Fender American Vintage II: Officially, here at last, but what's new?

11 Oct 2022 by Jef |

4,4 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 3 Minutes

Fender American Vintage II · Source: Fender

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The Fender American Vintage II is now officially here. After being leaked in September. These models have been all over the internet and on guitar forums on both sides of the Atlantic. This revamp of classic American Fender guitars is the latest lineup of ‘more accurate’ re-releases from the brand’s history.

Fender American Vintage II

Yes, indeed. The Fender American Vintage II is now officially here and includes re-issues of some of the best years in Fender’s history. This gives players the choice of models from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s to choose from. All the usual suspects are there including Telecasters, Stratocasters, etc

American Vintage II ’51 Telecaster · Source: Fender

Brand New Again?

Fender is using the tagline ‘Brand New Again’ and it is certainly a list of guitars we have seen re-released as vintage reissues time and time again.

Check the official list of models below;

The 1950s

American Vintage II ’51 Telecaster
American Vintage II ’51 Telecaster LH
American Vintage II ’54 Precision Bass
American Vintage II ’57 Stratocaster
American Vintage II ’57 Stratocaster LH

The 1960s

American Vintage II ’60 Precision Bass
American Vintage II ’61 Stratocaster
American Vintage II ’61 Stratocaster LH
American Vintage II ’63 Telecaster
American Vintage II ’66 Jazz Bass
American Vintage II ’66 Jazz Bass LH
American Vintage II ’66 Jazzmaster

The 1970s

American Vintage II ’72 Telecaster Thinline
American Vintage II ’73 Statocaster
American Vintage II ’75 Telecaster Deluxe
American Vintage II ’77 Telecaster Custom

Even more vintage accurate? · Source: Fender

So what makes these different?

In 2022 Fender has added a host of tweaks that make these guitars and basses supposedly closer to their vintage counterparts. These include the Fender Pure Vintage pickups and CuNiFe Wide-Range humbuckers. All of these are modelled on specific eras of Fender’s history and seek to emulate the tones of the various decades.

: American Vintage II ’57 Stratocaster · Source: Fender

: American Vintage II ’66 Jazzmaster · Source: Fender

Neck Profiles

Then each model has either a “C”, “V” or “U” shaped maple neck. All of which correspond to what was found on the original guitars. Finally, there are nitrocellulose finishes, that aim to mimic a vintage guitar’s paint job.

I guess that these models will be popular with a lot of guitarists. As they will be much cheaper than a Fender Custom Shop model. And as they are more accurate to specific years, this could be a good way to get a vintage-flavoured guitar. Without the vintage price tag and hassle of owning an old vintage guitar.

Overall, there are some nice models here and some good choices for colour. Pity, there are no Jaguars though.

MSRP – Between EUR 2099 and 2319

Fender American Vintage II models at Thomann *

The full list is available with all the specific model details from the official Fender link below.