Fender american vintage lacquer

kswilson89

I owned an american vintage strat about a year ago (it was a 2013 model) and the lacquer seemed to chip off very easily, like it hadn't bonded to the paint properly. Just wondering whether anyone knows if fender have addressed this issue on current american vintage models? Does the lacquer now 'sink' into the the wood more so now than on previous models?

guitars4you

@MattFGBI might be able to add more - I assume you have/had an AVRi period with the 'flash coat' finish -  This is the new update finish for AVRi models - I dare say there is a chance that any particular one guitar can have or develop a fault - Hard to comment on yours without seeing it - Was it new or used when purchased and from whom - I have seen a  couple of 'faults' on a Fender where the lacquer has come away, so it is possible yours was/is a fault - As far as I'm aware a 2017 is no different to a 2013, but I suspect as an isolated case there was a fault - Possible de-lamination (think that is teh right word) - I assume you don't own it now 

richardhomer

Don't know whether it's changed but I had exactly the same issue on a 2013 model. They call it a 'Flash Coat' - which I believe is some form of nitro. 

Whatever it is, it's unusually delicate. I got the sense if I'd kept mine that it wouldn't have aged gracefully....

kswilson89

guitars4you said:

@MattFGBI might be able to add more - I assume you have/had an AVRi period with the 'flash coat' finish -  This is the new update finish for AVRi models - I dare say there is a chance that any particular one guitar can have or develop a fault - Hard to comment on yours without seeing it - Was it new or used when purchased and from whom - I have seen a  couple of 'faults' on a Fender where the lacquer has come away, so it is possible yours was/is a fault - As far as I'm aware a 2017 is no different to a 2013, but I suspect as an isolated case there was a fault - Possible de-lamination (think that is teh right word) - I assume you don't own it now 

Correct, I don't own the guitar any more. It was purchased used on eBay, no issues with it when it turned up but after a while I noticed a chip in the lacquer. The chip came off really clean, unlike what you would expect from nitro where it would wear away over time.

guitars4you

kswilson89 said:

guitars4you said:

@MattFGBI might be able to add more - I assume you have/had an AVRi period with the 'flash coat' finish -  This is the new update finish for AVRi models - I dare say there is a chance that any particular one guitar can have or develop a fault - Hard to comment on yours without seeing it - Was it new or used when purchased and from whom - I have seen a  couple of 'faults' on a Fender where the lacquer has come away, so it is possible yours was/is a fault - As far as I'm aware a 2017 is no different to a 2013, but I suspect as an isolated case there was a fault - Possible de-lamination (think that is teh right word) - I assume you don't own it now 

Correct, I don't own the guitar any more. It was purchased used on eBay, no issues with it when it turned up but after a while I noticed a chip in the lacquer. The chip came off really clean, unlike what you would expect from nitro where it would wear away over time.

It is a thin nitro top coat and I believe over a thin poly base coat - I have seen claims of it been nitro all over, so don't quote me on that

MattFGBI

It shouldn't chip off easily. If it does / did there  may have been a fault which should be inspected. 

Panama_Jack666

MattFGBI said:

It shouldn't chip off easily. If it does / did there  may have been a fault which should be inspected. 

I have an AVRI 52 tele (2016) and the lacquer comes off that just by looking at it!

sidewinderwhy

I have an AV 64 Tele from 2015 - great sound and love playing it but mine is the same. More chips already than my 20 year old Am Std Strat. Then again the lacquer is millimetres thick on that  one!

markj

sidewinderwhy said:

I have an AV 64 Tele from 2015 - great sound and love playing it but mine is the same. More chips already than my 20 year old Am Std Strat. Then again the lacquer is millimetres thick on that  one!

Mine too, is this a fault or how it should be!

Strat54

Every used Pure Vintage era AVRI on sale seems to have sizeable chips and quite often down to the wood. 

Panama_Jack666

http://i.imgur.com/0NeGAAs.jpg

This happened on one gig and I don't remember knocking it at all. I don't really jump around with the guitar either! Too fat and lazy for that!

sidewinderwhy

Any I've seen advertised as ex demo/ b stock it's been because of chips.

Does anyone know if Fender is planning to refresh the American Vintage/ Pure Vintage range- the UK website is only listing the 58 and 64 Teles for instance both in White Blonde? Would love a Lake Placid Blue but I think they were a limited run a few years back.

No sign of the 52 Tele either- I thought it would be a staple of the range?

sidewinderwhy

Panama_Jack666 said:

http://i.imgur.com/0NeGAAs.jpg

This happened on one gig and I don't remember knocking it at all. I don't really jump around with the guitar either! Too fat and lazy for that!

Ouch- I've go that to look forward to with mine then?! I don't remember them being advertised as self-relicing....

kswilson89

sidewinderwhy said:

Any I've seen advertised as ex demo/ b stock it's been because of chips.

Does anyone know if Fender is planning to refresh the American Vintage/ Pure Vintage range- the UK website is only listing the 58 and 64 Teles for instance both in White Blonde? Would love a Lake Placid Blue but I think they were a limited run a few years back.

No sign of the 52 Tele either- I thought it would be a staple of the range?

It'd be nice if they did do somewhat of a revamp... Especially where the finish is concerned

richardhomer

kswilson89 said:

sidewinderwhy said:

Does anyone know if Fender is planning to refresh the American Vintage/ Pure Vintage range- the UK website is only listing the 58 and 64 Teles for instance both in White Blonde? Would love a Lake Placid Blue but I think they were a limited run a few years back.

No sign of the 52 Tele either- I thought it would be a staple of the range?

It'd be nice if they did do somewhat of a revamp... Especially where the finish is concerned

The whole range was revamped (to considerable fanfair) in 2012 - the aim being to make the guitars much more 'vintage accurate' - which they certainly achieved.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, my 2013 59 reissue marked if looked at for too long. Having owned original finish pre-CBS Fenders and CS models, this seems atypical of nitro-cellulose finishes in general - and wasn't an issue on the pre-2012 models.

These finishes don't seem to age attractively. I agree that Fender probably need to resolve this. 

rossi

The flash coat used to mean a almost pure thinners blow over to level the paint underneath .It was also called leveler.Holts did a spray can  of pure thinners up to a few years ago  called leveler ,It saved frigging around polishing the paint .The leveler glossed up and "leveled " the paint.You could do this with with nitro as it never really dries  .I learned the technique in the 60;s when a friend of mine ,an engineer ,resprayed my BSA bike tank .As he finished the actual colour coats a fly landed on it .He flicked it off ,blew some  localised colour  coats over it and then put a flash coat over the blem then when he had built it up  he covered the whole tank with a flash coat of thinners.It looked stunning .I used the same method on some guitars .Buy a  burst poly coated  strat body then respray it with nitro and then a flash coat .Shouldnt need to touch it  after that ,certainly not using a buffing wheel .

Panama_Jack666

sidewinderwhy said:

Panama_Jack666 said:

http://i.imgur.com/0NeGAAs.jpg

This happened on one gig and I don't remember knocking it at all. I don't really jump around with the guitar either! Too fat and lazy for that!

Ouch- I've go that to look forward to with mine then?! I don't remember them being advertised as self-relicing....

Possibly... I have no doubt that there are people more careful than me with their gear. None of my other guitars have picked up these kinds of knocks though...

If it's any consolation. My AVRI is one of the best teles I've ever played. And I've played shit loads of Telecasters! 

Every modern AVRI I have played has been quite special!

Neil

I've seen lots of Fenders that suffer from their nitro top coats chipping off.

Could it be that the nitro is sprayed over a poly coat and the adhesion is not as good as a complete nitro job?

Panama_Jack666

Neil said:

I've seen lots of Fenders that suffer from their nitro top coats chipping off.

Could it be that the nitro is sprayed over a poly coat and the adhesion is not as good as a complete nitro job?

This could explain why it seems to flake off like Poly! I couldn't get my head around that!

kswilson89

Neil said:

I've seen lots of Fenders that suffer from their nitro top coats chipping off.

Could it be that the nitro is sprayed over a poly coat and the adhesion is not as good as a complete nitro job?

It seems to me like there's no undercoat whatsoever and the lacquer just doesn't bind with the wood at all... Although I'm not very knowledgeable on the topic