Cowabunga, dudes—Fender crests a new wave of coolness with the fall 2008 introduction of two sweet new California Series acoustic guitars designed by legendary surf artist and Surfer magazine publisher John Severson.

Both John Severson Sonoran™ SCE models are righteous from stem to stern—dreadnought-cutaway acoustic instruments bearing Severson’s own artistic take on Southern California’s favorite pastime. His “Surf Fever” model is inspired by the surf posters of yesteryear, and the “Woody” model elegantly evokes total surf nirvana.

Both feature a spruce top, scalloped bracing, mahogany back and sides, 20-fret maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and bridge (with compensated saddle), Stratocaster® guitar headstock shape, die-cast machine heads, Fender FTE-3 preamp for easy amplification, John Severson hang tag and signature on the back of the headstock.

Severson himself even went so far as to indulge our request that he actually go surfing with the guitar for a nice photo op. So one fine sunny day at the beach in Maui, he strapped one of the guitars to his back and hit the swells, although, as he later related to Surfer magazine, he nearly got clobbered in the process.

“As I was paddling out, a real sizable wall came at me, so I put my head down at the last minute,” Severson said. “But I’d taped the hole closed on the guitar so it wouldn’t fill up with water—I had this air-filled instrument on my back, which is big resistance. When the water hit it, I got a jerk from the strap that really woke me up. I thought, ‘You’re going to hang yourself, Severson!’ I could just see the paper the next day: ‘Surfer Dies: John Severson Hung By a Guitar Strap.’”

For more information, please visit: http://www.fender.com/