The Music Zoo / Fender® CS "Vintage Not Rod"

Get ready for the next big thing from The Music Zoo and the Fender® Custom Shop: The "Vintage Not Rod" Series. Back in the early '50s, Leo Fender felt that if a guitar was built right, it didn't need a truss rod (the adjustable metal rod embedded in the neck that helps keep the neck from bowing over time). But the reality of mass production meant that the assembly line could never spend enough time with each neck to ensure that it was made perfectly, so the truss rod went in, and the rest is history. Until now. Tommy Colletti and The Music Zoo traveled to Corona a few months ago to work with the Fender Masterbuilders on making a series of vintage-spec guitars with a solid, no truss rod neck. The Not Rod!

Some of the Fender employees could just not believe that a solid neck would be strong enough to not bend so we tested it out: above, Masterbuilder Mark Kendrick is standing on a neck that has no truss rod inside as other Fender employees and Masterbuilders look on. Mark proudly declared after the test that the neck was still perfectly straight. Masterbuilder Jason Smith didn't believe him, but after looking it over had to agree. It's an awesome piece of work that only the Fender Masterbuilders can pull off.

In the 1950 Fender built a handful of Broadcasters and double pickup Esquires with no truss rod, and those guitars are incredibly sought after today. Why do this now? Tone. Installing a truss rod in a neck means carving out a channel for the rod to lay inside, and where there was once wood, there is either empty space or there is metal. Less wood resonating, less vibration, less tone out of your amp. Plus, it's how the very first Fenders were built, and that's just cool.


The necks are carved slowly, in steps, to give the wood time to acclimate and adjust to its new shape. When they are done they will be completely stable. We'll be releasing more info very soon on specific guitar models that will have the Vintage Not Rod neck, so stay tuned!

Fender Roadworn Contest: 50K+ of Free Gear!

At NAMM this last January we spotted a pimped-out Toyota Tundra parked in the Fender booth, filled with gear. We wanted to let you know about the contest that Fender is running so your band can have a chance to win it, a trailer, and all the gear too! Check out www.getroadworn.com

NAMM 09: Fender Booth

We were in hog heaven in the Fender booth at NAMM. It was sensory overload: screens playing everywhere, customized trucks and motorcycles, live bands playing, oh, and killer guitars, many of which are coming directly to The Zoo. So, let's get started. Below is a pair of "'50s Evil" Custom Shop guitars, both Masterbuilt by Greg Fessler:





Everyone was ooohing and aaaahing over the '64 Relic Strats and Teles:





Speaking of '64s, we were blown away by a particular '64 Esquire Relic Masterbuilt by Jason Smith:



Jason was at the booth and told us that this '64 has an "Illumatone" prototype Lace Sensor pickup behind the pickguard, making this Esquire pretty stealth. We are big fans of Jason; he has built many of our custom run Fenders in the last year or two. Here he is with the stealth '64 Esquire, and The Zoo's Tim Reynolds:



This "Medieval Tele" on display was incredible:



We also really like this Strat with the Fender color chart applied as graphics:



Here's another cool paint job, on the "Troy Lee Designs Graphic" Strat:



Fender is rolling out a lower-priced series of guitars that still have that beat-up, well-played mojo called the Road Worn series. We got to play them first hand, and gotta say, they were nicer than we expected:



Some cool new signature Strats were on hand, namely the Dave Murray (top, Iron Maiden), and the Richie Blackmore (bottom):





The Music Zoo's Mark DiDonna is holding a really unique custom Tele; it has a fretless, mirror finish fingerboard:



We had the pleasure of meeting Debbie Shuck, who is the Executive Director of the Fender Center Museum. She's shown below with Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilder Mark Kendrick. She is in charge of Kids Rock Free, which brings young kids down to their facility in Corona, CA, and provides them free guitar, bass, and drum lessons. It's an afterschool program and they even get to play in bands together. We like that kind of thing!


Fender legend George Fullerton was in the booth signing autographs:


And out in front of the booth, Mick Mars!

The New Old: Fender Road Worn Guitars and Basses

Fender's Custom Shop has long been the industry leader in make new guitars look old. The techniques they pioneered on guitars like the Jeff Beck Tribute Esquire® and the Yngwie Malmsteen "Play Loud" Strat® have finally trickled down onto some sweet Fender® USA vintage-style guitars: The Road Worn Series. So go on, take that '50s Strat® to the gig, and spend the rest of the night talking to people instead of guarding the case. Cool hot rod upgrades like 6105 frets have been included because they know we like that. The Road Worn Fenders® should be arriving at the Zoo 1st quarter 2009.