A Tele with three humbuckers like a Black Beauty Les Paul? A Maverick (aka Custom) with a Bigsby? These are just a few of the new out-of-the-ordinary guitars in Fender's second Parallel Universe.
In total, there are eight new models, including mashups of old favorites and strange takes on classic designs.
Perhaps the strangest is the Maverick Dorado. Only a few hundred of the original Fender Mavericks were made originally, as a way of using up Electric XII parts. The Maverick Dorado swaps out the original split-coil pickups for Fender's own take on the Filter'Tron, and slaps on a Bigsby vibrato.
The mere sighting of the body shape and template in an otherwise unrelated magazine feature got the Fender fans at OffsetGuitars.com excited. They will no doubt be thrilled to learn that their speculation of a Bigsby-equipped Maverick has come true.
The Maverick Dorado will retail for $2,499.99.
There are two Stratocaster-bodied entrants into the new Parallel Universe: The Jazz Strat has a matching colored headstock, Jazzmaster pickups, and Jazzmaster tremolo on a Stratocaster body. The finish is Mystic Surf Green, which Fender calls "cosmically stunning"—with a pinstriped pickguard that heightens the effect.
The Jazz Strat will retail for $1,999.99.
The Uptown Strat is a dual-humbucker looker with high-end appointments. The body is Fijian mahogany, the finish a Static White lacquer. Combine with the block inlaid rosewood fingerboard, and it begins to look like it should have a tuxedo hat or mink to match.
The Uptown Strat will retail for $1,999.99.
Meanwhile, the Strat Jazz Deluxe is an offset body with three single coils and a chunky box-inlay fretboard. It has a flamed maple veneer bound on top of a slab Jazzmaster body. The all-one-piece rosewood neck looks rich, like a leftover piece from the George Harrison Rosewood Telecaster days.
The Texas Special Stratocaster pickups are bound to supply plenty of bark. The Strat Deluxe will retail for $2,299.99.
The last Jazz-inspired guitar of the line is the Spark-O-Matic Jazzmaster, a pickguard-free beauty with a trio of mini-humbuckers and a 3-Color Burst finish. "The custom 3-piece body features a mahogany core and chambered ash wings, delivering warmth, sustain, and resonance," Fender writes.
It has a Deep C solid maple neck and a 9.5" radius, 22-fret rosewood fingerboard. It will retail for $1,999.99.
Three telecasters include the aforementioned Black Beauty–like Troublemaker Tele Deluxe Bigsby, the Olympic White Troublemaker Tele Deluxe, and the Tele Mágico.
When the first Troublemaker Teles hit the market in 2018, it made us chuckle. Taking cues from Gibson in the form of their mahogany necks and bodies, flamed maple tops, and finish names like an "Iced Tea Burst," the "Troublemaker" seemed a fitting name.
This Troublemaker Tele Deluxe Bigsby takes it to another level, with the Les Paul Custom–like pickups and hardware.
It will retail for $2,499.99.
The Bigsby-less Troublemaker Tele Deluxe is somewhat of a mirror image: sporting an Olympic White finish and black block inlays instead. However, it keeps the solid-mahogany body construction and the gold hardware, giving a refined air to the legacy of twang.
It will also cost just a bit less, at $2,399.99.
Finally, we're arrived to the new end of Fender's Parallel Universe, with the Tele Mágico. Its Thinline swamp-ash body is outfitted with a pair of Fender Gold Foil pickups, like two big belt buckles shining. The chrome control plate and pearloid pickguard and inlays create a glimmering, watery effect. You'll have a choice of finish in either the Transparent Daphne Blue pictured here or a Transparent Surf Green. And it will retail for $2,299.99.
Like 2018's Parallel Universe releases, the Parallel Universe Vol. II guitars will be available in a staggered fashion throughout 2020. Click the "Follow" button under each guitar to add it to your Reverb Feed, so that you can be notified as soon as they're available on the site. Explore all used and new Fender Parallel Universe guitars on Reverb.
For all the latest gear news and new product announcements from NAMM 2020, check our ongoing coverage here.