Fender Parallel Universe

Trip to the Fender Parallel Universe

Fender Parallel Universe guitars tap into a whole other dimension. Familiar Fender guitars and basses meld one into the other. Born are strange and wonderful new hybrids for guitarists and bassists to explore. Discover limited edition Fender Parallel Universe instruments.

Fender took the world of electric guitars by storm in 1948, with the instrument now known as the Telecaster. They followed with the Stratocaster in 1954. From the beginning, Fender has played strictly by its own rules. If those rules might have occasionally involved doing things very differently, so much the better. After all, Fender's rules created the Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Tele Thinline, Mustang, as well as the Precision and Jazz Bass.

Fender Parallel Universe instruments often combine the best, more innovative and most interesting features of two or more popular Fender guitars. These hybrids took the best minds Fender had on tap, and the results definitely show that. The concepts range from a simple melding together of a Strat and a Tele to as forward thinking as the retro-futuristic Meteora, a blend of Tele and Jazzmaster with just a touch of Jetsons tossed in. With release dates staggered throughout the coming year, here is what Fender Parallel Universe guitars are available now and what is waiting in the wings:

The second run of Fender Parallel Universe guitars was unveiled at NAMM 2020.

The first ever Parallel Universe model was available as of April 2018, the Fender Parallel Universe Strat-Tele Hybrid, which carries the lines of a traditional Telecaster body, but it is loaded with full Strat electronics and a modern Stratocaster 2-point-fulcrum vibrato/tremolo steel saddle bridge to deliver both the twang of a Tele and all the spanky goodness of a Strat. Released in May 2018, is the Fender Parallel Universe Elite Nashville Telecaster HSS that fully rocks out with a ShawBucker directly mounted in the bridge position, Pure Vintage '64 Tele pickups in the neck and middle and a 6-saddle hardtail bridge. This guitar is perfect for modern country and Americana. Next up, in June, was the Fender Parallel Universe Jazz Tele, a blend of Telecaster and Jazzmaster, with lines based on a Tele Deluxe and the warm punch of Jazzmaster pickups along the updated version of the Jazzmaster locking tremolo tailpiece and bridge. In July 2018 was the Fender Parallel Universe Troublemaker Tele. This one raises a ruckus with Tim Shaw-designed ShawBucker 1T and 2T humbuckers, a Cabronita-style pickguard and a stopbar tailpiece and hardtail bridge. In August 2018, we saw the Fender Parallel Universe Tele Thinline Super Deluxe, which upgraded the popular semi-hollow body model with TV Jones Classic pickups for a countrified style that's finger-pickin' good. Next down the pike, in September 2018, was the Fender Parallel Universe Whiteguard Strat, which flipped the concept of the first in the series, put a full set of Tele electronics and bridge on a comfortably contoured Strat body. In October 2018, the Fender Parallel Universe Jaguar Strat combined traditional Strat pickups with the versatile switching system and floating, locking vibrato bridge and tailpiece of the surf, punk and alt-rock staple Jaguar for a guitar that's truly new. In November 2018, the Fender Parallel Universe Meteora made its debut. Featuring Tele electronics along with a few features borrowed from the Jazzmaster loaded in a sleek, new offset body, it's retro and tomorrow at the same time. The year capped off with the December 2018 release of the Fender Parallel Universe Telecaster PJ Bass, with a body style that harkened back to the original slab-body Precision with the combination of Jazz Bass single-coil and P-Bass split-coil pickups that's been made popular by many of today's top bassists.