Fender American Special discontinued?

[camardelle]

Can't find them on Sweetwater's website, and both GS and MF have limited choices in color. No black at MF, and GC only available in stores.

Is this a sign that they are being discontinued?

 

[mpdd]

hmm, interesting, not sure though

 

[drummer5359]

The Sandblasted Precision and Jazz basses seem to be a version of American Specials that were released fairly recently.

As for the more common finishes, I'd give Sweetwater a call and see if they have an answer.

 

[JakobT]

I tried to order an American Special P through my local dealer in Oslo earlier this year, and was told that the model was discontinued. On the other hand, both the American Special P and J are still to be found on the international Fender website. Go figure.

 

[Shawn Luckman]

Maybe running low on stock? They seem to be very popular here & nothing but good reviews.

 

[camardelle]

I hate to think they are getting the dump from Fender. I actually prefer the neck over the American Standard...the price too.

 

[mixtapelove]

I sure hope not.... these are right in my price point, and I really like the late 70s/early 80s logo/headstock.

 

[Shawn Luckman]

I hate to think they are getting the dump from Fender. I actually prefer the neck over the American Standard...the price too.

Don't both the American Special & Standard share the same neck I thought they did.

 

[camardelle]

I believe the neck has a different profile. Anyone else care to comment?

 

[MODELL]

I think the profiles are different, but both have graphite reinforcement

 

[camardelle]

The Special has what Fender refers to as a "slim" c profile.

 

[tjh]

I only played one AmSpec Jazz for any amount of time, and the profile was exactly the same as a Hwy One Jazz that I had at the time .. both were slightly slimmer (front to back) than the Am Standards of the same time period that I tried ...and of course both were drilled/used the MIM Standard style tuning machines vs the AmStand machines ...

.. just my perception, but I tend to think that since the American Special series was discontinued in Dec of last year, the special designation from Fender is enroute to being used for actual special editions...

 

[Shawn Luckman]

I stand corrected. I thought they both had the posiflex rods in the neck but, looking at Fenders site the profiles are different. Still a great bass though hope Fender keeps it going .

 

[tjh]

I stand corrected. I thought they both had the posiflex rods in the neck but, looking at Fenders site the profiles are different. Still a great bass though hope Fender keeps it going .

.. you were correct .. both the AmSpec and the AmStand basses use the posiflex graphite wrapped support rods in the neck ... they are just slightly different profiles ...

 

[Real Soon]

Well, on just a related matter, GC and subsidiaries all took the 50s Classic in honey blonde off their sites (as opposed to just saying they're out of stock), but a gentleman at SA assured me they were just looking at a couple months' wait. The latter is also out of fiesta red & sunburst, as well.

It sounds kind of like Fender's letting the old stock get sold off as much as possible before putting out the latest generation. Since the American Special, like the 50s honey blonde, is still up on their site, I feel pretty good that they're not going anywhere.

 

[Mike Sorr]

I play an American Special Precision that is by far my favorite of all the P basses I've ever owned...and I've owned a ton of them. I love the slim C neck. I also owned an Am Spec Jazz. Great bass too. I hope they don't discontinue them. I'd like to own another Jazz at some point.

 

[bluejack]

I recently owned both the Am Standard and Am Special Jazz basses. I traded the Standard in for the Special. As stated, the Special has the slim C profile neck. Also, the Special has the pups Fender used before switching to CS in the Standard. Lastly, the Special has the ' Greasebuckut ' tone circuitry.
There could be some truth as stated above that the new sandblasted limited edition are replacing the Special, at least for now. I was looking at Sweetwater and they had 4 of the blue sandblasted ones. One(1) had a pickguard sticker just like the one on my new Special, mentioning the slim C and Greasebucket circuitry. I emailed a salesperson to see if this was the case, iow, if they all had the 3 features, neck, pups, circuitry. He said he'd check into it but i never heard back ... still curious.

 

[tjh]

.. as I mentioned above, it is my understanding that Fender is not 'going to' discontinue the AmSpec ... they ' did ' discontinue the American Special bass as a series model around Dec of last year ... if you see them listed for sale, it is probably stock on hand ...

.. you could always check with Fender to verify though ..

 

[Mtnman]

I love the American Special series basses. I have the Honeyburst P with the hand rubbed nitro finish. In answer to previous questions, it does have the posiflex graphite rods and greasebucket circuit. It also has a different neck profile than the American standard. The Special is thinner (front to back).

I recently also picked up a blue sandblasted American Special Jazz. Again, the neck profile is different (thinner) than the American Standard. It also has the posiflex rods. One difference though; the sandblasted Specials don't have the greasebucket. I'm fine with the greasebucket omission as I've never really been a fan of it. I actually removed it from the Precision and rewired it to '64 specs. Also, the body of the J is ash as opposed to alder. It's the lightest Jazz I've ever owned at 7lbs 11oz.

 

[BrentD]

I tried to order an American Special P through my local dealer in Oslo earlier this year, and was told that the model was discontinued. On the other hand, both the American Special P and J are still to be found on the international Fender website. Go figure.

A good friend of mine has been trying to buy a Mustang Bass. He doesn't have much of a preference for one or the other between the reissue and the Pawn Shop. They are unavailable everywhere in the normal range of colors. He was told by a retailer they were discontinued in 2012. (!) The reissue is still on the website.