Mission: To share valuable information to anyone who needs it. I am not sponsored, I do not advertise. I am not in it for money. Email: Voyxu143@gmail.com THANKS!!!
ON the subject of rattling....did you put anything in the rear cavity to knock out the spring noise? They all seem to do that, and it's hard to tell if that might or might not be the rattling you're hearing. On RU-vid it's hard to tell. Kinda simple but had to ask.
For $2200 you can buy 4-5 really cool guitars. You, buy s Mexican Stratocaster put some Seymour Duncans in and you're good to go. Or buy this 🎸. Most of your sound comes from your fingers anyway.
Well, for starters, Fender's original Classic 60's series (now re-named Vintera 2), BOTH have a ONE PIECE ALDER BODY. Not so with the American Vintage 2 1961 model. The pickups on the Classic & Vintera just plainly blow the ones on the 61 away....PERIOD! The ONLY difference between a 61 & a 62 model are the clay dots on the 61, and pearloid ones on 62's and everything after! Fender added insult to injury by calling those pickups 1961. They should have used the're 57/62's.
I think you just found out you don’t like tall frets and 25.5” scale length. 60’s style strats with rosewood fingerboards usually play pretty slinky in my experience. But for sure, you could of just got a lemon. Also, it’s a good idea to invest in a few simple tools too and learn how to do your own setups. Lastly, when you account for inflation these guitars are selling for like literally the same price they were going for in 1961.
Your comment maybe it's just this one may be accurate, I own the same guitar in Olympic White with the Mint pickguard, I wanted to buy it just because I loved the look of it, I could not find one in any store, they were gone as soon as they came in, I took a chance and bought one online, a demo, was supposed to have a blemish on the finish, I have had the guitar for over a year and it is my go to guitar at this point, I have other Stratocasters, an American Standard 2008, great guitar, also a Nash S-57 which was my go to before, Now these guitars are in the stores and I have played them off the wall, all the white ones play and sound nice like the one I have, however, the red ones I have played are not as good for some reason, they just don't feel right in my hands, by the way I have a 50's reissue Tele, another great guitar, the Vintage II Tele's I have played and also very good in my opinion, maybe you should try the White one or the Sunburst one
It's been a while, and back then, the red ones were impossible to find. I almost drove to see a white one that was for sale used, but ended up getting the red on online.
lol. take the guitar to a pro for a setup. Late stage capitalism mean we pay more for less every new day! Fender chucks those out the back door as fast as they can. Its normal to have to set up any guitar these days. The tension is a string thing, that same string will have the same tension on any guitar of th same scale length at the same pitch.
i use he same amp but find it breaks up fast even w/ my strat. what tubes did you decide on? i'm gonna try some different ones it to see if i can clean it up a touch. i put a eminence swamp thang speaker in it too for more volume...just need her cleaned up a bit. great amp though
I hate when a ”brutally honest” review is one like this. It’s ridicilous that this dude is angry at the guitar and Fender because it is not perfect. You could make a review where you present it neutrally, and still telling everything that’s wrong with it. Also, Fender is just not trying to ”get some of that money” from the vintage ones. They are making the same kind of guitars available to more people for a fraction of the price. Sure, it sucks that a guitar that expensive is not perfect out of the box. A lot of retailers include a setup in the price when you get one from the store. If you know how to setup the guitar, and still it buzzes like that, you can return the guitar. If there is nothing wrong with it besides the bad setup, then you just can’t set it up. Weird that the frets are bad on your guitar. I have only heard that the AVII frets have perfect fretwork. If you don’t like those vintage style frets, it is a problem about you, not the guitar. i personally love vintage style frets. Gibson sells guitars that are just their standard line guitars, that have wayyy more problems than that Strat, and they cost more than that. And the biggest thing. You are literally paying for the vintage specs. It is ridicilous that you’re complaining about the frets feeling bad, the radius being bad etc. Those are things that some people enjoy. Get a PRS or something if you find the specs icky.
Honest review. Fender, like many other big companies, are greedy, the price goes up all the time and the quality of the product deteriorates. Sad fact.
In 1961 a Stratocaster cost $289, adjusted for inflation that is $3,049.97 in 2024 dollars. Sounds like it needs a good set up. I agree not a value. Too much money for that.
@@voyxu143 As one of those guys you pay $100 to for a set up. The guitar obviously needs truss rod attention and perhaps fret milling. Strats are strats. Any one of them can be set up to play great. There are no inherently stiff, or higher tension guitars that can't be fixed.
I picked up a 64 left-handed esquire, I think the pick up was wound by God ! It was during that Guns N’ Roses, Les Paul era, and were nobody was interested in fender at the time, $1500, this thing just uses tone, better, clean tone than most fenders, and the break up tone is astounding, I heard from a collector that your average telly bridge pick up can’t be too overwhelmed because it Hass to match that week neck pick up, not so with an esquire, they overwound those suckers, I’ve never heard another single coil, pick up like this, my soulmate
I picked one up at GC Clackamas, Oregon. It seemed like a nice guitar but I was absolutely shocked how bad the string/neck alignment was. There was a big gap at the side of the neck and it was clear that it needed adjustment. I seriously couldn't believe it that they let the guitar leave the factory in that condition. Especially for that price point.
The real question is: what's it cost to make ? Must be a nice profit margin. I'll take a 70's Japan built guitar any day. Name the brand, there are some great ones out there for 5-8 hundred.
I love how these companies just make the same guitars over and over and over and over and never design anything new. Just the same old '50s and '60s designs, and no one seems to care. Does Philips just re-release the same old 1964 black and white TV every year? Beat it up at the factory and call it a "relic" and charge $5000 for it? No. STOP IT.
Hi YOYXU, that's a beautiful fiesta red Stratocaster; too bad it has buzz problems on it. And like you said $2,200.00 whatever, you expect perfect production. Last year, I purchased a 70's Vintera II Fender Stratocaster and I love it, however, I can't pin-point a certain year that the 70's Vinterra II tried to emulate. All we know is that Vinterra II lists the guitar as a "70's". Can you help me decide which year this guitar is trying to be? Thanks.
@@voyxu143 : Oh, thank you, however, I thought the Strat's in the 70's had minor peculiarities to them, such as a 71 Strat (supposedly belonging to former Stones guitarist: Mick Taylor, even though he was mostly associated to Gibsons, anyway his '71 Strat had only 1 tree on the headstock and it was read "With synchronized tremelo". I don't know if this guitar was a 70's or a late '60's.
@@Nicholas-dreamlove yeah there are some early 70's strats with one string tree, but the vintera features, the large headstock, the pickups, and the three bolt neck as the main features of the 70's strat. Outside of that, they are not produced to be year specific. They are produced to be Era specific.
@@voyxu143 : Yes, mine has all that, It's unfortunate but the 70's Stratocasters (Fender} got a bad wrap about them. I'm sure not all 70's were bad but that was post CBS buying Fender and wanting to save money on materials. I don't have a problem with the one I bought, cheers!
Welcome to the state of the modern American economy. I’m sorry to say, but Fender has to charge this much for an American made guitar. I could go on a long rant about how the American economy has made American products uncompetitive in the global market, but I think it’s rather self evident. At the end of the day, if you want an American made guitar, this IS the price you will have to pay.
Gibson is just as bad lately. Sent back a $3,000 standard AND a $5,000 Custom LP!! QC absolutely sucked!! Found an LA shop that imports guitars from overseas, then does a phenomenal setup here in SoCal. Best LP copy I’ve ever played!! Cost me $500! Then got a Strat copy! $560!! Plays AMAZING!! Look elsewhere people!! We live in a special time as far as gear!
Played one at GC and was blown away by how lacking it was at the price point. My MIM classic series from '05 (which I love) was far too similar at less than 1/3 the price used. The AVII is a great guitar at $1,500, but leaves a lot to be desired at $2,300+. Thanks for your honest review.
I actually own two of these guitars, and both are excellent. And just for reference, I have owned over 20 Stratocasters at every level, including two custom Shop guitars. I can tell you that for way more money my Gibson custom shop list. Paul has had way more significant issues, and Gibson even held it for nine months at one point, and returned it to me without even fixing the issue. so, there’s that.
Yeah, I think you have to like the vintage tall frets and get a good one out of the factory. I'm sure they are out there, but I would say only 20-25 out of a hundred probably play well enough to justify the price tag.
