Fender American Vintage ii 1957 Stratocaster - One Month Review - Love it or Hate it?
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- čas přidán 11. 07. 2024
- One month into ownership of the Fender American Vintage ii 1957 Stratocaster and the honeymoon phase is over.... In this video we drill down on the key aspects of this Vintage Fender Stratocaster Reissue to discover what is great about it .... and what is not so great about it. Is it true what has been said about the quality control issues that have been rumored to frequent this fourth generation of the American Vintage series? I'll give you my honest assessment and opinion of the situation with Fender. We'll also hear some playing and tone examples. If you like this video and would enjoy seeing more like it, please subscribe to my channel, and above all else, enjoy the video!
#fenderstratocaster #guitarsolo #deluxereverb #americanvintage #fenderamericanvintage #seafoamgreenguitar #jazzguitar #guitarreview #guitarshootout #reaction #americanoriginal #telecasterfender #livemusic
:00 Intro
00:53 Meaningful specs
2:35 Guitar tone example
3:25 Top findings
5:35 Tone example 2
6:30 Likes and dislikes
Nice review and playing, Nick. I own an AV2 '51 Telecaster that is absolute butter, and came with zero issues. I only had to dial in the action to my taste and it's been amazing.
Yeah I love the ‘51 tele. I had one in my possession for a few weeks and I loved it. I did a review on that one and definitely had nothing but good things to say about it
Beautiful and nostalgic. This will only get better with time.
Indeed. My kids will love it one day when it gets passed down to them. …. Or they’ll sell it 😆
Thank’s .
Great review.
That’s awesome of you to say! Thanks!
Nick, I had a Fender Custom Shop 61 Sunburst Strat and finally sold it because of the same attribute you said you were looking for, a big fat neck! This particular guitar actually had a 59 style neck, rosewood over flamed maple, beautiful to behold but it was such a baseball bat that I just couldn't get used to it. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts on the Strat. Looks like a keeper!
That Guitar is a beauty, I got a 61 rosewood fretboard. I have discovered that tuning down a bit to A432HZ or E flat really helps at first, in fact I prefef the general feel and tone and you get better dynsmics too on a Strat. On a Telecaster(Esquire) I noticed that I enjoy that "challenge" between you and the instrument, it makes you listen closer and even the 7 1/4" radius feels flatter. Great sound BTW, I could listen to "Mr Sandman" all day long in that Guitar, you chose well.
yup, 432hz in E flat for me a well . . . 639 hz as well . . .
Boy, you went way back for that opener! That guitar's a little bright (color) for me and I prefer the 9.5 board; but they all sound different, that's why we need so many! My oldest son LOVES the 7.25. I have an American Original '50s White Blonde, and that neck is bigger and super! Wish it had the medium jumbos on it, but I can't have everything! Even with the narrow-tall, it is a wonderful guitar, and I've been playing Fenders for 61+ years! And yeh, I had to spend $100 having the nut adjusted (also had the 3rd string polepieces dropped on all three pickups) and some shorter bridge screws installed as well as the neck shimmed ... so it needed work. Had to have similar nut work done on a CS Gibson SG Standard '64 VOS, so it's not just Fender!
Nice demo, and you have a real fine on-camera presence.
Thanks for the kind words. Sounds like you have a similar addiction…. err… hobby !! 😆
Nice guitar! Im looking at the 61 possibly. I have 2 of the older Mexican classic series stratocaster and one tele classic series as well and think they're pretty great at what they do and how they sound and feel. Somewhat chunky necks too . Cheers
Hey Nick, I still have my EJ Strat in sunburst. She’s Amazing thank you.
Im always ready to buy that 59’ sonic blue Strat you have. 🤙🏽
Glad you like! The land of CZcams did not like the fact that I sold that thing. I don’t think anyone has actually called me stupid for selling it, but they have certainly implied it many times over. 😆
At least I know it’s still in the same town and has a good home.
Nice Job!
Loooooove the color on that strat! Sounds great too!
They indeed did a nice job on the a aesthetic and sound on this series!
I have the 61, It is a gem, as you said in another video, it has a certain MoJo :)
That color! Love it!
Yeah it’s nice. Hard to capture it on video, but in person it’s more blue than green to my eye.
I have this one in Surf Green from the early 90s! Got it second hand about 15 years ago. The wood quality and tone are very good. I hate the pickups, I hate the frets, I hate the radius and I hate the feel of the lacquered fingerboard. Luckily mine doesn't have a V-profile; feels more like a Gibson slim taper, which I find very comfortable.
Cool color!
Great sounding guitars but I’d find it hard to spend the cash on a guitar with tiny frets as I prefer medium jumbos or even jumbos on a 9.5 board. You see a lot of vintage reissues as first time buyers of a 7.25 with tiny frets is a shock to some that are used to 9.5 and medium jumbos.
The Vintera is as far as I went with the “vintage thing” as I prefer hot pickups and modern features on Fender Strat or Tele. I did order the Fiesta red AV2 but changed my mind and bought an American Special Tele and a HW-1 Tele instead.
For those of us that can’t play fast, the vintage frets and 7.25” radius feels great 😉
The stiffness is ALL about setup my friend - get a good tech & you'll never look back ! Great content 😎
Thanks! What aspect of the setup affects the stiffness? I’ve always been curious about that 🤷🏻♂️
@@NickHandleyCreative The setup & consequent feel of the action is an art form in itself, and consists of the masterful blend of nut slots, truss road, frets & bridge all merging together to produce exactly the feel that suits your playing style & preferences...finding yourself the right tech who knows & has mastered all this really is worth it & will leave you wondering how you every managed before!! 👍🏽
@@moonshot1999 good tip! I’ll have to give that a go.
@@NickHandleyCreative Don't even think about it! Hunt a good one down & you'll never look back! Here's a clip of Bonamassa talking about the very issue on his original '51 Nocaster, from 4 minutes in czcams.com/video/Z4GZS0J9YTU/video.html 👍🏽
View schon's strats. Floyd equipped, he also has very rare reverse head stock strat. Stellar piece.
I would love to see you compare the 1957 to the 1962 AVII.
me too!
Why did it come with the bad neck? Was it second hand?
Wow that colour looks amazing!!
It’s even nicer in person. Very classic
I really want one of these or the 61. The only thing stopping me is the heavier weight and some fit/finish issues that have become more consistent (at least on the 61's). These issues should be non-existent on a $2000 guitar, especially when I don't have these issues on any of my MIM or Squier guitars.
The amount of praise I’m hearing for the Squier guitars is making me feel like I need to try one for myself!
I have the 61 Av2.. It's a wonderful guitar.
Heck yeah it is… I love that one. Congratulations!
@@NickHandleyCreative which do you prefer?
If i had to pick one I’d probably take the ‘61.
I feel bad saying that though. Don’t want my ‘57 to feel unappreciated 😆
@@NickHandleyCreative thanks for the reply!
@@NickHandleyCreative those 57s are beauties as well.. I was torn between the 61 and the white ash 57.. I love the Vshaped necks.
I tried one of those ! It was lush ! (Lush = Welsh for something great)
You should take the sticker off the bridge and remove the spring that tends to rattle around in there.
I liked when the American Original had 9 1/2" radius, it made all the difference to me. The really historically authentic one has appeared in a lot of interpretations. Been done enough times. Great guitars, but 7 1/4" is just not realistic anymore, unless you just want to play '50s music. Damn what a beautiful guitar though! killer tones and also nice playing. The stiffness of the strings is due to the scale length used on almost every guitar being made now that isn't a Gibson, made a little more apparent by the radius, probably even more than the fret size is responsible for that. the color isn't that authentic but man is it BEAUTIFUL. Nice video.
I’ve never quite scientifically understood how scale length translates to stiffness. You have a good explanation though! Thanks for enlightening me. I have some modern strats with the 9.5” and they do indeed feel a little easier to get around on. That’s no doubt the reason it seems to be so hard to find a custom shop strat with a 7.25”. That said, I do love the feel of the 7.25” board. Probably because I can’t play very fast 😆
@@NickHandleyCreative 7 1/4" feels very comfortable to the hand on chords, very nice for more specific purposes. As for scale length, think of a jump rope; it takes more energy to get a 15 foot piece of rope to behave like a 7 foot piece. A set of 9's would be more demonstrative than my 10's, but going from a Mustang or Jaguar (24") back to a Strat or Tele (25 1/2) would be very telling as far as scale length is concerned. But DAMN what a good looking guitar!
@@Mr_Turtlewizard so uhh…. Want to sell that ‘65 ??? I’m on the hunt for one of those !
@@Mr_Turtlewizard True, and Hendrix, Blackmore and many others..
Think of a Guitar string as a rope stretched across a ditch exactly 10 ft wide and the rope has to be tight, when we make the ditch 11 feet wide we have to pull on the rope to make it stretch and reach the same tightness..it might help with understanding the String tension v scale length dynamic. The Fender Strat has a slightly longer neck than say Gibson Les Paul..so the string has to stretch further to get to the same tension or Note making it feel stiffer. In the early years Guitar players would tune so they could play with Brass section, trumpet, Sax etc so the adapted by tuning down to make it easier to play music that was written years before when 432HZ on the A string was used a lot more. Hendrix tuned his Guitar down to E flat, that's why the song books and sheet music are impossible to play along to..so when he played an E chord it would sound like E flat .
I just bought one today not here yet but I been playing Fraser for so long I get them all built 12” radius I thought I’d give it another try
Hey Nick! Do you plan on getting the ‘73 strat next?
🤔🤔 good question. I have the AVii ‘51 telecaster arriving tomorrow but yeah maybe the ‘73 after that if my bank account doesn’t blow up or wife divorce me😆
Funny, the 73 was the one I wanted the most when I saw the AVii series was coming out. Isn’t the 73 still kind of a hybrid though? I was under the impression that early 70’s strats had U shaped necks and the AVii 73 has a C neck.
Like the sound of the alder ones, little bit warmer. The surf green is also beautiful. Had my heart set on the ash blonde 57 which i am happy with. Feel the same way about the 7.25 radius, thinner 42mm nut, wider 2.25" bridge. Takes a little getting used to. If your used to playing a modern straight 10 radius, tall narrow frets, modern medium 43 nut and a modern 2.125 bridge. It is the other end of the spectrum. A 9.5-14 compound radius with 22 frets and tall narrow stainless frets. Forget about it, like something futuristic. But it is what they used back then. Like the thinner soft v. Tried an American original soft v with a 9.5 radius and didn't like it. Felt all wrong, surprisingly fat even though it was a flatter radius. Felt like it should have been thinner. Like go full modern or go full vintage or go home. Lol. Love the vintage ii series, too. Like all the guitars I dreamed about but passed me by cause I started playing in the 80s. Already looking at the other ones as well. Built a modernized warmoth version of a 72 thinline with the CuNiFe wide rhumbuckers. So im am good there. Have a lot of ash maple neck guitars going on. So I am looking at the 61 strat and 63 teles. Need a good alder rosewood guitar. That transparent amber mahogany tele is interesting. Mod that with some Joe Barden hot rails. The deluxe, the 63 tele are jumping out at me. Deluxe and the 72 have a more modem melodic feel to em. While the 63 is warmer than the 51. More bluesy.
Only thing about the 70s guitars is their was some ups and downs about em. The three bolt neck, 7.25 radius, thick polyurethane finishes. But the up side is the semi hollow body on the 72 and the four way knobs on the deluxe, and the humbucker single coil combination on the custom. Why I would either go custom shop or build modern versions of those. Just keep the good attributes and add the other stuff. Modern four bolt neck and nitrocellulose finish. Which is why my first real guitar was a 83 telecaster. Because it was the least molested model of the late CBS era. Still had the 4 bolt neck and essentially the same guitar as the original. Except for the 83 top loader bridge which doesn't make a difference by the way.
Think Fender knocked it out of the park with the 50s and 60s ones. About the closest a lot of people are going to get with out paying big money for a custom shop or a real vintage one.
The 61 is awesome. I love it. I have my eye on the ‘73 to grab at some point, but it doesn’t excite me in quite the same way the 50’s and 60’s do
I bought the '57 blond with the ash body. The guitar sounds and plays great. The horn strap button (maybe) could have been installed better, but the rest of this guitar build is stellar, and this guitar is just beautiful. The sound just sparkles and spanks. Great touch sensitvity. I really like that is has its own authentic mojo instead of custom shop fake relic mojo (nobody's fooled). So the guitar is highly recommended. The case however is problematic, It's not a G&G (again, nobody will be fooled). It lost a few rivets immediately. Like the first time I picked it up. This may be a biggie for some. The case looks nice, but the hardware is super cheap (the handle mechanism is poorly designed and flimsy). So cheap that I wouldn't trust it outside of anything but storage at home.
I loved it at first but it was missing something, so I got the 61 sunburst. The neck is a little more comfortable than the 57.
I couldn't find the bond, maybe it's just me?
What IS there that could be hated? Same goes for any edition of Strat and/or Tele... They're just AWESOME. I've got a "poor man's Fender" - Squier by Fender - traditional 3-pickup design, and when I plug it in my 5-Watt Vox, I'm on the Moooooon... I also own an Epiphone Les Paul 2-humbucker, and it has an extremely slick, thin, "fast" neck an' all, and I love it too, but if I had to choose between them...........without moment's hesitation, my red-white "Strat" would've stayed with me...
I’m with you. My desert island guitar would be a strat for sure.
The neck…. Soft V… hate it because I don’t stick my thumb out an inch or more on top
@@MichaelJordan-hn4zd You’d double dislike this one then because the V in the neck is quite a bit more pronounced than a ‘soft’ V (in my opinion).
Did you play around with the setup?
Narrow/small frets have no bearing on string action.
Good call. A verbal typo. I think I was trying to mention the frets in relation to string bending, but ended up for some reason tying it into string action. - Good catch on your part.
Do you spend as much time playing as you do collecting? Haha, nice guitars!
I own this guitar (ok, one just like it) … there are several things about this assessment of the 57 RI that I’m in agreement with and several that I’m not… 1 completely agree about Quality Control issues…possibly the worst that I have ever seen on new guitars. I used to have my own shop after touring for over 25 years. So I saw quite a few new guitar problems but not on this scaleThe first one that I ordered gad a serious neck lacquer crack on the back of the pocket… I personally know of several others that had problems with this new line of AVRI-II’s… but, those without the QC issues were fantastic. I also disagree that the guitar is stiff out of the box. Mine was ready to go as soon as I plugged it in. So, not sure about the stiffness but man, what a guitar. I owned one of the fits AVRI’s in 1988 and I have missed it dearly ever since …this one has found its home and isn’t going any where soon. I love everything about it. It’s the reason that you play a Strat for in the first place!
Interesting about the stiffness being spot on correct on yours, and good to hear. With mine, the trem claw screws were cranked down very tight, so after I loosened them and added two more springs, the stiffness (tension on the strings) went away.
I have a 40 the anniversary squire and it don't sound bad
I’m going for it . If I don’t love the playability it’s a cool piece of wall art .
* And probably somewhat of an investment if you keep it for 40 years! Congratulations
I like the 57 myself i like the soft v and the radius but it seems to me after searching youtube the most popular year is the 61
I know exactly what you mean about the neck thickness. I picked up an American Original 1960s Strat a year ago, it has a fat “C” neck. I don’t think I can ever go back to a thin neck profile going forward. It’s the most comfortable neck to play.
Yeah those AO 60’s necks are awesome. I had one of those briefly. Wish I still had it.
I think the stiffness comes from the springs Fender uses. Try a set of Raw Vintage (all 5). You said the shell pink AO was amazing, but mine was hardly playable despite many setups.. until I put in Raw Vintage springs then it transformed into a very easy playing guitar.
I’m definitely going to try that. I thought I had found (could be wrong), that when I loosened the 2 wood screws that holds the tremolo claw it seemed to make the stiffness a bit less.
I think the depth of the headstock might have something to do with the stiffness, the fifties seem to be deeper than the sixties, not sure ...@@NickHandleyCreative
@@Tonetwisters yeah I tend to agree. Whenever I run into stiffness on strats it’s always on the 50’s spec models. Could just be a coincidence but glad you pointed it out.
So, 7.25" radius but what does it mean? for playability/ bending? you had it a month Nick!
In my opinion the 7.25” just means you have to have the action a little higher if you want to be able to hit those big bends. To me it feels great in the hands and I tend to like a bit higher action anyway. Hope this helps
Nice Mr. Sandman!! damnit now I have GAS
Thanks! Although for copyright purposes I have no idea what you’re talking about 😆😆
I have this guitar and this same seafoam colour and it is so worth it.
I’m loving it. Just picked up the AVii ‘51 telecaster and that one is amazing too.
@@NickHandleyCreative What happened to your headstock on the Strat? I wish they put poly over the ident as it looks like it'll get rubbed off!
@@Lasaration funny, it took making this vid to realize that a bit of the decal got ripped. It’s much worse now unfortunately. The whole bottom half of the ‘F’ is almost gone now 😭. Decal on top of the lacquer is technically period correct though, I can’t really fault them for being authentic.
whats the song in the intro, Its on the tip of my tongue, but I cant recall
Haha let’s call this one ‘in the style of’
Sh-boom life is but a dream
Love the first song you played in the intro. What is it?
Thanks! For copyright purposes we’ll call that one ‘in the style of’ Sh-Boom by The Chords 😉
Appreciate it! Gonna give this one a go@@NickHandleyCreative
@@chrisross1347 awesome! Yeah 50’s music is pretty cool. It had a great innocence about it
I have a 1990 ‘57 AVRI Strat, and it is just that, a ‘57 spec re-issue Strat. If you want a shredder guitar, this model is not for you. If you are looking for a guitar from the 50’s era, but can’t shell out $25,000 or more for an original, this is the guitar for you. Definitely a little more difficult to play, but the tone is excellent. The finish on the AVRI guitars seem to chip a lot easier than the modern urethane finishes. Other than that, great guitar. Have had mine for over 20 years and love it.
Thank you! These really aren’t meant to be played at lightning speed (although I’m sure better players than I can shred these to pieces). A lot of strange expectations about how people think these should feel and play 🤷🏻♂️
I personally like the 7.25” radius fingerboard
Which one do you prefer sound wise, between the 61 and the 57?
They are so different. Hard to compare. I’d probably say the 61 might have a tone that I’d gravitate toward in most situations. The 57 is pretty bright and spanky while the 61’ is a little warmer
@@NickHandleyCreative yeah, I got to try both of them out this afternoon and I see what you mean. The 57 is lovely but the 61 is warmer and “woody“, and also a touch more aggressive when pushed, it feels a more general guitar. The inlays are outstanding too :) hard to decide, my only complain is that in the 61 the bridge pickup is noticeably weaker than the others, this is a common thing with strats (which is probably why I keep changing this pickup every few years!!!) but the 57 seems more balanced across the positions.
@@MarioTorre that’s a great analysis! You must have gotten lucky to happen to be in the only store in the country that has both of these in stock! 😆😆
Is that the classic player 60s sonic blue strat on the wall?
That one on the wall is a 2012 American Vintage 59’ Stratocaster in a thin skin faded sonic blue finish. It’s one of my favorites for sure
@@NickHandleyCreative Awesome!
Yeah if you can track one down I highly recommend. In my personal opinion the third generation of the American Vintage line (2012-2017) is absolutely incredible.
Lucky guy nick, she a beauty.
Thank you! Very grateful to have the opportunity to steward this one for a while.
Any owners of this guitar that are able to comment on how the color appears in person? In various photos it looks either really blue or extremely green, so I assume it's just one of those colors that camera's have a hard time picking up and/or are drastically affected by lighting.
To me it looks more blue in person. Turquoise.
The AV2 line is really top-notch, and I love everything about them for the most part... but I can't make friends with 7.25 radius fretboards. I have tried. I can't. They are just too difficult to get hugh bends without jacking up the action to the point where it's annoying. At least for me.
Fender 😘
Did Fender offer Surf Green as a custom color in 1957?
Asking for a friend.
Couldn’t tell ya. Surf green is a little different than this sea foam green. I know they did a limited run of the AVi’s in surf green back in the mid 2000’s
I think I saw that ‘61 of yours on Strat Talk
What is Strat Talk?
0:32 Is that a chunk out of the 'F' in the decal?
Yep. The decal on this specific guitar is pretty thin. More has rubbed off since the time I made this video
I don't know whether to get the 57 or 61. I play all the stuff from the late 60s. But i never had a maple fretboard before so i prefer the look of the 57.
The good news is, you really can’t go wrong with either!
the problem is, a lot of places like GC won't have them in stock to play them first, so you have to buy them to try them...
I'm not sure about the V neck, but thinner always sounds good to me.
I don't think my MIM Tele is "thin" neck, per se.
Yeah, I got a tweed case recently and there's no proper slot to hold the neck so the headstock moves around in the compartment. Annoying.
A $2000 guitar should have fewer issues than two or three minor ones, I'd say. Like if it doesn't come in tune.
I’m 100% unabashed about buying guitars to demo in the comfort of my own home. Like you say, If GC had them in stock I’d just try them out there 🤷🏻♂️
Really happy to see that I'm not the only one loving fat necks !
My 1958 had a baseball neck , man that was fat ! I just prefer chunkier necks , feels like home !
So I have a fender Vintera made in Mexico, but it's the same Strat just Mexican made? It's also a 1950s Strat everything looks the same! Beautiful instrument!
Yeah those are nice. I think there’s a few slight differences like bone nut on the AVii and hard case vs. gig bag, but probably not enough to justify an extra $1000.
@@NickHandleyCreative Yea probably just more expensive hardware, and pick ups maybe! Awesome review!
If you want a guitar that is butter right out of the case you should order it through a dealer and not the company direct. Any music store worth going to should check the guitar before they send it off to you.
Agreed. In my opinion I think a lot of folks get confused about QC vs. setup.
False. I did that and my 57’ AVRII got delivered with a crook neck.
@@ryanmoore2779 Hey Ryan! You picked up one of the 57’s too? Where did you end up getting it from, and did you get the neck issue sorted?
There are no bad guitars out there anymore...only bad guitars for the money....this is one of those times...strats like that shouldnt cost several thousands but a couple of hundreds and the whole "vintage" thing in order to sell these things and convince hard working folks to part with their cash disgusts me..... thank god for learning to do guitar work and got into modding cause i realised that i would have spent a small fortune buying whatever the admen want me to buy.....
I wish comments like these would be prefaced with the statement “in my opinion.”
Lord knows I’m not the best guitar player, but I think I can confidently make my own decision about what is a good guitar for the money I’m willing to spend. If I pay $2k for a guitar, love it, and can get some decent sounds and joy out of it, then it’s worth it to me.
The internet would be a better, more reasonable place if people could understand the difference between fact and opinion.
This is just my opinion 😉
@@NickHandleyCreative Well if you get in a bakery and see muffins going for 5 or 10 times the price of regular muffins you right of the bat wanna see whats the difference....if you taste it and is something totally different and groundbreaking then sure you can defend the pricetag but if its the same tired ol muffin but with different packaging,logo and maybe a cool ad with the x celebrity promoting it then its safe to say that is seriously overpriced and the approach is money grabbing.Its not really rocket science.
Same with guitars...sure someone ll just get a guitar for the logo,the pretentiousness and the overall social acceptance a certain brand gives and he is willing to pay anything for it...thats perfectly fine and for people who are doing that i have nothing more to add but iam more interested about the people who actually wanna play the best playing and sounding instrument their hard earned cash can buy, especially younger folks who dont have enough money and they are served the whole guitar pretentiousness manifesto from the older generation and start to believe that the x instrument is actually playing and sounding wise superior and hence the pricetag...so thats my problem cause those guys with that money could have build an entire rig with a great amp maybe couple of pedals or get an instrument where the pricetag usually means a superior end result like an acoustic guitar.....strats and teles for thousands is pure comedy....
@@Dreamdancer11 Fair point. If we’re speaking purely in terms of manufacturing cost without any premium charged for a name brand/heritage/etc, then yes, Fenders (especially American made fenders, and gibsons and PRS for that matter) are probably not the best choice for the young players on a budget.
To your point, if I’m on a budget looking to drink some beer, I’m certainly not going to buy that beer at a bar (given that I can buy that exact same beer at a store for a fraction of the cost) unless I find value in the other aspects of the experience of a bar…. Maybe there’s some live music playing too.
In my opinion
@@NickHandleyCreative Have you realised that solid body electrics are the only instruments were these discussions happen?In any other instrument whether it is a violin or an acoustic or classical guitar or whatever other traditional instrument you can think of,a seemingly ridiculous price has behind it a certain level of master craftsmanship and the end result to back it up so in the end its not ridiculous at all cause it has the results to back it up...
A solid body electric is the only type of instrument where the above rule doesnt apply....all that they are are cnc cookie cutter coffee tables acting as placeholders for the parts to be mounted on...hell i made 4 of those from scratch myself so its safe to say that the luthiery skills needed for something like this is...zero....cabinet maker ones is more than enough for anyone to make these.
If its cookie cutter,no serious luthier skills needed and no special materials then this is why people like me are challenging those ridiculous pricetags...making solid body electrics comparable to other instruments so you can sell fake superiority(like tonewood for example) needs to be called out fairly often cause its fraudulent at the very best.....
@@Dreamdancer11 I respect your thoughts. Thanks for chiming in.
Fenders have had a poly base coat since the mid-sixties.
Is it green or blue?
That was the million dollar question I was asking too before I had it in my hands. It’s definitely blue. A turquoise blue. *or at least that’s how it looks to my eyes sitting on the rack next to a surf green guitar.
The cases are made in China. There is a tag usually in the back left that says Made in China. Most people cut the tag out.
Mine came with G and G made in USa
@@Docante1 Those are good cases.
They are making the cases in house now
Ahh that makes sense. Kind of a bummer, though, because the new cases are noticeably lower in build quality than the G&G cases. Also since there’s no reference on the new cases to where they are made I’m pretty sure I know answer to that question.
Poly with nitro over it?
I think so, yeah. Still thin. I’ve only had it couple months and it already has a few chips taken out of it
"Wasn't as thick as I was expecting..." Thats what she said! haha
Nice to look at but...with a 7.5 radius it is unplayable by most pro's standards.
I just don't get Fender these days. They either use crappy wood and great necks or visa versa.
IMO, if you are going to use a 7.5 radius for a neck at least make it a compound radius to 9.5 or 10.
Sadly for me, in the last three years or so there has not been one single guitar with a decent radius, Soft V or Mid sixties C neck and alder or ash body in the 1k to 2k category. There has only been one guitar I even considered buying (Fender American Original '50s or 60's Stratocaster) but at $2500.00 new (when it first came out) it was, IMO too costly for what it was. Just my 2 cents worth. Peace.
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I I own an AVRI '52 tele (2004) and a AVRI '62 strat (1988). Both are stellar which is why I just bought a 'AV2 '57 strat which is on it's way to me. Just curious: you have a few American Vintage RI guitars. Have you compared them to a Custom Shop strat? I've owned quite a few CS strats but for some reason, which I can't put my finger on, I sold them because I prefer the AVRI strat. I'm wondering if it's because the AVRI strat that I have is almost 40 years old, or if the AVRI strats are just closer to the originals than the Custom Shop models.
Nice! Yeah as far as American Vintage strats go, I have a 56, 57, 59, 61, 62, 65, and 73. I love them all. I’ve never tried a custom shop with a 7.25” radius which is why I tend to prefer the American vintage series. Like you said, more period correct. Also CS are a bit out of my price range.
how would you compare the AVII '73 with the AVII '57? @@NickHandleyCreative
@@cosmonaut9942 they’re way different. If i had to pick one over the other I’d probably take the ‘57 just because the V neck feels so unique and cool
If you love fat necks then the Fender Original ‘50s Strat may appeal. It may be interesting if you ever have the chance to try the Fender Vintage ‘57 reissue Strat with the Ash body to see if there are any tonal differences between that and your Alder body version.
Great minds think alike! - I’ve played the AO 50’s strat and I loved the thickness of the neck. I did some research and discovered it had a ‘56 profile which is the fat soft V. I ended up grabbing an ash body ‘56 American vintage 1. This has the same neck profile as the AO, and the 7.25” radius which I love.
to those bitching about misaligned necks/neck pockets and high E hanging off the edge, I admit it does irk me also but after @75 years of making the strat fender knows how to cut a neck pocket and/or align a neck. With a 7-1/4 radius fingerboard there is essentially less surface area across the finger board due to the extreme curvature. This was present on the old vintage examples as well, is was/is part of the deal if you want a TRUE vintage replica that was manufactured using the same tooling as the originals. I,ve played 5K CS strats that had the same issue...aggravating but true to the originals. In otherwords, Fender is aware of it and makes them that way. What bugs me more is a vintage reissue that should have a 7-1/4 radius and uses a 9.5 in place of the correct radius to fix that issue.It is not present on any other models except for the vintage strat reissues. @ 50% of high dollar real vintage examples also have this issue, people have devised all sorts of methods for correcting it, like ACTUALLY misaligning the neck to correct the high E issue with varying amounts of success. It sucks but thats what they were and if you want a TRUE vintage experience you learn to deal with it. Part of the reason pros switch guitars for different songs so often. Got to plat a lead above the 12th fret? not on that guitar!
So David Gilmour, Hendrix or Clapton never played above 12th fret? I didn't know that😂
You won't do well with Mosrite.
Lucky for me I don’t even know what that is :)
@@NickHandleyCreative Mosrites normally have very thin necks. I have a few. In the US they are virtually unknown but in Japan they are hot property because The Ventures brought them to Japan when they did their first tour. An American guitar made in Bakersfield, CA but now mostly made in Japan. No longer made in Bakersfield.
Prs silver sky is better
I had one of those for about a year. I didn’t like it as much for my own preference, but I can certainly acknowledge that it was nice guitar.
@@NickHandleyCreative core or se?
I had the core model.
I can see… the fretboard has the shine. Not the vibe. They gotta stop glossing the fretboards.
Isn’t that period correct though? Correct me if I’m wrong
@@NickHandleyCreative no, its a gloss they have over the actual maple board. They started doing this around 2019-2020, or i think when they axed rosewood on mexi’ and started pau. Its awful.
@@billyellis4149 hmm. I’d respectfully disagree but to each their own.
Explain....why would one like to work harder to play?.....is this a form of masochism?
It’s an acquired taste. When I was a kid and I took my first sip of beer I spit it out and couldn’t understand how people could like it. Needless to say it grew on me over time 😆
No one seems to mind how over priced it is for what you get. Weird.
Two things about that though:
1. Everything is overpriced these days…. Been to the grocery store lately?
2. Everyone has their own metric for determining if things are worth the money.
@@NickHandleyCreative Yes I have and yes I agree with you which actually illustrates my point. A bolt on neck guitar is the cheapest and easiest guitar to make. Do you really think 99% of people can hear the difference between a Player series strat? specially with a pick up swap? On stage there would be zero diff in a mix. If thats your dream guitar thats another story. Like my Hummingbird I paid 4k for. Acoustic guitar require a lot more skill time and expense to build properly. Dont get me wrong I get where you're coming from, just reluctant with strats.
@@Jamalama555 True, I don’t think I could hear the difference between a player strat and one of these if i was watching someone play it, but I’m pretty confident that I could feel the difference for myself if I was blindfolded and didn’t have any pre-knowledge of which was which. Actually, I should do a video about that! Who knows, maybe I’ll fall flat on my face and have to eat my words.
sucks. idk why people love the annoying strat features from that era.
Same reason we love the women who break our hearts. - there’s just something about them 😉
I love Fender guitars but yeah, I agree - a lot of outdated features that just make playing more difficult.
Why don't you buy one that plays itself and wipes your ass at the same time?
Women; do not trust any man who cannot be happy with one special guitar.
We may have a lot, but we all have our # 1 😉
There is no such thing as “TOO MANY GUITARS !” 😊
@TomClarkSouthLondon Yep, that's what every pornography junkie says.
@@aljuric5887 *F**k me, even on a guitar channel a little Troll has to write complete!* 💩
The neck pocket problems are back. I cannot believe that in the age of cnc machining this issue still persists. For a 2k+ $/€ guitar it’s absolutely unacceptable. It’s a joke that you get proper craftsmanship only from pricey custom shop guitars. There are much better S-Style guitars from small manufacturers like Haar f.i. that are on par with the custom shop for the price of a vintage reissue.
Agreed that there is definitely better value to be had than the fender brand if construction is the only metric you’re using for value. As a collector/investor though, there are a few more variables in play to derive overall value. (*in my opinion at least).
Sire or Harley Benton ! Just saying better specs better quality - 😊 1/2 the price
Continue buying crap and lusting over fender vids 😅😅😅😅
Pure cope.
xD
Have you ever played a high end guitar? Obviously no, or you're not a good enough player to get the hang of it.
Ok, you can get really good guitars for the price these days, but a Harley Benton isn't in the same category.
No