Classic Series

In 1999, Fender launched the Made in Mexico Classic Series, offering ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s Stratocasters that faithfully replicated vintage features. The ’50s and ’60s models had four-bolt neck plates, small Spaghetti-logo headstocks, 7.25” fingerboards, vintage frets, and AlNiCo 5 staggered-pole pickups. The ’70s Stratocaster featured a three-bolt neck, large CBS-logo headstock, bent-steel saddles, and AlNiCo 3 pickups. Body woods varied by decade, with poplar initially used and later replaced by alder, while nitro finishes and pau ferro boards appeared in later updates. Pickups retained low-output vintage specifications, with similar polarity across positions.

The Classic Player Series, introduced in 2006, was designed by Custom Shop Master Builders but made in Mexico. These ’50s and ’60s-inspired Stratocasters combined vintage aesthetics with modern touches, including larger frets, flatter fingerboards, and specialized pickups. Confusion arose due to the “Custom Shop Designed” engraving, leading some to believe these were Mexican-made Custom Shop guitars. Certain pickups, like the Custom ’69, were supervised by Abigail Ybarra but not hand-wound by her.