Fender’s Road Worn guitars are back

Fender has announced the much-anticipated return of Road Worn models to its product line. First introduced all the way back in 2009, the Road Worn series offered Mexican-made instruments with artificially-aged nitrocellulose finishes to give players that vintage look and feel straight out of the box.

When Fender overhauled and combined its various top-end Mexico guitars into the Vintera series at Summer NAMM 2019, Road Worns were conspicuous by their absence, but now the polarising instruments have returned under the Vintera banner.

The new Road Worns not only benefit from the refinements and upgrades of the standard Vintera guitars we reviewed last year, but the relic’ing process seems to have been given an upgrade as well, with fine lacquer checking and more sympathetic and vintage-correct wear present on the press shots of all the new instruments.

The 2020 Vintera Road Worn electric guitars include a ‘50s Stratocaster, a ‘60s Stratocaster, a ‘50s Telecaster and a ‘70s Telecaster Deluxe. All are available 10 September, listing for $1,099 – take a look at the available finishes below.

Road Worn ’50s Strat

This Strat comes with an alder body, ‘50s Hot single-coil pickups and a thick soft V neck profile. 21 vintage tall frets find themselves in a 7.25-inch radius maple fingerboard. Strat classics like a vintage-style vibrato and five-way pickup switching are of course present, and we get the option of Road Worn Fiesta Red or Seafoam Green finishes, both of which also sport subtle wear on the fingerboard and neck.

Road Worn ’50s Tele

Also sporting an alder Body, this old-school Tele comes with ‘50s-voiced single coils, a thick U-shaped neck, 21 vintage tall frets and a 7.25-inch radius maple fingerboard. The bridge is a vintage-style string-through three-saddle unit, with brass barrel saddles. Finish options here include the classic Vintage Blonde or Lake Placid Blue.

Road Worn ’60s Strat

As we move forward a decade we get 60s Hot Strat single-coil pickups, as well as a mid-60s C-shaped neck sporting a 7.25-inch radius pau ferro fingerboard. 21 vintage tall frets remain, and you also get a vintage-style six-point synchronised vibrato. Finishes here comprise either the gorgeous Firemist Gold or equally opulent Lake Placid Blue, both of which really show off the tasteful lacquer checking.

Road Worn ‘70s Telecaster Deluxe

Here you’ll find two Fender Wide Range-style humbuckers for all your indie-rock needs. These are loaded into the classic Telecaster Deluxe pickguard, which offers individual volume and tone controls for each pickup, as well as a three-way toggle switch. The neck is a medium C-shape, and sports 21 medium-jumbo frets. It comes finished in either Olympic White or Daphne Blue.

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