a thicker sound that works better for heavy music and rock and roll. In the neck position you can get a great bluesey tone with a bit of dirt. P90s love a bit of overdrive. The bridge pickup is very raw and gritty. You can get great punk rock or classic rock tones with this. Like most of the Blacktop series this guitar is a great workhorse. It has all the things you need to rock out and nothing extra. The guitar plays very easily and has a great tone to it. All this combined with a reasonable price that just about everyone can afford new.

That double fat strat is a classic design. It came from the 70s when Strat players wanted a fatter sound that could compete with the Les pauls. This is just the modern take on the same design. This guitar comes with a locking tremolo system to make it appeal more to modern guitar players. The guitar has an alder body and is finished in the cool Titanium color. The neck is a bolt on maple unit with a rosewood fretboard. There are 22 medium jumbo frets on the fretboard. The neck has a soft C shape with a 9.5 inch radius. The tuners are standard but there is a locking nut to go with the Floyd Rose. The pickups are a set of Fenders Hot Alnico pickups. They are both humbuckers. The controls are not very complicated with a master volume and 2 tone controls. There is a 5 way switch to get extra pickup combinations. One thing I do not like on this guitar are the knobs. They used ugly amp knobs instead of speed knobs on the guitar and I think they look out of place. UTILIZATION The playability is all there Stratocaster wise. The bolt on neck has the familiar C shape that strats have. The radius on top is not super flat but its not a vintage Telecaster either. The locking Tremolo is a huge improvement over the non locking vintage style Tremolos that Strats usually come with. The tuning stability is much much better than on a normal Stratocaster. This is mostly due to the locking nut. On a non locking tremolo system when you go up and down on the strings the strings move on the nut and they dont return to their proper position meaning the guitar comes goes out of tune. With the locking nut the strings are clamped down into position so they cannot move and go out of tune. SOUNDS With humbuckers all around overall this guitar has a thicker more snarling sound than a traditional Stratocaster. This guitar sounds very punk rock to me. The natural brightness from the Strat design with the overdrive from the hot humbuckers combines well for a bright but not harsh tone from the guitar. The neck humbucker clean sup well and you can get a great jazzy or bluesy tone. With some tone knob rolled off you can get a super smooth tone from it. Both pickups with some tone rolled off give you a funky 70s tone when played through a clean amp/ With the 5 way switch you can get single coils as well. You can do the outside single coils on both pickups for a more telecaster like tone. With the locking tremolo you will find yourself using it more than you would on a traditional style Stratocaster because using it wont instantly put your guitar out of tune. OVERALL OPINION This is a good guitar for the modern player who is look for a bit of an old school feel. This guitar has the feel of an old strat but the more refined tone and utility of a modern super strat. Fender should have adopted a locking Tremolo for all their guitars 30 years ago. To continue using a design that you know is bad just shows their complacency. Stuff like this is why I like companies like PRS who always strive to improve their models even if it is super successful. The Double Fat stratocaster enters the modern era with this Blacktop Floyd Rose model.

Specifications: Made in Mexico Body Material: Alder Body Shape: Jazzmaster® Neck Number of Frets: 21 Fret Size: Medium Jumbo Position Inlays: White Dot Position Inlays Fingerboard Radius: 9.5" (24.1 cm) Fretboard: Rosewood Neck Material: Maple Neck Finish: Gloss Urethane Nut Width: 1.650” (42 mm) Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm) Neck Plate: Vintage Style 4 Bolt Truss Rod Nut: 3/16" Hex Adjustment Electronics Pickup Configuration: H/S Bridge Pickup: Hot Vintage Alnico Humbucking Pickup (Bridge) Neck Pickup: 1 Duncan Designed™ Single-Coil Jazzmaster® Pickup (Neck) Pickup Switching: 3-Position Toggle: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone Hardware Hardware Finish: Nickel/Chrome Bridge: Vintage Style Adjustable 6-Saddle Bridge with “Floating” Tremolo Tailpiece String Nut: Synthetic Bone Switch Tips: Black Switch Tip Tremolo Arm Handle: Vintage Jazzmaster® Tremolo Arm Tools Truss Rod Wrench: 0.1875" Miscellaneous Strings: Fender® USA Super 250L's, NPS (.009-.042 Gauges) Unique Features: HS Pickup Configuration, Simplified Controls/Switching, Black Skirted Amp Knobs Accessories Included Accessories: Truss Rod Adjustment Wrench Control Knobs: Skirted Amp Knobs The Blacktop series Jazzmaster is a great guitar for the price. The pickup combination is unique, and super versatile! With a bridge humbucker that bites and a neck soapbar-style that sings, this guitar can do many genres very well: classic rock, metal, indie, southern rock, blues, jazz, country... The only genre that I can think of that the guitar would be out of place in would be just brutally hard, technical metal, and the guitar could even get away with performing that in the studio for recordings. The playability is great right out of the box, with the neck profile and depth being very comfortable to my hands. Factory workmanship is great, with the frets being well dressed, and the finish being spot on. I'm not a fan of the original Jazzmaster tremolo systems, yet this guitar didn't seem to go out of tune after using the bar. I was very surprised by that fact. One minor inconvenience is that the tremolo bar has no retaining screw/nut/snap feature, so it will not stay inside the guitar if the instrument is turned with the strings facing the ground. The bar will fall out. For many people, this won't be a problem, but for anyone that likes to get really into the moment in an impassioned onstage performance, this could be a huge problem, even creating a potential safety/tripping hazard. Fender has done a great job incorporating vintage elements with some new modern ideas - the tuning keys are a great update, as well as the interesting pickup combo. I'm very happy with this guitar, and I think it's a great deal for the money - around $450-500 new from a dealer. Check it out!

This is part of Fenders new line called the Blacktop series. All of the guitars in the Blacktop Series feature Dual Alnico humbucking pickups. All of the guitars have a warmer sound than their single coil counterparts. This guitar is the Jaguar based Blacktop model. The Jaguar was originally designed as a Jazzmaster variant with a shorter scale neck. They were designed as improvements on the Stratocaster design but they never reached the popularity the Stratocaster did. The original guitars featured a strange tremolo system Leo Fender designed. Leo Fender believed that this new design was superior to previous designs since the bridge actually moved backwards and forwards along with the strings during tremolo use, thereby maintaining proper intonation even under duress, and preventing strings from binding. This floating bridge concept was also later used on the Fender Mustang. The floating tremolo mechanism also features a built-in tremolo lock, which helped the player preserve the guitar's tuning in the event of a string breakage and easing removal of the tremolo arm. This design was very complicated and was one reason these guitars never became popular. This Blacktop model features an alder body with a Gibson style Tune-o-matic bridge. It has the tradtional 24 inch scale neck with a large 70s style headstock. The neck has 22 medium jumbo frets and a modern 9.5 radius fretboard. With this flatter fretboard you can get a lower action than you could on any vintage Jaguar. It has single volume and tone knobs and has a 3 way toggle switch pickup selector that moves left to right instead of up and down. Due to the shorter scale length and humbucking pickups this guitar sounds very mellow compared to a normal Fender guitar. The sound would be good for jazz and blues. Because of the short scale it does not take to lower tunings well. The short scale already provides a looser string tension so when you tune down the tension becomes almost unusably loose. I think Fenders Blacktop series is very cool. I prefer humbuckers when I play but I love all of the Fender designs. So with these guitars you can get harder sounds on the classic Fender designs.