I'm very interested in these, I love the '65, and I just might buy two and get the '56 as well. But I'm a little confused. I love vintage and started my collection in that order. I have an '88 62RI, a new LTD CAR '57 RI as well as the '52RI Tele. I was under the impression those RI's were duplicate rebuilds of the originals? Now I read these new ones are very accurate re-releases, dime on ? So are the first RI from back in '82 just marketing hype, or visa versa? Will the 57/62AVRI will be dropped off the list?

The first RIs were not exactly duplicates of the year namesakes, but advertised as having the most popular features from that time period, so they were very close. The RIs had some differences from the originals, and some of those differences were corrected in later models (after '98?), but still were never exact duplicates. The '57 and '62 are not listed on the Fender website anymore, it could be a mistake, or maybe they were discontinued. The newer RIs are not going to be exactly like the originals either, just very close, and close enough to satisfy most everyone.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

There are several things going on here:

1. Fender freely admits they were trying more for the "vibe" of the old ones when the first reissues came out in 1982. The then current production Strat and Tele had gotten away from the originals, so they were just trying to get close. Yes, they examined old ones, but not down to the hundred thousandth of an inch so things like 12th fret dot spacing weren't really looked at that closely. The most important differences were the necks - Fender didn't really try to get all that close to what a particular year's neck really was shaped like; they just played a bunch of vintage guitars and made necks that felt closer to the old ones than their 1982-spec necks were. For example the '52 Tele is more of a chunky "C" than a true "U", both the '57 and the '62 Strat used the same neck shape (which wasn't accurate for either year but again different from an '82 Smith Strat's shape), etc. It's in "The Stratocaster Chronicles" that for the Strats Fender arbitrarily picked 1957 as the year for the maple board model because "things like '57 Chevys were cool" and they picked 1962 for the rosewood board so they could do either a slab board or a round lam board.

2. The 1998 update to the original American Vintage line (the prior line was just called the "U.S. Vintage Reissue" line per their price lists) was an attempt to get things closer. They used real 1952, 1957, and 1962 guitars to get them closer - but again they just went with the "average" of these real guitars so it wasn't down to the most minute detail. They did fix the really important things like neck shapes, reworked pickups, etc.

3. This time around they are cloning the "best of the best" of guitars from specific years. Some of the info is a bit of hype - they had already done this with the CS Time Machines for years like 1956 and 1965; they just tweaked what they had while they went after some years they hadn't reissued for the other models.

4. Yes the old '57 and '62 Strats are discontinued but there are still plenty of them out there at dealers. Only the '52 Tele was "updated" for the new lineup.

To my way of looking at it, the original Reissues were about 85% correct - the neck shape knocks them down a bit. Of course they were still very good guitars. The 1998s were more like 95% correct - allowing for them being the average of the vintage guitars they could get at the time. The new ones are more like 99% correct and based on the "best of the best" vintage examples they could find and going through the same extensive research process they used for their CS recreations (like SRV's Lenny and #1, Clapton's Blackie, Buddy Holly's Strat, Gilmour's The Black Strat, etc.).

+1

I concur, John.

My only hope is that FMIC adds more available color selections.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Thanks for the great info everyone! So now I know my 2011 LTD '57RI is about as close to what they are going to get. An now that they are being discontinued, I'm sure glad I grabbed one!

I do love Fender, and I'm not really knocking them, but every time they release some 'vintage' models they always say they are now much more accurate than ever, just like every time an artist hypes their new album, it's always closer to the sound they wanted than their last album, LOL

I owned a 1995 made American 62 Reissue Strat for a few years, and while it was a very nice guitar, it was nothing really like a vintage Strat, the contours were all wrong and too blocky, the dots were spaced incorrectly, the finish, although topped with Nitro was way too thick, etc etc.
Since then I've bought a MIM Roadworn 60's Strat, which had the feel, sound and playability much closer to real vintage Strats I've played. Wasn't over keen on the relicing being to a set template so I've refinished it myself in pure Sonic Blue Nitro, and had my local Luthier fit proper aged clay dots, bought a Lashings true Celluloid Nitrate pickguard and now it's just amazing and very close to vintage for not a lot of money. I'll be keeping it forever.
This year I wanted to add another Strat to my collection, so tried loads of the 62 Vintage Reissues, but eventually went for a Custom Shop 1960 Relic in Sea Foam Green which is the best Strat I've ever played. Will also get a Lashings Celluloid Nitrate pickguard for this and it will be perfect.
The new 1959 American Reissues look very nice, but don't seem to have clay dots or I'm sure Fender would say so, and why Fender don't ever use proper Celluloid Nitrate pickguards in the correct grey/green colour like Lashings is just beyond me when they make out that they are going for mega accuracy??
Maybe true Celluloid Nitrate pickguards will be on the next 'most accurate ever' releases?

I absolutely love it when things like this get released and immediately there's guys who come out of the woodwork on every message board saying, "NOPE! STILL NOT RIGHT! NOT GOOD ENOUGH!", despite the majority of them never even having had one of these new RI guitars in their hands yet. Fender has video of some pro players and they're absolutely wowed by the new AVRI line. Even a guitarist like John 5, who is an absolute vintage Tele freak is sitting there in the video with his own actual 1958 Tele beside him and he said he was having trouble telling them apart (aside from the obvious neck wear).

I swear, Fender could invent an actual time machine, travel back in time, and bring the entire factory to the present and make a bunch of guitars out of it and there would still be guys who would claim they're still not as good as the originals.

Let's see, I could pay $35,000+ for an actual vintage 1958 Telecaster, OR I could pay $2000 and get a guitar that's 99% accurate to the specs, materials, and construction of the originals... Hmm, which one do you think is more within the reach of most actual players out there? There's no magical pixie dust in those vintage guitars - they're just things that were mass produced in a factory like many other things. I'm sure there were some dogs or QC issues back in the day that our selective memories have omitted. I was in a shop not too long ago - plugged in a 1964 Duo Sonic - it sounded and played like garbage. Then, I picked up a '75 Telebration Tele and it blew me away.

Here's what I'd like to see: Fender take one of these new AVRI guitars over to the Custom Shop and have them time machine relic it. Then, do a blind A/B comparison with dozens of players and vintage snobs to see if they can tell which is the real vintage guitar and which is the reissue - without taking a screwdriver to them to start pulling off necks and pickguards to look for date stamps.

_________________
The ultimate Rolling Stones experience!
https://www.facebook.com/TheMainStreetExiles

I'm sure they are nice strats but way too pricey imho. I got this summer a nice brand new sunburst 62 AVRI for 1400. Yep, 1400. Not a floor demo. A new one coming out striaht from the Fender factory.

Do anyone thinks that these new avri worth near a thousand dollars more than this one?

I say, if you're on the market for an AVRI, get one of the remainings '62 or '57 while they last. They go for 1600 at MF and elsewhere too. They are pristine instruments. You get the same quality and you make a big 700$ saving. It's a win- win. Fender make money, you get a deal!

It's up to you!

You have deliberately misunderstood the point I was making. I love Fender guitars, and I'm sure the new American Vintage guitars will be really nice guitars and look forward to trying them , but what I just don't get is that they make all this fuss about the trouble and research that's gone into making them accurate, and then very simple and obvious things aren't accurate, such as clay dots and Nitrate pickguards. How much extra cost would it take to get these features correct??
If I like the new 59 reissue Strats which I probably will, I may well save up for one and fix the dots and pickguard myself, but shouldn't really need to do this, and certainly the Custom Shop megabucks instruments should come with the correct pickguard material and colour. I really don't think that's too much to ask.
Otherwise Fender make great guitars, and this looks like a nice series from Fender.

guitarmandave - I thought that there were some kind of current EPA regs in California that prohibit the use of the nitrate pickguards, much like all the hoops they have to jump through to use nitro finishes.

Now you have a good point about the "clay dots" - although it doesn't say it in specs the gallary photos of the sonic blue '59 do look like they are using the same material as a stand-in for clay dots that they used on the outgoing AV'62s. I don't think they were made the same way as the originals from the Leo era, but they at least looked the part. Now the '64 Tele and the '65 Strat have the pearloid dots - which I know is correct for the '65 Strat but I'm not sure about the '64 Tele.

While I applaud Fender for breathing some new life into the American Vintage series, I don't think the $700 (standard retail) increase over the old models is going to go over well with consumers. I wouldn't be surprised if sales of this series slowed to a crawl. But I don't mind at all, it makes my '86 62AVRI feel even more special since it's an out-of-production model now.

I hope the AVRI series will soon include a fresh batch of bass guitars!

+1

A sunburst '71 Jazz Bass with a maple tuxedo neck would be a nice addition.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Hi John, didn't know about any regulations regarding Nitrate in California, that would explain things if that's what is happening, which would be a real shame, but if a small company like Lashings can sell 100% accurate Nitrate ones, then surely Fender could at least offer the option to customers outside Calif?

With the 'clay dots' the photos of the Sonic Blue 59 I have seen look like they are at least tinted to look better than the bright white plastic on the discontinued AV's, but I imagine that Fender probably want to keep 'clay dots' as exclusive to Custom Shop instruments to maintain a differential? But that's really being a bit naughty if they are going for accuracy on these new AV's.
My CS Relic Strat has the micarta 'clay' dots and although it's only a small detail, I think it makes a big difference to the look of the neck and is well worth paying a little extra for on the AVRI's

..such as this one?