American Original finish question

kswilson89

Has anyone had the opportunity to play any of Fender's new American Original series? The finish is listed as nitro but I'm wondering whether it's any different from the American Vintage flash coat lacquer. The flash coat finish didn't really seem to bind to the body and chipped very easily rather than sinking into the wood grain and 'rubbing' off over time. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

dindude

I believe it’s Nitro over Poly undercoat to solve that very issue. Personally I love the flash coat on my AVRI Jag, super thin and ages gracefully (and quickly). My CS Strat has nitro over poly and it’s very hardy.

paulnb57

I have an Original 50's Strat, which is supposedly Nitro, no idea whats under it, but the finish appears quite thin on for example the headstock, where the decal is not buried......it hasn't worn yet, but its early days....

chris78

I think Matt from Fender confirmed nitro over a thin policy base. The idea was to give more durability.

MattFGBI

Its now more vintage correct too. 

WezV

MattFGBI said:

Its now more vintage correct too. 

How so?

MattFGBI

A lot of the old stuff has a coat which isn't nitro. 

kswilson89

MattFGBI said:

A lot of the old stuff has a coat which isn't nitro. 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I know you can't please all of the folks all of the time but I'm just wondering why Fender don't use the same lacquer that they used to? Where it would sink into the wood grain and rub off over time. This would be ideal in my opinion, am alone here? It seems the flash coat lacquer didn't bind to the wood too well and just covered the wood. The current situation is nitro over poly but then that won't sink into the grain and rub off either... Do they use the current formula to avoid damages in transit and the like?

gavin_axecaster

It's basically the same finish they used on the pre-2012 AVRI, before adopting the flash-coat.
I'm just making an assumption but there were reports of the flash coat being fragile in some instances, and I suspect reverting to the poly sealer speeds up production and reduces costs as well as being more durable

adam1990

kswilson89 said:

Has anyone had the opportunity to play any of Fender's new American Original series? The finish is listed as nitro but I'm wondering whether it's any different from the American Vintage flash coat lacquer. The flash coat finish didn't really seem to bind to the body and chipped very easily rather than sinking into the wood grain and 'rubbing' off over time. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I know this is a bit of an old post by now but I do own an AO series 60's Tele. I can honestly say it is one of the best guitars I have played.

As far as the finish goes its still very early days, but this thing is 100% going to relic with time... Maybe not quite like the early 60's and 50's guitars but much more like the late 60's and early 70's guitars which I have read from multiple sources that they did use a sealer called Fullerplast which is a type of polyester.

Compared to my poly finished guitars it does have different characteristics, sweat hazes up a lot quicker, its a lot softer and easier to scratch.

As for sinking into the wood grain I guess that is something only time will tell as that won't happen over night. But if i'm going to guess it probably won't, I think this was something more common with the pre fullerplast Fenders.

But don't let the finish put you off, just play it a lot and leave it out on a stand so it can catch some sunlight and I sure it will age nicely over the years. 

jellybelly

Would be interested in seeing the AO finish side-by-side with my AV65 Jag (sonic blue). The jag is certainly ageing quickly (and nicely too - no flaking or anything) so if/when I go for an AO Jazzmaster I want it to ‘relic’ genuinely over time too. 

kswilson89

jellybelly said:

Would be interested in seeing the AO finish side-by-side with my AV65 Jag (sonic blue). The jag is certainly ageing quickly (and nicely too - no flaking or anything) so if/when I go for an AO Jazzmaster I want it to ‘relic’ genuinely over time too. 

I'm still yet to try one but I imagine the finish is much like the pre-2012 AV finish.

streethawk

Mine came with a small chip which I'm yet to fully repair. The top coat is definitely nitro.

As mentioned already, older fenders weren't totally nitro. The colour coat was acrylic. In fact some custom colours had no nitro lacquer at all. That's why some white strats are still white, not yellowed.