Andertons and Chicago Music Exchange have become the latest retailers to partner with Fender for a run of exclusive limited-edition guitars.
Dubbed the Lavender Haze collection, it comprises uniquely finished Strats, Teles, Jazzmasters and Jazz Bass guitars, which also offer exclusive pickups and expansive wiring mods.
The Fender x CME x Andertons collab pedals vintage Fender chic and modern electronic innovation via new Player II models. And they get a limited-edition Lavender Haze colorway, too, which is absolutely gorgeous.
There are plenty of familiar ingredients in these recipes, including ClassicGear tuners, modern C-shaped necks with rolled fingerboard edges, and a 9.5” radius neck. There are also rosewood fretboards and the classic alder body/maple neck combo across the range.
Move on over to the pickups, though, and the story starts to get a bit spicy. That’s because they are saddled up with CME Full Dip pickups, custom-designed to “reimagine the classic Vintera II blueprint with sweeter highs, fuller mids, and an extra 5% of Chicago heat.”
They are propped up by Alnico 2 magnets, and are paired with some neat wiring layouts.
The Strat gets a custom Blender Mod circuit, accessible via the second tone knob. Essentially, it blends the neck pickup into the bridge position, “unlocking textures in switch positions one and two that simply aren’t possible with standard wiring”.
The Jazzmaster pups, meanwhile, have a 5% overwind for greater presence and push. The guitar also has a custom four-way switch for running both pickups in series. It’s pretty nifty.
Over to the Tele, and its overwound coils add “just enough bite to make the Telecaster’s natural twang feel more expressive than ever”, while that newly-added fourth position is also on offer.
For the Jazz Bass, its pickups get a more gentle overwind and are paired with a special circuit mod for maximum control with minimal real estate, via streamlined controls.
The Lavender Haze colorway pays homage to the classic cars and classic guitars from the golden-era of Fender. Thankfully, they're not bank-breakers. The Strat and Tele are priced at $949.99, with the Jazzmaster and Jazz Bass rising to $979.99.
Head to Chicago Music Exchange for more.
