AMERICAN SPECIAL STRATOCASTER

In 2010 the American Special Stratocaster was presented.  It was the second cheapest among the made in U.S.A. after the Highway One (only $100 more).
Norvell said about these guitars: “They're a US-made guitar for those on a budget.  They are striking, with '70s era big headstock and black pickguards on many of the models.  Although built for value, they are hardly stripped down, and we offered several key upgrades like our popular Texas Special pickups and jumbo frets.”
Fender Atomic humbucking pickup at the bridge on HSS models, Greasebucket Tone Control, a satin neck for better scrolling along the fretboard and the "gloss" polyurethane finish were other characteristics of the American Special Stratocasters. 

American Special Series, 2010 Fender Frontline

AMERICAN PERFORMER STRATOCASTER

At the end of 2018 Fender decided to retire the American Special Series and to replace it with the American Performer.
Main features of the series were the new Yosemite pickups in Alnico IV that joined the Greasebucket circuit on the bridge pickup tone control, already used on Highway One and American Special Stratocasters, which behaved like a high-pass and low-pass filter, thus allowing the treble to be cut and damping the low frequencies, making the tone control more usable.
The new Classic Gear tuning machines maintained an appearance similar to that of the Kluson, but a gear ratio of 18:1, for a better tuning control.
Available both in the SSS and in the HSS models, they were equipped with a push pull switch that enabled the pickup at the neck to be activated in positions 1 and 2 in the three single coil model, while in the HSS model it split the DoubleTap humbucking pickup.

Antonio Calvosa
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