AVRI questions

[Mechanical Birds]

I got a line on an”American Vintage 62 Stratocaster” but I’m a bit confused and surprised that there’s no kind of archive. Trying to figure out exactly what years the reissues for all models were done to emulate, like the AV65 etc. he sent me the statement info from Fender and it’s definitely “American Vintage” and not AVRI, but then also says they were discontinued in 2012. I thought they made a big switch from having “Reissue” in the title around then to dropping that and revamping the line with better finishes and hardware and stuff. Like the AVRI line and the AV line were separate entities. That’s the case, right?

Even a list of like models with the specific years they replicated

Jag and Jazzmaster - 62
Tele - 52, 65, whatever years

That’d be awesome if someone can for sure post them all or send me to a link that has that info. Thanks in advance!

[Venice Lockjaw]

Here’s a link

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... es_Guitars

I can confidently say that for the AV line, which replaced the AVRI line in 2012, the Stratocaster years were 56, 59, and 65. The American Vintage Reissue series had a 57 strat and a 62 strat. I’ve never heard of an actual AV62 strat - it wouldn’t surprise me that Fender isn’t always consistent with their nomenclature (e.g. the distinction between AV and AVRI). I guess it’s possible that it’s some special run thing, but it sounds like it’s probably just an AVRI; especially if it says it was discontinued in 2012.

Fender likes to market the AV line as being their “most vintage accurate” reissues, more so than the AVRI line it replaced. I can’t really speak to them having better hardware, my experience with both lines is fairly limited. I do know that the neck dimensions were more “vintage accurate” on the AV line (fatter) than the AVRIs (skinnier). There seems to be consensus that the AV series had better pickups as well, but that’s all subjective, of course.

Edit: What I mean to say is, yes, the AVRIs and AVs we’re separate series, though I think the idea that they are widely different in quality is a bit misleading. The AVs strived for vintage accuracy by offering specific model years, while the main distinction between an AVRI57 strat and an AVRI62 strat is the neck carve and the fretboard material (I think they used the same pickups). But you could be into skinny necks and more durable finishes.

[timtam]

See American Vintage brochures circa 2012/3 ...
https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/art ... s-Brochure

[Despot]

Others have posted above with links to the brochures and details.

In terms of a hands on difference, what you'd notice most about an AVRI (pre-2012 historic reissue of a specific year) and AV (post 2012 up to ... I think 2018 before it became American Original?) is the neck carve, and then the aesthetics.

In terms of neck carve, the AVRIs '62 neck has always felt a little skinny to me. I own an actual 1962 Jazzmaster ... and it has a fairly chunky C profile neck, which is nothing like the two AVRIs I've owned (a standard AVRI and a 'thin skin'). The AV neck profiles were modelled after different years - but their '65 Jazzmaster neck profile was very similar to a '66 Jazzmaster that I used to own (much more so than the AVRI). That said, I'm working off of very small samples sizes, so who knows...

The aesthetics are different - the first thing I noticed was the lack of tint in the neck lacquer. The AVRIs had a slightly yellow tint to the neck lacquer to mimic aged nitro. AVs don't have that - you might see some tint now on second hand models ... but the two AVs I've had pass through my hands had zero tint and as a result the maple necks looked bone coloured rather than amber.

It's also worth noting the paint - as others have mentioned AVRIs (apart from 'thin skin' special runs) had thicker paint than the AVs. The AVs actually scar up pretty quickly in my experience. The metallics in the AV guitars were also different - I absolutely loved the CAR finish that they had on the Jaguar, as well as the Aztec Gold on the first run Jazzmaster - both finishes were especially vibrant compared to the AVRIs I've seen in metallics. I'm not sure what they were doing different - maybe a thinner colour coat over the gold/silver undercoat - but the colours really popped.

Finally ... for what it's worth ... I really liked the old AVRI '62 Strats. A good friend used to have an Oly White '62 AVRI and it was one of the few strats I've ever bonded with. I preferred the tinted neck lacquer over the clear lacquer on the AVs - especially on oly white!

[Mechanical Birds]

Ok so I was right then and Fender just sucks at specifics, thank you all for the info!

I got the guitar, traded an amp for it and I gotta say that holy shit it’s a wonderful guitar. It’s sherwood green which is incredible looking, and I guess was discontinued in 2001 and since I can’t find a single other one for sale, kinda rare? It’s in great shape, aside from a little body repair that looks silly but not totally terrible - seriously zero other wear on it? No checking or anything, and the neck is kinda middle of the road, not particularly skinny but not real fat either.

I’m happy as a clam though, pretty cool guitar.

[Larry Mal]

That's fantastic right there.

[Embenny]

The Sherwood green of the early 2000's AVRIs is my favourite shade of green Fender has ever offered. Congrats, that's an awesome guitar.

[Mechanical Birds]

Thanks dudes! It’s pretty , pretty awesome. I have a plan for it that I really, really hope works out, but in the meantime I can play it all that I want for a little while, at the very least

[JVG]

Beautiful! I don’t usually like Sherwood Green, but on this it looks amazing.

Interesting socks too.

J.

[Mechanical Birds]

Can anybody tell me what this thing is worth? I have no idea, really and would love if anyone can shed some light.

[Larry Mal]

I'd probably ask $1500.

[Mechanical Birds]

That’s about what I’m gonna ask! Other than the weird place on the butt, I can not for the life of me otherwise figure out how the guitar ended up with so little wear because if it weren’t for that I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between this and like, any other typical Fender poly finish guitar, it’s in amazing shape otherwise!

I posted about a friend doing infuriatingly stupid shit with all his gear, including my OW AV65 Jazzmaster. Well, I spoke to the guy who has it, and for a surprisingly small tax, I can actually get that guitar back, so it looks like this Strat isn’t long for my world afterall anyway. Actually, it probably is because I’m not good at selling guitars or something because it always takes an obnoxiously long time for me to actually get rid of them. Hopefully I can make it a relatively quick thing though because I need that Jazzmaster and want to secure it as soon as possible.

[redchapterjubilee]

A former bandmate had that same '62 AVRI Strat in sherwood. In the same year he bought a '57 AVRI in gold and that '62. He just sold the '62 AVRI since he prefers the '57. I think he sold his for $1300.