Fender Coronado II Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1967)
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Fender Coronado II Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1967), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 188675, sunburst lacquer finish, laminated maple body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, molded plastic hard shell case.
Fender's Coronado models launched in 1966 were the CBS management's attempt to challenge Gibson, Gretsch, and Guild in the booming '60s hollowbody electric market. The new owners felt Fender should offer instruments to cover the entire spectrum, not just their traditional solidbody strengths. The Coronado guitar and bass line was announced in January 1966, Just a year after CBS bought the company. While ultimately not a big hit with either Fender loyalists or players of those other brands, the Coronados remain interesting and often very attractive guitars.
Former Rickenbacker designer Roger Rossmeisel was involved in the Coronado design, and it bears some of his touches. This Coronado II with vibrato mates a bound, block-inlaid Fender neck to a double cutaway, thin-rimmed fully hollow body with bound edges and bound f-holes. The finishes offered were initially only Cherry or this typical Fender Sunburst, though the palette was quickly expanded. The black-finished headstock is a sideways nod to traditional hollbody cosmetics.
The twin pickups on this Coronado II model are not Fender-made but sourced from Rowe industries, makers of the DeArmond line. These early versions have adjustable poles and thin metal covers decorated with the Fender script logo, and are dated on the underside to spring 1967. The wiring rig is a typical 4 knob, one switch setup derived from Gibson. The trapeze tailpiece has the floating tremolo option similar to the Mustang unit, but with a very long arm. The bridge on this guitar is a cast metal adjustable unit with Mustang saddles and separate round metal feet, one of several ideas Fender tried.
The late 1966/early '67 serial number on this guitar's F-marked neck plate is harmonized the numbers with the rest of their models; some Coronados used a different set in the 500,000 series. While generally maligned as a failure in the 1960-70s, the Coronados -- especially this twin pickup, six-string II model -- have more recently gone on to be a better regarded instrument mating the well-loved Fender neck to a light and handy hollow body.
Priced at $319.50 on introduction, the Coronado II was not a cheap guitar, competitive with the Gibson ES-330 and Rickenbacker Model 330 although it never really challenged either. The most striking feature of this particular instrument is bold 3-color Fender sunburst lacquer finish that has hardly faded at all over 55+ years. This is a good-playing and sounding guitar, far better than its original reputation suggests, and in its own quirky way a lovely instrument too behold.
Overall length is 41 1/4 in. (104.8 cm.), 16 5/16 in. (41.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 11/16 in. (4.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This Coronado shows some general fairly minor play wear with dings, dents, scuffing and some minor chipping to the finish mostly near the neck heel. It retains the original finish and hardware, the sunburst is bright and rich with minimal fade just like when LBJ was in office. The back of the neck has some light wear through the lacquer. There are some scuffs and dings to the pickguard through the top surface. The frets and fingerboard show some light wear but the guitar plays and sounds as it should. This is a nice example of this now-more-respected Fender oddity, a piece of Fullerton history and a better player's instrument than the critics of 1966 would ever admit! It is housed in a modern molded HSC.
Overall Excellent - Condition.
Fender's Coronado models launched in 1966 were the CBS management's attempt to challenge Gibson, Gretsch, and Guild in the booming '60s hollowbody electric market. The new owners felt Fender should offer instruments to cover the entire spectrum, not just their traditional solidbody strengths. The Coronado guitar and bass line was announced in January 1966, Just a year after CBS bought the company. While ultimately not a big hit with either Fender loyalists or players of those other brands, the Coronados remain interesting and often very attractive guitars.
Former Rickenbacker designer Roger Rossmeisel was involved in the Coronado design, and it bears some of his touches. This Coronado II with vibrato mates a bound, block-inlaid Fender neck to a double cutaway, thin-rimmed fully hollow body with bound edges and bound f-holes. The finishes offered were initially only Cherry or this typical Fender Sunburst, though the palette was quickly expanded. The black-finished headstock is a sideways nod to traditional hollbody cosmetics.
The twin pickups on this Coronado II model are not Fender-made but sourced from Rowe industries, makers of the DeArmond line. These early versions have adjustable poles and thin metal covers decorated with the Fender script logo, and are dated on the underside to spring 1967. The wiring rig is a typical 4 knob, one switch setup derived from Gibson. The trapeze tailpiece has the floating tremolo option similar to the Mustang unit, but with a very long arm. The bridge on this guitar is a cast metal adjustable unit with Mustang saddles and separate round metal feet, one of several ideas Fender tried.
The late 1966/early '67 serial number on this guitar's F-marked neck plate is harmonized the numbers with the rest of their models; some Coronados used a different set in the 500,000 series. While generally maligned as a failure in the 1960-70s, the Coronados -- especially this twin pickup, six-string II model -- have more recently gone on to be a better regarded instrument mating the well-loved Fender neck to a light and handy hollow body.
Priced at $319.50 on introduction, the Coronado II was not a cheap guitar, competitive with the Gibson ES-330 and Rickenbacker Model 330 although it never really challenged either. The most striking feature of this particular instrument is bold 3-color Fender sunburst lacquer finish that has hardly faded at all over 55+ years. This is a good-playing and sounding guitar, far better than its original reputation suggests, and in its own quirky way a lovely instrument too behold.
Overall length is 41 1/4 in. (104.8 cm.), 16 5/16 in. (41.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 11/16 in. (4.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This Coronado shows some general fairly minor play wear with dings, dents, scuffing and some minor chipping to the finish mostly near the neck heel. It retains the original finish and hardware, the sunburst is bright and rich with minimal fade just like when LBJ was in office. The back of the neck has some light wear through the lacquer. There are some scuffs and dings to the pickguard through the top surface. The frets and fingerboard show some light wear but the guitar plays and sounds as it should. This is a nice example of this now-more-respected Fender oddity, a piece of Fullerton history and a better player's instrument than the critics of 1966 would ever admit! It is housed in a modern molded HSC.
Overall Excellent - Condition.