Fender American Vintage II

idiotwindow

Yes, these are a bit lardy, even by modern standards. I should have better things to do than scan website listings for guitars that I am only vaguely interested in buying, but most of the ones I've seen are too heavy for my taste (or, at least, too heavy at that price). The lightest I have seen are a couple of '50s Teles around 7lb 5oz (which is fine) but most are pushing 8lb or more.

DaevidJ

Love the painted headstock on the Jazz (despite it being the wrong shape which must have been a conscious decision). I would be tempted to buy one too (although the Jag for me would be where it is at), however having been spoiled by the Peach sale back in 2015 where i picked up an AV65 Jag for less than a grand i can't see myself realistically stumping up the cash for this...

marxski

idiotwindow said:

Yes, these are a bit lardy, even by modern standards. I should have better things to do than scan website listings for guitars that I am only vaguely interested in buying, but most of the ones I've seen are too heavy for my taste (or, at least, too heavy at that price). The lightest I have seen are a couple of '50s Teles around 7lb 5oz (which is fine) but most are pushing 8lb or more.

I think that it’s down to cost and scarcity. Alder is actually a broad species of (according to Wiki) around 35 trees and shrubs so there’s every possibility something has changed in the type they use or perhaps as time has passed climate change has made lighter woods less common. Purely a case of ‘killgissa’ from me of course.

rlw

I may have missed it, in which case I apologise, but not a word about the mahogany bodied Tele.  Is that right?

Whitecat

RaymondLin said:

Is it just me but I haven't seen any Strat under 7 and a half lbs or close to 7lbs in this batch.  I also saw a tele on Peach that is closer to 9lbs than 8.

Coda has a thinline Tele that is north of 8. Yikes. 

GavRichList

Eesh. I've just put a deposit down on an american made, big brand, solid-body electric that weighs sub 6lbs. These are looking a little chubby. 

PAL

Lewy said:

PAL said:

 I await the keyboard warriors !

So far you’re the only one telling people what they should and shouldn’t think….

No I'm not. What I was saying don't judge any guitar on the way it's made today and compare it to how they were
made in the past . The best way to tell if they live up to their reputation is to try one then you decide if it's for you that's all.

Lewy

marxski said:

idiotwindow said:

Yes, these are a bit lardy, even by modern standards. I should have better things to do than scan website listings for guitars that I am only vaguely interested in buying, but most of the ones I've seen are too heavy for my taste (or, at least, too heavy at that price). The lightest I have seen are a couple of '50s Teles around 7lb 5oz (which is fine) but most are pushing 8lb or more.

I think that it’s down to cost and scarcity. Alder is actually a broad species of (according to Wiki) around 35 trees and shrubs so there’s every possibility something has changed in the type they use or perhaps as time has passed climate change has made lighter woods less common. Purely a case of ‘killgissa’ from me of course.

As an interesting comparison, all of the (un-snapped up) £6k+ John Cruz S-types on guitarguitar.co.uk are over 8 lbs too. There clearly isn't much of the light stuff around!

tomajoha

Lewy said:

marxski said:

idiotwindow said:

Yes, these are a bit lardy, even by modern standards. I should have better things to do than scan website listings for guitars that I am only vaguely interested in buying, but most of the ones I've seen are too heavy for my taste (or, at least, too heavy at that price). The lightest I have seen are a couple of '50s Teles around 7lb 5oz (which is fine) but most are pushing 8lb or more.

I think that it’s down to cost and scarcity. Alder is actually a broad species of (according to Wiki) around 35 trees and shrubs so there’s every possibility something has changed in the type they use or perhaps as time has passed climate change has made lighter woods less common. Purely a case of ‘killgissa’ from me of course.

As an interesting comparison, all of the (un-snapped up) £6k+ John Cruz S-types on guitarguitar.co.uk are over 8 lbs too. There clearly isn't much of the light stuff around!

Yeah the CS weights are creeping up, I guess it was only a matter of time

Musicman20

DaevidJ said:

Love the painted headstock on the Jazz (despite it being the wrong shape which must have been a conscious decision). I would be tempted to buy one too (although the Jag for me would be where it is at), however having been spoiled by the Peach sale back in 2015 where i picked up an AV65 Jag for less than a grand i can't see myself realistically stumping up the cash for this...

Same as me! 

Musicman20

tomajoha said:

https://www.peachguitars.com/fender-american-vintage-ii-1972-telecaster-thinline-maple-aged-natural.htm

Check out the two '72 pictured, doesnt the second one look to have some funky alignment issues going on? At first I thought it was due to the slightly skwiffy angle of the photo but the more I look at it, the more it looks wrong?

Yeah that bridge pickup is out…..by a fair bit.

Whitecat

Musicman20 said:

tomajoha said:

https://www.peachguitars.com/fender-american-vintage-ii-1972-telecaster-thinline-maple-aged-natural.htm

Check out the two '72 pictured, doesnt the second one look to have some funky alignment issues going on? At first I thought it was due to the slightly skwiffy angle of the photo but the more I look at it, the more it looks wrong?

Yeah that bridge pickup is out…..by a fair bit.

Pretty 70s accurate though innit. 

stickyfiddle

Whitecat said:

Musicman20 said:

tomajoha said:

https://www.peachguitars.com/fender-american-vintage-ii-1972-telecaster-thinline-maple-aged-natural.htm

Check out the two '72 pictured, doesnt the second one look to have some funky alignment issues going on? At first I thought it was due to the slightly skwiffy angle of the photo but the more I look at it, the more it looks wrong?

Yeah that bridge pickup is out…..by a fair bit.

Pretty 70s accurate though innit. 

lol or wis..  

If you look at the gap near the knobs it's actually the scratchplate being fitted slightly wonky - in the second one it doesn't quite run parallel with the edge of the body (which as you say is VERY 70's Fender)

Sounds bloody good though

Gerz6558

I'm slightly conflicted about the 70's telecaster. Seen as though they've done those in vintage correct poly, but not the correct radius.

I'm sure they would feel a bit nicer than the Mexican variants, but if you install the newer cunife wide range pickups in one of those mexican models then technically it would be more vintage accurate than the american vintage.

I wonder if they are also using 500k or 1 meg pots in these. The custom shop ones use 500k's which i dont think is correct (if you  are about that level of detail!).

Whitecat

Gerz6558 said:

I'm slightly conflicted about the 70's telecaster. Seen as though they've done those in vintage correct poly, but not the correct radius.

I'm sure they would feel a bit nicer than the Mexican variants, but if you install the newer cunife wide range pickups in one of those mexican models then technically it would be more vintage accurate than the american vintage.

I wonder if they are also using 500k or 1 meg pots in these. The custom shop ones use 500k's which i dont think is correct (if you  are about that level of detail!).

Someone in a video said 1 meg.

Anyway, their "let's just do one small thing wrong on any given model" approach to trying to drive the absolute purists to spend double in the CS is just beyond obvious at this point...

Musicman20

stickyfiddle said:

Whitecat said:

Musicman20 said:

tomajoha said:

https://www.peachguitars.com/fender-american-vintage-ii-1972-telecaster-thinline-maple-aged-natural.htm

Check out the two '72 pictured, doesnt the second one look to have some funky alignment issues going on? At first I thought it was due to the slightly skwiffy angle of the photo but the more I look at it, the more it looks wrong?

Yeah that bridge pickup is out…..by a fair bit.

Pretty 70s accurate though innit. 

lol or wis..  

If you look at the gap near the knobs it's actually the scratchplate being fitted slightly wonky - in the second one it doesn't quite run parallel with the edge of the body (which as you say is VERY 70's Fender)

Sounds bloody good though

Oh….yea that pickguard / pickup is way off. Do we think the generally routing is off?! Eg the pickguard is just following how the elecs are fitted?

To be honest at £2k that needs sending back.

Offset

Musicman20 said:

Oh….yea that pickguard / pickup is way off. Do we think the generally routing is off?! Eg the pickguard is just following how the elecs are fitted?

Both guitars look to have the same issue - the scratchplate edge parallel (or not!) with the bridge is on the wonk.  So perhaps the machine cutting those plates is at fault rather than the pickup being off.

Mike58

Tried a lefty AV11 ‘61 Strat today in GG Glasgow.
nice looking guitar, sounded good , 61 pickup pretty tasty, neck profile pleasing and frets well finished.
Lefty wiring all wrong , zero taper, standard Fender nonsense .
6th string actually hanging off fretboard at 21st fret and 2mm outside bridge pole piece . Rest of strings following that slant.
so no idea if that’s a QC issue or neck moving in transit and  just requiring the bolts slacked and neck moved fix , but I’d be a little concerned re potential laquer cracking as neck pocket fit looked snug.
More embarrassing tho is dealer not noticing, but lefty guitars seem to only get a cursory look over in my experience.
nice guitar tho.. but some concerns.

marxski

Mike58 said:

Tried a lefty AV11 ‘61 Strat today in GG Glasgow.
nice looking guitar, sounded good , 61 pickup pretty tasty, neck profile pleasing and frets well finished.
Lefty wiring all wrong , zero taper, standard Fender nonsense .
6th string actually hanging off fretboard at 21st fret and 2mm outside bridge pole piece . Rest of strings following that slant.
so no idea if that’s a QC issue or neck moving in transit and  just requiring the bolts slacked and neck moved fix , but I’d be a little concerned re potential laquer cracking as neck pocket fit looked snug.
More embarrassing tho is dealer not noticing, but lefty guitars seem to only get a cursory look over in my experience.
nice guitar tho.. but some concerns.

I returned a new 59 NOS to main dealer a couple of weeks ago - neck was out of alignment, one of the side dots completely missing(!). Rear control plate had a screw drilled at an angle and two sets of the bridge saddle Allen heads were stripped.Case was poor with one of latches not opening. Sadly there are issues with QC and on a £3500 guitar I had no choice but to return it. 

Mike58

Yes , they are nailing it . Well done Fender.