Fender's second wave of 75th Anniversary Teles brings back the baritone and the Nocaster
A Player II Baritone Telecaster returns a 27-inch-scale Tele to the standard catalog, joined by an American Vintage II 1951 Nocaster and new Player II Telecaster and Precision Bass colorways.
Aug 18, 2026

Credit: Fender (via source)
Fender has spent much of 2026 talking about the Stratocaster, but this is really the Telecaster's year — 75 years — and the company used 18 August to add a second run of commemorative models. The one guitarists clocked first is the 75th Anniversary Player II Baritone Telecaster, which puts a 27-inch scale back in the standard lineup, tuned B to B. It comes two ways: 3-Color Sunburst or Black on rosewood, Lake Placid Blue or Butterscotch Blonde on maple, with the Blonde using chambered ash and listing at $999 against $879 for the alder versions. Otherwise it is standard Player II — modern C neck, 9.5-inch radius, Alnico V single coils, ClassicGear tuners. Fender gives it an October 1 ship date.
The vintage end of the range gets the 75th Anniversary American Vintage II 1951 Nocaster, Fender's recreation of the short 1951 window when guitars left Fullerton with no model name on the headstock at all, caught between the dropped Broadcaster badge and the incoming Telecaster one. It carries the period details these reissues lean on — a '51 U-shaped maple neck, 7.25-inch radius, vintage-tall frets, a three-brass-saddle bridge and Blackguard pickups — down to small tells like the narrow 12th-fret dot spacing and a single Phillips-head fastener at the truss rod.
Rounding things out are new colorways for the 75th Anniversary Player II Telecaster — Daphne Blue, Seafoam Green, Candy Apple Red and Aztec Gold — with a matching Player II Precision Bass in the same finishes. This follows the first batch of 75th Anniversary Teles that arrived in March.
Why it matters
Baritone Teles have drifted in and out of Fender's catalog for decades. Making one a standard Player II option under $1,000 puts extended range in reach for players who don't want a metal-specific instrument, while the Nocaster reissue feeds ongoing collector interest in Fender's earliest, pre-name Telecasters.
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