(SOLD) Fender American Vintage '62 Jaguar Surf Green 2007
Fender American Vintage '62 Jag, surf green, made in USA 2007. Heck, what a supremely gorgeous creation. The American Vintage reissue (or AVRI) line launched in the 80s to critical and popular acclaim: finally, proper vintage style Fender guitars were back. Yamano, Fender's Japanese distributor at the time, would order limited runs of non-catalog finishes like this one for sale exclusively on the Japan market. They also ran their own notoriously strict quality control, so the build quality on offer here is in the Custom Shop vicinity, otherwise it would've simply been sent home for another try. These AVRI Jags have a slightly angled neck pocket from factory, so that eliminates many of the break angle related buzz and slippage issues sometimes experienced on vintage style Jags. After a Topshelf setup with a set of 11/49 strings, this is playing like a dream. The neck is a comfy vintage-C shape, not too skinny but certainly not fat, and made from a superb piece of golden maple and dark streaky rosewood. At a whisker under 3.7kg this is lightweight for a Jag, which combined with the short scale length, slim neck and perfectly balanced offset body make for a riot of a playing experience. It's just so fun in the hands. The rhythm circuit offers a dark, punchy and percussive tone, perfect for juicy thick chords and psych riffs. The lead circuit cranks up the sprightly zing, offering a sparkling lead tone that remains crystal clear even when drowned in modulation, reverb and gain from your obscenely large pedalboard. Now, that finish: surf green always looks good. But, surf green topped with super thin nitro, played in over seventeen years and rubbed-up to a natural relic... that's a whole new level of coastal summer swagger. At time of listing, this appears to be the only example of this model in this finish currently available on all major internet platforms, so hey, if you don't go much on sunburst, don't let this one pass you by.
Model: Fender American Vintage '62 Jaguar
Made: Corona USA, neck date May 2007
Serial: V169933
Finish: surf green, gloss nitro
Body: alder
Neck: maple, rosewood fretboard, 24" scale, 7.25" radius, slim C
Weight: 3.830kg
Mods: bridge replaced with Mustang style, original bridge included
Pickups: Fender American Vintage Jaguar single coil x2
Accessories: deluxe Fender hard case, with original case candy and trem arm
Cosmetic condition notes: The headstock has some minor scuffs on the end and some dimples on the top edge and back. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, there's minor dimples and rub wear on the back as well as a small dent on the back behind the 9th fret approx. The back has widespread dimples and scuffs, most notably along the back and bottom edges but well spread around the body, as well as a decent bit of balding from rub-wear in the middle as pictured and some hazing on the bottom half from rub wear. The sides have some scuffs on the top horn, dimples and scuffs on the elbow area, a patch of discolouration and scuffs near the rear strap pin, dimples and a dark mark near the jack and some dimples on the bottom horn. The front has a couple of dents behind the tailpiece, some scuffs along the back edge, some hazing/checking around the tailpiece, some dimples on the top horn and bottom edge near the switches and some standard play scuffs on the horns and guard
Overall: good condition (7/10)
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. Wearing fresh 11/49 Moonshiners strings.
Fret life: 6/10, normal wear inc minor pitting, playing well with no major buzz