The 1970 Fender catalog was impressive to say the least - 96 pages long - the most extensive Fender catalog to date, typically featuring a single instrument on each page. Surprisingly, then, although it included electric guitars, electric basses, amplifiers, banjos - and even an electric violin and mandolin - it contained no acoustic guitars. It was full color throughout and measured 28cm x 22cm. The first 42 pages are shown here. Jump to part 2 for pages 43-96: amplifiers, keyboards banjos and accessories.
Amongst the well-known Fender solid electric guitars, 1970 saw the introduction of several new models, including the Montego and Hand Carved Ltd. These were quite a departure for Fender, but guitars that never made a significant impression on the guitar-buying public. This catalog contains eight solid bodies, and five semi-acoustics. The Coronado and Coronado XII are both shown in Fender's new Antigua finish.
Pages 20-29 featured Fender's 1970 bass guitar range; three long (34") scale: Fender Jazz, Precision and Telecaster basses, and four short (30") scale: Mustang, Antigua, Bass VI, and brand-new for 1970, the Musicmaster bass. The semi-hollow Antigua, was more expensive than all the other (solid bodies) basses in the range, with an April 1970 list price of $525, compared to $356 for a Jazz bass, and $293.50 for a Precision.
The Musicmaster was naturally the lowest-price bass in the range, and as a student instrument was also sold as a package (see page 26) with the Musicmaster bass amplifier.
Another bass debuting in the 1970 catalog was the (somewhat oxymoronic) Fretless Precision bass on page 23; the Precision was named as such specifically because of its frets - in comparison to older unfretted upright basses!
Pedal steel guitars are also a big feature of this catalog, covering twelve sides, from pages 31-42
For the sake of simplicity, this site splits this catalog in to two parts, with Fender amplifiers (pages 43-68) appearing in part 2, along with keyboards and banjos.
This catalog is dated 1970. It featured the following guitars. Click on the images for full size versions, or click on the model names below for more about each instrument
$1100
$3795
$250
$395
$225
$900
$6500
$450
$8500
$25000
$45
$250
$180
$475
$1799
$280
€300
€5900
€14599