FENDER BULLET (FIRST VERSION)

  • Fender Bullet Deluxe (1981)

Overview

Brand name: 

Product: 

  • electric guitars

Series name: 

Dates of manufacture: 

1981 to 1983

FENDER manufactured the first version of the BULLET  between 1981 and 1983. It was designed to be a low cost student instrument to replace the discontinued Mustang and Musicmaster instruments. There were two original models the Bullet Deluxe and a standard Bullet. Both were made in the USA using a design derived from the Telecaster but with budget parts and lower build quality . It comprised a single cutaway Telecaster-shaped body with a 21 fret rosewood neck and Telecaster-style head stock.

The Bullet Deluxe had a plastic pick guard  with a hard tail bridge. The Bullet Standard model had a metal combined pick guard and bridge painted white or black. A metal tab at the edge of the pick guard was bent upwards and strings and individual saddles were attached to it. Both models had 2 single coil pickups with a three-way selector switch. The original Fender Bullet was available in red or ivory finish - with black or white pickguards.

The Bullet was designed by luthier John Page who explained the origin of the silver star on the Bullet's head stock:

"When I designed the Bullet I was still giggin' a lot and still reading the trades... like Billboard. The Billboard charts always had a silver star around the number of singles/albums that were shooting up the charts quickly. They were usually the "hits" So I thought that the phrase "Number one with a bullet" which was a classic DJ/industry phrase, would be a great advertising campaign for it. Fender marketing chose not to go with it... so the decal never made any sense. But what was funny, as a side note, the very next NAMM show after I released it, an import company... maybe Tokai or Hondo, basically ripped off the design and called it the All Star... silver star with the numeral one in it and all. "

In 1982 Fender introduced the second version of the Bullet, which had more of a Stratocaster shape.

Specifications (14)

Body

Body materialalder body
Body shape featuressingle cutaway
Body styleTelecaster style

Hardware

Bridgehardtail bridge

Fretboard

Fingerboard inlay materialpearl fingerboard inlay material
Fingerboard materialrosewood fingerboard
Fingerboard position markersdot fingerboard position markers

General

Made inUSA
Number of strings6 strings

Neck

Neck jointbolt on neck
Number of frets22 fret
Tuner layoutsix-in-a-row tuners

Controls

Pickup selector controls3-way selector switch

Electronics

Pickups configuration2 single coil pickups

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