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Comments
It played well - the neck shapes are different depending on the model - the 65 is slightly fatter. The pick-ups were a tad 'spiky' to my ears - had I kept the guitar, I'd have ultimately changed them - the received wisdom is the 65s sound better. The 'flash coat' finish was exceptionally prone to marking - but not in a good way.
Overall, a 'nice' - but not 'great' guitar.
some good info on an old review if that helps you http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/fender-american-vintage-65-stratocaster-568334
The '65 has a meatier neck and, in my opinion, a meatier sound. If you do the Beck/Knopfler fingers and thumb thing, the '65 is the one to get.
My '62 is modified with Duncan Antiquity II Surfer neck and middle position pickups. (The stock 57/62 single coils were gutless.)
In my opinion, an important part of getting a good sound from this series of instruments is 010-046 gauge strings and a medium high action. When I first tried the '65, for some reason, it had 009-042 gauge strings. (Strung this way, richardhomer's "spiky" description is precisely what should have been expected.)
I agree with g4y that the post-revision Fender AVRI guitars are credible. Out and out "greatness" costs Custom Shop prices.
Playability or lack their of is noticeable compared to my DGT but I feel these limitations force me to play in a different way and I ultimately really enjoy it...
I would put it on a par with a lot of custom shop models I have played.
To be honest you can find great Mexican Fenders as well, but you would probably have to play 25 to find one great one.
I have owned a CS Tele, and quite a few other high end guitars, and I get what the Custom Shop is about but there are great guitars lower down the Fender range. There are also some Custom Shop guitars that are underwhelming. If I had to buy sight unseen I'd go CS any time, but you can find great ones that are not CS. When I bought my AVRI I wasn't really looking to buy a guitar. I used the guitar to try out an amp and was blown away by how good the guitar was, and ended up going back and buying it a couple of weeks later.
I already have a US Standard with 9.5" and med jumbos but I actually like the 7.25 radius and smaller frets. I like vintage type stuff.
I have a MIM Classic '60's already and idly wondered how much better the AVRI's would be, although the feedback so far is not too great TBH. Perhaps a bit expensive for what they are?
I'll be honest, the '65 in Shoreline gold with matching headstock really took my fancy as I generally shop by colour.
Dont think fender ever had the treacle necks like you get on a gibson, but i do know they have had issues before.