Hey Guys, it's me again, I was wondering if American Vintage Reissue Fenders were made in the USA or not, because their price is pretty high, so before buying one I'd like to be sure it's a 100% American.

Assembled in America it is.

100% American, I doubt it. Wiring likely isn't made in America. Plastic parts likely are not made in America. Screws, paint, metal for the frets...I could go on.

Not always that cut and dry.

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

Though Corona do in fact mill their own metal.

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No no and no

But the wood and woodwork and finish is American?

American Vintage guitars are made in the US.

Yes - the bodies and necks are milled here, they are finished here, and the major components like pickups and the trem bridge are produced here as well. The non-USA parts are things like the tuners (on the American Vintage series they should be Kluson-style tuners made by Gotoh in Japan), switches and pots. Not sure about where the small parts like screws are sourced, but I think the fretwire is USA-sourced.

The American Vintage series instruments don't say "made in the USA" on them because they are reissuing an era where Fender instruments were only made in one place - Fullerton CA. The Custom Shop's reissues (and reissue-based) guitars also do not say "Made in the USA" so the decals are accurate to the specific year they are reissuing. You will find that reissues made outside the USA will specifically list their country of origin and use modern serial number formats - like the made in Mexico Classic Series or any Japanese reissues.

Switches are CRL or Oak-Grigsby (both owned by the same parent company) and pots are CTS. All are American companies.

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Bill

I do not believe that any (so called) American Fenders have even a 50% compendium of US made or harvested components. Just to name a few, the bodies and necks, maybe. The finish materiel, yes, because it is a regulated combustible. The rosewood fingerboard, I doubt it; the metal hardware, I doubt it; the plastics, I really doubt it; the electronic components, some. Even the guitar cases, I doubt it. Granted, these particular instruments in the line may receive varying bits of more human 'attention' than others but that's about it. And yes, there is a legal loophole that says if 'X' percent of the guitar is assembled here, it can be labeled as "Made in USA". This isn't just limited to Fender or guitar manufacturers either. These are big businesses where to stay afloat especially in today's toilet economy and still turn a profit etc, etc. FWIW, even the Seymour Duncan company was fishing to its faithful not too long ago about how they would feel if Duncan commenced making their products in a Chinese factory, assuring said faithful that these Chinese products would be identical to their American counterparts. Naturally, this proposition was not met with a favorable response but the fact that they asked, speaks volumes.

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You dig?

The Fender Custom Shop is buying wood from all over the world, just saying (because they want the best quality/grain/weight/tone).
I am pretty sure most of the US and Mexican made guitars are made from american wood.

Cheers,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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I knew the pots were CTS (and didn't know who made the switches) but wasn't sure if they were still made in the USA or if CTS and the switch company were sourcing them from overseas.

The "country of origin" question always turns into a good discussion.

From my perspective - as long as it is the best wood (or best at the price point) and the harvesting is properly documented I don't think it really matters in this discussion what country the raw planks come from. What matters is where those raw planks of wood are cut and sanded into the bodies and necks - if that process of shaping the raw wood happens in a USA facility, then it is USA manufactured body or neck. For example I don't think instrument-grade rosewood was ever grown here in the USA; the species of rosewood that produce instrument-grade wood just grow elsewhere in the world. However, the real hours in processing that wood came not in the lumber camps/lumber yards but when the blanks arrived at the Fender plant and were cut into fingerboards.

Now maple, ash, and alder all grow in the USA (and in Canada) and could be sourced locally - I'm sure I've read that Leo chose maple and ash originally because they were cheap and easy to source. The switch to alder for bodies came when the ash started going up in price. Leo Fender was certainly in a "state of grace" with his designs - a lot of the decisions he made to keep costs down also resulted the the sonic voice that Fender fans know and love.