Fender Bullet
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| Fender Bullet | |
|---|---|
 1981 Fender Bullet, original version |
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| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Period | 1981-1982; Squier Bullet 1984 - present |
| Scale | 25.5" |
| Woods | |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Rosewood or Maple |
| Hardware | |
| Pickup(s) | One humbucker, two humbuckers, two single coils, or three single coils |
| Colors available | |
| Red/White, Cream/White, Red/Black | |
The Fender Bullet was an electric guitar originally designed by John Page[1] and manufactured and marketed by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was first introduced as a line of "student" guitars to replace the outgoing Mustang and Musicmaster models.[2]
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[edit] Original version (1981)
Fender marketed two original models made in the U.S.A.- the Bullet Deluxe and a standard Bullet. The original version of the Fender Bullet was based on the Fender Telecaster but with cheap parts and lower quality and originally sold for $199.00. It comprised a single cutaway Telecaster-shaped body with a 21 fret rosewood neck and Telecaster-style headstock. The Bullet Deluxe had a plastic pickguard with a separate, traditional hardtail bridge while the standard model featured a metal pickguard-bridge combo painted white or black, with separate saddles for each string. Both models had 2 single coil pickups with a three-way selector switch. The pickups were covered with a white or black plastic sheathing. The original Fender Bullet was only available in red (with a white or black pick guard) and off-white (cream).
[edit] Second version (1982)
In 1982, Fender introduced a second version of the Bullet, including two bass models. This version featured a double cutaway Fender Stratocaster-shaped body with a smaller, maple neck. Headstocks retained the version one (Telecaster) profile. Five models were marketed -the Bullet, Bullet Deluxe (S-2), S-3, H-1, and H-2 in addition to the two new bass models (a regular scale "B-34" and short scale "B-30"). The standard Bullet had the previous style metal pickguard-bridge combination with two single coils and three-way switch. The Deluxe (S-2) had a plastic pickguard and separate hardtail bridge with the same pickup configuration. The new S-3 had a separate plastic guard, traditional hardtail bridge, and three single coils with a five-way switch. The H-1 sported the metal pickguard-bridge combination with one humbucker. It also had a coil tapping button. The H-2 had a plastic guard, traditional hardtail bridge, and two humbuckers each with their own coil tapping button. The humbucking pickups were really two single coil pickups with alnico rod magnets side-by-side. The basses each had plastic guards and traditional bridges. They had the old Mustang bass style pickups. They differed only in scale. The second version Bullets were available in standard colors of red, cream, sunburst or translucent brown, as well as in custom colors[1]. And at that time it was very much famous.
[edit] Squier Bullet
[edit] 1984–2007
From 1984 the Bullet has been manufactured in Japan and other countries and is marketed under the Squier trademark as the Squier Bullet. Humbucking pickups from the original (early 80s) consisted of the same paired single coil configuration as the American-made models but used steel rods as pole pieces with a ceramic bar magnet. The three single coil pickup pattern like the Fender Stratocaster was also available as well as tremolo and hard tail bridges.
[edit] 2008–
Squier introduced a new, Chinese-made version of the Bullet in 2008, sporting a built-in tremolo arm, rosewood fingerboard, and one of six body finishes (Pink, Arctic White, Daphne Blue, Fiesta Red, Brown Sunburst, or Black) with a single-ply white pickguard.
[edit] The Squier Bullet Special
From around 1999 to 2004, Fender produced a single pickup Squier Bullet Special guitar. It had a fixed, hardtail bridge, a dual-coil (humbucker) bridge pickup, one volume control, and a 21 fret rosewood fingerboard bolt on neck. The body was made out of plywood and it was made in six colors: Black, Ice Blue Metallic, Frost Red Metallic, Cobalt Blue Metallic, Orange, and Satin Silver. The Red and Orange bodies were made with black hardware; all other colors had chrome hardware. All Bullet Specials had a 1 ply black pickguard. Most of the Squier Bullet Specials made in 2002 came with a special 20th Anniversay engraved neck plate. The logo on the headstock reads "Squier Bullet" with no mention of "Special". Some 2002 versions of the black and Frost Red Metalic Squier Bullet Special are known to have the Affinity brand on the headstock as well. [3]
All Squier Bullet Special guitars were made in Indonesia at the Cort factory. The serial numbers start with IC followed by two digits that designate the year the guitar was made. The remaining digits indicate month of production, color, and sequence. IC02xxxxxxx indicates a guitar made in 2002. [4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Chevne, Steven and Fjestad, Zachary R. (Editor), The Blue Book of Electric Guitars, (5th Edition), 1998
- ^ The Original USA Fender Bullet Appreciation Page
- ^ Bacon, Tony Squier Electrics: 30 Years of Fenders Budget Guitar Brand; Backbeat,1st Edition, 1 January 2012, ISBN 978-1617130229
- ^ http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&topic_number=631490
[edit] Further reading
- Fjestad, Zachary R. (Editor), The Blue Book of Electric Guitars; (9th Edition), 2005
- Peter Bertges: The Fender Reference; Bomots, Saarbrücken 2007, ISBN 978-3-939316-38-1
- * http://web.archive.org/web/20040803181143/http://www.squierguitars.com/gear/gear.php?partno=0320000_Special, accessed 17 Jan 2012
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