The Highway One Series
In 2002 Fender launched the Highway One Series to fill the gap between affordable Mexican Standards and the pricier American Series. Marketed as “Everything you need, nothing you don’t,” these U.S.-made guitars offered simplified finishes, vintage-style pickups, and cost-saving hardware, while preserving authentic Fender feel. Early models featured satin lacquer finishes, medium-jumbo frets, a vintage tremolo, and standard truss rods, with HSS options and the Greasebucket tone circuit added later. A major 2006 refresh introduced jumbo frets, AlNiCo 3 pickups, and a bold 1970s-style headstock. Rumors circulated that bodies and necks were finished in Mexico and trucked back up “Highway One,” but evidence shows they were fully built and finished in Corona with globally sourced parts. By 2010, the series gave way to the American Special line, which kept the affordable USA-made concept while adding Texas Special pickups, jumbo frets, and upgraded finishes, before Highway Ones were phased out entirely.