Fender brings back the 1951 Nocaster for its 75th anniversary
The reissue arrives alongside a new hum-cancelling passive pickup system and a heavier Player Fusion line aimed at harder-edged players.
Jun 18, 2026 · 1 min read
Guitar Radar Editorial · Reviewed by Peter Luha · Published Aug 26, 2026
Fender turns 75 this year, and its birthday gift to itself is a reissue of a guitar it originally didn't even want to name. The 1951 Nocaster — the transitional model Fender shipped for a few months before settling on "Telecaster" — is back as a 75th Anniversary American Vintage II edition: solid ash body, a chunky period-correct "U"-shaped maple neck, 7.25-inch fingerboard radius, and a set of reissue Blackguard single-coils. It ships this summer for $2,999.99.
That's the heritage half of the announcement. The other half is aimed at players who'd never buy a Nocaster: a Player Fusion series built for heavier music, including a Floyd Rose-equipped Telecaster HH and a 27-inch baritone Jaguar tuned B-to-B, plus a new passive Silent System circuit that claims to kill single-coil hum without a battery or any change in tone — something Fender has been chasing in one form or another for decades. Both land in September.
Credit: Fender (official)
Why it matters
It's Fender playing both sides of its own anniversary at once — reissue the thing collectors want unchanged, while quietly trying to solve the one complaint (hum) that's dogged single-coils since the 1950s.
Sources
From Guitar News to Guitar Progress
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