Fender has always given guitarists and bassists of all stripes the tools they need to create the tone they desire—the new Player Plus series is no exception to their reputation. The Player Plus line represents the step above Fender’s successful Player series, offering even more player-friendly specs, like a flatter neck, rolled edges, Noiseless pickups and locking tuners. And because looks are a part of the experience, too, Fender’s product team fashioned novel, eye-catching gradient finishes that are sure to make an impression on players and audiences alike.
We took a deep dive into the world of the Player Plus with Allen Abbassi, director of product management for Fender electric guitars and basses. He explained the ethos and creation of the line, how they struck a balance between innovative twists and classic, tried-and-true Fender characteristics, as well as some of his personal favorite Player Plus features.
The HUB: Can you give us a bit of the history of the Player line and what Fender is aiming for with Player Plus?
Allen Abbassi: The Player Series was really an evolution of our Standard Series, which had been in the Fender line for decades. When we were developing the Player Series, we took a long, hard look at every aspect of the instruments, from pickups and bridges to colors and necks. Our goal was to make the Player Series the best entry-level Fender instruments ever built—an authentic Strat, Tele, Precision or Jazz that you could plug in and say, “Now, this is a real Fender.”
By the time we began designing Player Plus, the Player line had become the most popular series in Fender’s history. If you’re a beginner or if you’re getting deeper into your hobby, and you’ve got a Player Series guitar or bass, eventually, you’re going to say, "Well, what’s next for me? If I’m starting to gig now or if I’m starting to advance my level of mastery, what’s next with my choice of gear?” That’s where Player Plus comes in.
Player Plus takes everything that’s great about the Player Series and amps it up a little bit. The radius gets flatter at 12", so you can bend all day without fretting out. The rolled fingerboard edges are incredibly smooth for more comfort. The Noiseless pickups have that classic Fender tone with no hum. All the instruments offer advanced electronics for added flexibility. The guitars all have locking tuners for improved tuning stability. That’s what Player Plus is all about: evolution. They’re high-performance instruments designed for people who want to play louder and longer, to advance their mastery and take it to the next level.
The HUB: After establishing the ethos, how do you lock in those specifics? Is it an internal discussion? Feedback from artists? Reading the YouTube comments?
AA: It’s all of the above. We listen to feedback from players, from dealers and from artists that we work with. We follow what people are talking about on the various forums and social media sites. We visit music stores and talk to people that we meet. We also draw from our own experience as players.
All that information helps us answer the question, “What features will players appreciate on this instrument?” Noiseless pickups are a good example. Speak to some musicians or read a few forums and you will quickly understand that eliminating noise from the signal chain is important to a lot of players. More players than ever are using more pedals, which can get noisy. More players are also recording at home and seeking to eliminate hum from their tracks. Noiseless pickups were an obvious choice as one of the upgrades for the Player Plus Series.
The HUB: What is the design process for developing new versions of Noiseless pickups? What signal paths and rigs do you test with?
AA: When we develop a pickup, we start with what we know. We have been experimenting with Noiseless designs for decades. From Vintage Noiseless to Samarium Cobalt Noiseless to Ultra Noiseless, we’ve gone through many iterations and we have a deep understanding of what gets us to great Fender tone with Noiseless. For Player Plus, we strove to make Noiseless pickups that were dynamic with wonderful clarity and an organic feel to them. To achieve that, we played with all the design elements: turns, wire, magnets and more.
Sound testing the pickups was done through a variety of different amps: the new Tone Master® series amps, a ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb®, a Blues Junior™ IV, a hand-wired ‘64 Custom Princeton Reverb® and several others. We also tested them through some fuzzes, reverbs and a selection of gain pedals.
The HUB: How would you describe the voicings of the pickups? Often words like vintage, modern, etc. are used to describe pickups.
AA: We’re going for classic Fender tone without hum. In that sense, there is certainly a vintage vibe to the Player Plus Noiseless pickups. The Strat has nice bell-like tones that can quack and shimmer, while the Tele has twang and warmth. The basses are voiced similarly with a big, round Precision pickup and Jazz Bass pickups with nice clarity and definition, but the preamp allows you to dial in modern bass tones as well, by boosting the EQ.
The HUB: Did you incorporate any radical new materials in creating the Player Plus line?
AA: No, we’re mainly using classic elements here: alder bodies, maple necks, alnico magnets in the pickups. It’s the tried-and-true materials you would expect from Fender.
Where we have made advancements is in the features: rolled fingerboard edges for supreme comfort, Noiseless pickups that give you authentic Fender tone without hum, advanced switching options and locking tuners on the guitars, plus active/passive circuitry on the basses.
Even though we’re using traditional materials, we’re delivering state-of-the-art, player-centric features.
The HUB: What is the development process behind the passive/active circuitry on the Precision and Jazz basses?
AA: It all starts with having bass pickups that sound great in passive mode—creating a solid, great-sounding foundation. With the new pickups, we completely re-voiced the EQ section to shape a punchy, modern sound. So, you have that classic Fender tone when passive and a great new active sound when you want it. Player Plus basses are all about performance—tonal flexibility while maintaining the core Fender bass tones.
The HUB: Do you find there is a significantly different approach in designing instruments for bassists versus guitarists?
AA: Absolutely. For starters, the tone you’re chasing with a Tele or a Strat is worlds apart from what you’re chasing with a P or a J bass. Voicing these specific tones does take a different approach, starting with the design of the pickups. It seems like bassists gravitate to active electronics more so than guitarists. On an advanced series like Player Plus, featuring active/passive circuitry was a foregone conclusion on the basses, but not so for the guitars. So, I think there is a definitely a different approach to making these choices for basses versus guitars.
The HUB: Do you feel that any of the models are easier to work on? Is a Strat or Tele easier to design for than an offset or a bass?
AA: Each model offers an almost infinite range of design possibilities, and each guitar or bass is a fresh combination of elements to serve a specific purpose. It’s all new, every time, and in that sense, I don’t think any one model stands out as easier or more difficult to design.
The HUB: For you, what is the most exciting development in the Player Plus line?
AA: I think one of the most exciting elements has got to be the new gradient bursts: the Tequila Sunrise, the Bel Air Blue and the Silver Smoke. We were going for something fresh and exciting, so we experimented with a lot of different colors and blend patterns. When we started looking at early samples from our paint team, they looked better than we expected. We chose some of the very first color iterations because they came out so well. Once we put the pickguards on them and dressed them up with full hardware, they looked fantastic.
But my favorite model in the line is the Player Plus Strat. The new Player Plus Noiseless Strat pickups sound fantastic. The two-point tremolo is just so smooth to use and it stays in tune very well. I fell in love with the Tequila Sunrise Strat because it looks so vibrant and plays like a dream. But that’s just my opinion. Customers will all have their own favorites.
The HUB: Is there any one feature of the Player Plus line you wish could be on every Fender instrument?
AA: Tequila Sunrise finish! (Laughs)
It’s got to be the feel of the neck. When you first grab a guitar or bass, and your hand wraps around the neck and you start plucking away, that first impression is huge. You’ll feel the care with which we’ve crafted these new necks. The rolled fingerboard edges, the satin backs, the modern C shape. It’s a nice balance between thick and thin, with the feel of a broken-in neck with very comfortable, rolled edges. I want everyone that buys a Fender to have that experience with their guitar. I think Player Plus does that. I really hope that when people pick up the new Player Plus P Bass or the Nashville Tele, they’re going to say, “These Player Plus necks are a game changer!”
The HUB: What drives you and your team to keep developing, iterating and innovating? Where do you see the future of guitars going?
AA: We have a passion. Every single person on the Fender product team. We have a passion for designing and building instruments that inspire creativity in musicians. That keeps us going day after day after day.
I think what the future of holds is more of that passion. We’re always going to strive, as we have with the Player Plus, to give people high-quality Fender guitars that offer something fresh that they can use, that they can love, that inspires them.
And looking further into the future, new materials, new shapes, new pickup designs, new electronics that expand the instrument’s capabilities are all part of conversations we’re having. Whatever cool new concepts emerge, you can be sure Fender will be leading the way.