Hi, what can you tell aboute late 90's AMVR '62 (probably 98-99). I was going to buy am std. but i've recently found AMRV 62 (made in usa) only for 1000 in quite good condition. As I know, its price is usually higher. What is the difference between 90s and 00s AMRV and is it significant?
Thanks

Hi insanebob,

IIRC, sometime during that time period, the twelfth fret dot spacing, and the case covering would be the only differences from the 90s to the '00s (maybe a tweak of the headstock shape also). Not much difference other than aesthetics.

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I would also add, but can't conferm, that because Fender changed to a more vintage correct body contours and rolled the edges of their needs, I suspect that the '00 are more accurate. Also I bet they updated the pickups too.

Again, I'm just thinking logically. I could be wrong here, but it's what I would do if I were Fender.

Well, thanks a lot. And can anyone tell about pickups for sure?

Actually 1998 was when Fender made the updates to the AV series - corrected the 12th fret dot spacing, adjusted the body contours and neck shapes, went to the beveled polepiece pickups, etc.

Probably the easiest way to tell is to look for the beveled polepieces and the really green plastic hardware - the earlier AV '62s plastic was pure white (like what was being used on American Standards, etc.). Also the colors - candy apple red and lake placid blue were dropped and they added Sherewood Green with the update.

I had a 1999 AV '62 in Sherwood Green that had all the updates done to it - that is the Strat I wish I had kept.

This is very helpful. So, if you have '99, could you, please, look at this one? because i'm going to buy it, but the owner cannot tell for sure - he assumes it is 98-99.

Sorry - that guitar is long gone - hence the "I wish I had kept" part of the post.

However, from the photos that appears to be an earlier AV '62 - it has the "off" spacing of the 12th fret dots (correct spacing is the wider spacing where the dots are directly under the A and B string so the string "cuts them in half"), it appears it has the white plastic (the newer pickguards are really mint green and the pickup covers and knobs are aged-off white right out of the box), and it kind of looks like the polepieces are flat.

The best thing to do would be to either email or call Fender's Consumer Reltations (don't have the phone number but the email is consumerrelations@fender.com) and have them look up the serial number. As I say 1998 was the transition year between the old series and the current series; I don't remember whether the changeover was early in the year or mid-year.

Even if it is the older model it's still a great guitar and they go for about the same price used. For whatever reason I chased the "modern-spec" Strats throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s and just didn't come back to the "vintage-spec" ones until 1999 - it wasn't like I was waiting to get the "new version"; it just worked out that way.