Fender American Vintage II

Gerz6558

Stolen from the offset forum. Somebody seems to have done some digging and unearthed the imminent  replacement for the American Original line.

Placeholder listing on an Italian site: https://www.musicworks.it/mw/category-grid-all.php?value=AMERICAN+VINTAGE+II+&in=all

-1951 Telecaster w/ maple board (butterscotch blonde)
- 1957 Stratocaster w/ maple board (2-colour sunburst, vintage blonde, seafoam green)
- 1961 Stratocaster w/ rosewood board (3-colour sunburst, fiesta red, olympic white)
- 1963 Telecatser w/ rosewood board (3-colour sunburst, surf green, crimson red transparent)
- 1966 Jazzmaster w/ rosewood board, blocks and binding (3-colour sunburst, dakota red, lake placid blue)
- 1972 Telecaster Thinline w/ maple board (3-colour sunburst, aged natural, lake placid blue)
- 1973 Stratocaster w/ maple board (lake placid blue, mocha), w/ rosewood board (aged natural)
- 1975 Telecaster Deluxe w/ maple board (3-colour sunburst, mocha, black
- 1977 Telecaster Custom w/ maple board (wine red, black) , w/ rosewood board (olympic white)

- 1954 P Bass w/ maple board (2-colour sunburst, vintage blonde)
- 1960 P Bass w/ rosewood board (daphne blue, black)
- 1966 Jazz Bass w/ matching headstock, blocks and dots (3-colour sunburst, olympic white, seafoam green)

If the above is correct, my AO strat is in serious trouble of being swapped for one of the 57 seafoam green or 61 fiesta models. The Jazzmaster will probably be mine too (they got the correct size block inlays this time). Prices are going to be hard to swallow, so we shall see.

Link to the original find, along with some pics of thr jazzmaster: https://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=120787&start=105

stickyfiddle

We all knew it was coming *eventually*. Glad they're doing a full range of CuNiFe WRHB Teles, though in my case I gave up waiting and built a Jazzblaster instead. I could be tempted but a 57 Strat in sunburst but most likely I'm looking for the ideal CS or Doncaster version to pop up.

GavRichList

€2600! 

Whitecat

Penn

WowGavRichList said:

€2600! 

Wow that is not inexpensive is it? 

Loobs

the JM is nice

MattAttack

Some more info here: https://www.seamusblackwell.com/work-1/fender-american-vintage-ii

barnstorm

Leaving aside the price/value conversation, I hate Fender’s stupid, constantly changing range names so much.

chris78

Devil will be in the detail.
7.25 and vintage tall looks good. Will they be nerdily accurate like the avs or close but no cigar like avri? Will they be proper nitro? Have they developed new pickups for things like the 61 strat/ 63 tele?
Will they be heavy like the aos or light like AVs?
If they’ve got them right, a street price of just over £2k seems reasonable and will cost me some money

guitarblaster

Ah they actually sound pretty cool, the LPB jazzmaster sounds great with matchy headstock 

tomajoha

chris78 said:

Devil will be in the detail.
7.25 and vintage tall looks good. Will they be nerdily accurate like the avs or close but no cigar like avri? Will they be proper nitro? Have they developed new pickups for things like the 61 strat/ 63 tele?
Will they be heavy like the aos or light like AVs?
If they’ve got them right, a street price of just over £2k seems reasonable and will cost me some money

Yeah the weight thing is what I’ll be interested in, recent AO’s have been getting a bit portly

Sunburst

No Jaguar?

Norlin4life

chris78 said:

Devil will be in the detail.
7.25 and vintage tall looks good. Will they be nerdily accurate like the avs or close but no cigar like avri? Will they be proper nitro? Have they developed new pickups for things like the 61 strat/ 63 tele?
Will they be heavy like the aos or light like AVs?
If they’ve got them right, a street price of just over £2k seems reasonable and will cost me some money

Likely heavy(ish) as good wood supplies are dwindling and they still save better stuff for Custom Shop (if they made the AV2 too good there would be no reason to upgrade). I have a very early AO strat which is fairly light (3-5 piece body I’m guessing), but recent ones have been heavier. Nitro will likely still be the same (thin coats on sealer with no primer). Will be interesting to see if pickups have changed.

Whitecat

tomajoha said:

chris78 said:

Devil will be in the detail.
7.25 and vintage tall looks good. Will they be nerdily accurate like the avs or close but no cigar like avri? Will they be proper nitro? Have they developed new pickups for things like the 61 strat/ 63 tele?
Will they be heavy like the aos or light like AVs?
If they’ve got them right, a street price of just over £2k seems reasonable and will cost me some money

Yeah the weight thing is what I’ll be interested in, recent AO’s have been getting a bit portly

Most of the Jazzmasters I’ve seen recently (what few have come into the country anyway) have been under 8 1/2 lbs which is fine for those. The Teles have unfortunately been about the same which is strange and not ideal for me. 

I’m mega interested in the JMs - probably Dakota Red. But the price  

mudslide73

An Olympic White 61 Strat in my future, I think. 

RichAC

Er… any news on whether they come with a neck shim? 

stickyfiddle

Sunburst said:

No Jaguar?

I'm guessing the Marrguar has cannibalised a lot of sales that would have gone to AO Jags otherwise. So maybe they're not bothered, at least with the initial release

NCo

Geez, that's a used custom shop price...

I guess the colours are nice, especially the fiesta red, but could anyone shed some light into specs that would justify this? Doesn't seem too far off compared to current offering.

I'm not a strat player, but I tried a few Strats from the AV line (59, 65), AVRI (62) as well as AO (50's, 60's). All have some differences but all seem to be similarly built in terms of quality. Never understood why the AV are so overpriced in the 2nd hand market compared to the AVRI.

Hopefully these new guitars will send a few more used 62/60's into the market

stickyfiddle

NCo said:

Geez, that's custom shop price...

Maybe in Jan 2016. The pound has fallen a LOOONG way since. Your average CS Strat is 4k now

NCo

stickyfiddle said:

NCo said:

Geez, that's custom shop price...

Maybe in Jan 2016. The pound has fallen a LOOONG way since. Your average CS Strat is 4k now

I meant used, amended.

Gerz6558

NCo said:

Geez, that's a used custom shop price...

I guess the colours are nice, especially the fiesta red, but could anyone shed some light into specs that would justify this? Doesn't seem too far off compared to current offering.

I'm not a strat player, but I tried a few Strats from the AV line (59, 65), AVRI (62) as well as AO (50's, 60's). All have some differences but all seem to be similarly built in terms of quality. Never understood why the AV are so overpriced in the 2nd hand market compared to the AVRI.

Hopefully these new guitars will send a few more used 62/60's into the market

In many eyes the previous American Vintage series nailed the look, sound and feel of a vintage guitar. So, when they were discontinued and succeeded by the American Original line they became even more desirable. Hence the massively inflated prices you see for them now.

Most custom shop offerings have 9.5 radius necks, and that is a big enough deal for some to go for one of the American Vintage models instead. Sellers know this and try to exploit it.