Fender American Vintage II ’61 Strat & ’51 Tele Demo 

Hey ho,...also born in October '61😊

For two grand you'd expect nothing less

well said.

Me too...!

I thought the Vintage II Strat sounded a bit muffled even before hearing the CS. I did notice the pickups on the CS looked slightly more raised on the treble side... could that be a factor?

Hi Nev , pleased you are going for the Sunburst , i have a 2017 CS Sunburst 62 , so opted for the Olympic White 61 Strat and love it , oddly unlike the review one , mine is brighter than the CS ?? Guess wood and the sum of the parts can make the difference. I love both of mine and they are keepers

Man alive...neville Martin...i remember you from when pre Internet days when I avidly Bought guitarist magazine in the 80s and early 90s...you were like THE BIBLE...you were like Jesus...to me you were as important an influence as all my guitar heros..i.e EVH Clapton page beck and johnny marr paul simon...paul weller..Richard Thompson..billy bragg ...and others..i remember in guitarist letters pages (remember those guys who sent in letters and demos..i wonder if they are still playing?)..a guy wondering why (you put CD on cover so we heard your playing) why as you were as good as any famous players..you yourselves .were not famous...im like thinking...well to me these guys are guitar heroes...along with if i remember. Steve hillbourn..Jamie humphies..he wrote an ace book on the brianmayredspecial...which i keep in my brianmayredspecialcase... ...steve hillbourn...who i mail ordered his guitar solos transcription book.....based on your reviews I bought my first Gordon Smith... (sadly sold on)...graduating to a "real " les paul junior...a review you gave in the 80s on a yellow TV junior sparked my lust ..mines a junior singlecut sunburst though.....marriage and life ensured that I stopped buying guitar magazines...but still played as a hobby and in a couple of amateur club bands.....do they still sell guitar magazines..?? I've Not been to my nearest town barnsley/Doncaster in 20 years (I don't get out much apart from go to work lol)...as a teenager is was like on with M65 usa army fishtail parka (im still these days rocking M65 feild jackets ) on my trusty vespa scooter off to the library music department.. (one of my most treasured books is a USA 1970s guitar player hard back compilation of article's that I used to borrow regularly that I spotted for sale in the Barnsley library get Rid of old books dept...how it found its way to Barnsley is a mystery..lol....along with a rather informative and useful Russ Shipton guitar tuition course book..and some 70s jazz and a bert Jansch guitar book with tab and explainion on the songs that I've never seen anywhere else )....any way .thanks for all you have done to promote guitar and the article's and editorials...I have to relate one editorial that sticks in my mind...you talked about how in guitarist magazine office you and other work mate's used to perv on a couple across the road having sex in clear view and how your eye would wander to looking at a custom shop les Paul in the room....rather than the free sex show on offer..it .reminded me of a time when..in the early 90s..me and my wife were having sex and the Rickenbacker 330 I'd saved 2 years for was propped against the bedroom wall and I glanced upon it ..got kind of distracted and ahem...lost my errection...lol..too much information ....anyways..don't suppose you will read this but as much as those guys we all revered in the 80s you were just as important and influencential...and great review of this really nice Fender strat...as.ive got a really nice 1998 fender strat deluxe (before the S1 stuff) and my all time favourite strat better than any usa "real" strat I've played a early 80s ibanez roadstar ll......im ok for strats and a rather good Mexican baja does my tele duties ..i can see why it was discontinued as apart from the thick poly finish...which i can live with as it doesn't affect to tone IMHO...its as good as it gets without paying for a custom shop...which lets be fair..all usa fender and gibson should be custom shop quality ...and in any case 12 years of tory government's destruction of the economy and working classes and the cost of living crisis and by their wicked evil policies forcing our mortgage and simply buying enough food to live to rise..and them allowing the energy companies to take all our hard earned spare cash ...any spare cash for a holiday..a guitar...a fucking new pair of shoes has gone...we need to get these brextit flag shagging (yet still so unpatriotic and un Christian by their actions) cunts out of power ASAP...so I won't be sadly buying one...its a fucking shame...as they look really nice....

Eu

🌅🌅🌅🌅

And yet now you NEED a third!

Ditto! Squier for me tho

Im thinking of getting both the tele 51 and 61 strat. I could also opt for the pro II versions of these which are cheaper, more versatile and easier to play most likely but these just seem that little extra special, that little closer to CS level! They attract me more.

the CS strat had a much sweeter top end across the board.. then i did notice that the CS pups had been adjusted a bit.. so perhaps it may be closer than i think

I'd go used custom shop

@@user-tx1ec9wb1z 11 months since my comment and I tried alot of guitars. Brand new these are 2100-2200 euro whilst the cheapest CS i've seen so far sits around 2800 so I get it. Anyway, for me, used US reissue is the sweetspot. Can score AO guitars for 1500-1700 easily.

yeah and its only 2 thousand dollars more...cmon

Play it a couple years, I bet it'll sound better. And if you adjust for inflation, they're about the same price as when they first came out. Roughly. It's all in what you're after :)

@@rdhistory9608 yeah, they’re pretty similar. The biggest difference is the fretboard radius. It’s subtle, but everyone has their preferences.

I’ll sell you my original so I can buy one of these!

@@mikeyorange1048 why though? 9.5 radius should be more comfortable. Also to me those yellow necks on the AV II makes them look no different than a squire CV.

As much as we liked the 2012 AVs, we felt the standard of finish, hardware and general vibe of these stood out. Several people at Guitarist remarked on it when they opened the case and played them and that was borne out by full review testing. Not a giant leap better but palpably classier. Very serious guitars for the money.

@@guitarist Thank you so much, and that is lofty praise indeed. If I hadn't just purchased a CS 57 I would be all over these!

Their prices rival those of the ultras. Same money for less options but definitly special in their own way.

I own both and was terrified to receive my vintage II tele because of all the people on forums and comments saying it's bad. I hoped that I wouldn't notice the difference but I do. I can tell the fretboard is very rounded. HOWEVER: not in a bad way! it's very comfortable and I can bend just fine. Maybe if you're an extremely fast shredder or rely on bends ALOT it's not ideal. Otherwise no issues.

I like the contoured heel on the Ultras. The noiseless coils and block saddles are the problems

@@markuyehara7880 the block saddles thing is a very contested point. I personally like them. Many do as well. Easy and cheap to change. About the pickups, very personal too. But changeable.

@@markuyehara7880 I like the heel and saddles on the ultra -- I would like those with the nitro, but without going custom you can seemingly either go 'very modern' or 'very vintage'. I lean vintage in that case, these look great.

I'm currently debating the tele 51 vintage II, tele american original 60s, tele pro II and tele ultra. They're all top tier production models and roughly in the same price range (ranging from 1800-2300 here) but VERY different. I'm not a purist so I don't care too much for tradition. I do love the pro II necks though... But the 60s american original seem stellar! And so does this. But the ultra is the most comfortable with all them contours and cut-outs and noiseless pups might come in handy!!.... Oh, how to decide? :( I think the vintage II might be a skip due to 7.25 radius and the ultra because I'm not a huge fan of the D shaped neck

@@vyvynylification The D-shape neck is amazing, but so is the deep-C neck. Very different playing styles. If you're not a purist, the Am pro II will probably hit the perfect balance.