1966 Fender Coronado II, (front), (side), (headstock), (back), (features), (neckplate), (case). A very untraditional guitar from Fender and probably their first real attempt (not counting the solidbody Jazzmaster) to get some of that Gibson business. For around 15 years Fender had owned the solidbody market; Gibson the archtops. With the advent of the British invasion, hollowbodies were gaining huge visibility, especially with the Beatles and their Epi Casinos. Fender brought onboard German-born Roger Rossmeisl, of Rickenbacker fame, noted for using a German carve on hollowbody instruments. You can see Rick influences in the checkered binding, and F-tailpiece. The Coronado was a true hollow-bodied electric guitar, like the Gibson ES-330 and Epiphone Casino, without a center wood block in the body, as opposed to a 335-style "semi-hollowbody" that had a block of wood anchoring the top and back, running the length of the body. A full hollowbody has one drawback, specifically being more prone to feedback than a semi-hollow. On the up side, they body is more free to vibrate and they can have excellent acoustic properties, including better sustain. It came in 4 models (plus some Wildwood models that followed) which included the "I" single pickup, "II", dual pickup, "XII" 12-sting, and bass. I know I'll get questions regarding the serial number, "hey, 500,000s are for the 70's...", but just google Coronado serials and you'll see that there were a large run of '65/'66 Coronado's in the 50XXXX range. This is an early model Coronado, characterized by checkered binding and chrome top pickups. These single coil pickups were made by DeArmond, a company more famous for Gretsch pickups. The bridge was a free-floating, non anchored, 'tune-o-matic' style bridge with a rosewood base, and it also has a suspended "F" tailpiece. The maple arched body is bound in checkered binding. Other features include a large gold pickups bolt-on neck is bound and features a rosewood fretboard and large block inlays, dual F-holes are bound, headstock is black with a gold Trans logo, controls are dual volume and tone controls with chrome-top black knobs, with a 3-way switch on the upper treble bout, tuners are the common F-tuners, and it has a single string tree. Perhaps the most visible use of the Coronado was by the decade's biggest star, Elvis Presley, as the only guitar featured in the movie "Speedway", which was a sunburst model (shown here), just like this one. More serious users have included Dave Davies of The Kinks, Wayne Newton, Sergio Pizzorno of Kasabian, Graham Coxon of Blur, Jimmie Vaughan, and the Flaming Lips. This guitar has been played sparingly in its 47 years and is in beautiful condition and 100% original. It plays beautifully and has a pleasing tone that isn't prone to feedback at reasonable gain levels. Includes original case by Victoria Luggage company and in this condition is an excellent value for the player or collector at $1399.
Originally Posted by Prages
Help Desk