Four of Fender's Player II electric guitars have been given a web-exclusive Shell Pink finish, making the cult-classic colorway available at a more affordable price point.
Launched in June 2024 as a “detailed re-imagining” of the firm's wildly popular, and fairly priced Player series, the sequel has been nothing short of a success.
It brought never-before-seen body options and rosewood fingerboards to the series for the first time, and now four axes – taking in its Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jazzmaster, and Precision Bass guitar designs – have now been given a chic glow-up.
Coming in just shy of $1k apiece – that's $999 for the Strat, $944 for the rest – the US-exclusive models are well-specced for their price tags.
With a chambered ash body, modern C-shaped neck profile and a 9.5“ radius rosewood fingerboard with rolled edges, the Strat sticks closely to the Player II recipe. And it's repeated across the other two six-strings, only here we have contoured alder bodies.
Fender has gone for classically voiced electronics here. The Shell Pink Strat has a trio of Pure Vintage '65 Single Coil Strat Pickups, the Jazzmaster a pair of Pure Vintage '65 Single-Coil Jazzmaster pups, while the Tele packs two Pure Vintage '64 single coils.
There's a two-point synchronized tremolo with bent steel saddles on the Strat, a Jazzmaster bridge with Mustang saddles and vintage-style "floating" tailpiece on the Jazzmaster, and a six-saddle string-through-body bridge with block steel saddles on the Tele. They are all bestowed with ClassicGear tuners.
As for the Precision bass, it takes a leaf out of the Strat's book. See its contoured ash body, modern C-profile maple neck, and 9.5" radius fingerboard with 20 frets. Again, the fingerboard has rolled edges for comfort. The 34" build is capped with a four-saddle standard bridge, Pure Vintage '60 Split-Coil Precision pickups, and Standard Open-Gear tuners.
The Player II series, Fender says, presents “stage-ready guitars with contemporary updates to power your performance and inspire your playing.”
Meanwhile, the Shell Pink colorway – an underrated look in my eyes – sees “Fender icons reimagined in a bold, web-exclusive finish.”
The Shell Pink guitars are, sadly, only available on the US website. I, for one, am heartbroken.
Head to Fender for more.
Back in April, Fender brought in-demand mods to the Player II line, after new tonewoods and forgotten finishes were revived in a series expansion last October.
The Fender Player Telecaster was Reverb's best-selling electric guitar in 2024, toppling the PRS SE Silver Sky after the John Mayer signature guitar spent several years at the top of the charts.
