Vintage guitar,  info on the 1980's American vintage reissues    AVRI

1980'S  FENDER ....Vintage guitar reissues ,  reissues came about at a time when CBS were trying to save the Fender company ,  the Fullerton factory produced these vintage reissues from 82 -84 , they are known to collectors as the  "Fullerton vintage reissues"  they were a nice attempt at reproducing the highly sort after fenders from the vintage guitar pre-cbs era ,  these guitars are now sort after by collectors

But CBS ended up selling fender after lots of failed attempts to keep the company going , they eventually sold to private investors and employees of the fender company,  this led to the new owners opening a new factory at Corona,  and in late 85 early 86 production started this time there was no influence coming from CBS,  as most know CBS made too many cost cutting mistakes and tarnished fenders name,  the 70's fenders are not regarded as anywhere near the quality of the original pre CBS vintage guitar

1986 is the early production of what now is known by collectors as the " Corona vintage reissues "   the early 86/87 issues were using left over bodies from the Fullerton factory,  so these early coronas feel the same as the late Fullertons,  at first the production was very low at Corona,  reports are that only a handful of guitars were made each day and the quality was very high, and collectors now are searching for the 86 to 89 Corona vintage guitar reissues

These reissues feature various things that attempt to reproduce the pre cbs era, like small headstock, spaghetti logo, cloth covered wireing, and the paint is same as the originals using nitrocellulose Lacquer rather than the thick plastic feel of polyurethane.

The 3 way pickup switch is standard like the originals, although a 5 way switch is included separate as a extra if the owner wants to install,  even the case is in the tweed covered style of the 50's,  and like the original series the custom colours are more sort after than the standard sunburst.

Reissues were either a 57 or 62 Stratocaster, with features of each  similar to the pre CBS guitars, of course nothing will ever be as good as the original pre cbs guitar but these 1980's reissues are a very nice guitar and are now around 30 years old,  so are vintage in there own right

So if you cant afford the money being asked for a original pre cbs custom colour 1962 strat,  have a look at one of the 1982 to 1989 vintage reissues they are going up in value and are becoming more collectable than ever

Vintage Reissue Series and how it began. The common myth is that Dan Smith designed the first prototypes of the ’57 Stratocaster and ’62 Stratocaster in 1981. This is far from the truth so let’s discuss. It’s conception PREDATES both Dan Smith and Bill Schultz. The true roots began in the late 1970s, with a project of John Page and Freddie Tavares to release a Vintage Reissue 50s Telecaster. Dan Smith, together with John and Freddie ultimately provided the specs on the project. Together, after touring the United States in search of Stratocasters, Telecasters, Esquires and Broadcasters made in Leo’s time, they found many guitars. One such place was a store near Chicago called ‘The Axe in Hand’.  Ted Greene, Duck Dunn and Tom Bogert helped immensely along with a few artists and collectors of the day. It was after this travel/discovery time they would test and analyze many pre-CBS Stratocasters (1965 and older), using them as a base for the Vintage Stratocasters.

That same year, the prototypes were hand built by Masterbuilder, Scott Zimmerman. These guitars were presented at the winter 1982 Anaheim NAMM show and MESSE (Japan). It was unfortunate with all the hype and desire from that show, the reissues were delayed and distributed much later in 1982…the entire Fullerton factory was overwhelmed with the orders that came in. These were the glory years for Fullerton factory production under the design direction from Dan, John and Freddie. Scott Zimmerman built each and every prototype by hand, and was instrumental in working with the line to get the guitars into production as designed.

According to Fender, the Vintage Stratocasters were exact replicas of the originals, but there were a couple of minor differences that were not in the plan:

• the ’62 reissue model had a non-celluloid pickguard…impractical to re-create
• clay dots weren’t used, not in their plan.
• pickups were slightly different but then this was not 1959.
• neck was a slightly different shape, but again, they were hand carved in the Pre CBS days.

The reissues were excellent reproductions of the pre CBS era and still hold true today. They both had staggered poles pickups, small headstock, vintage style hardware and nitro finish with polyester undercoat. Moreover, the ’57 reissue had a single-layer pickguard and fretted maple neck, while the ’62 featured a 3-ply pickguard and maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. The entire 1982-1984 Vintage Reissues are coveted as some of the finest guitars made.

At the end of 1984, Fender closed the Fullerton Plant and moved to smaller facilities in Brea California…actually right next door. This location (Brea) was mainly offices with some assembly space. The necks and bodies were now being imported from from Fujigen, Japan. Yes…this is a fact! When someone tells you early Corona’s were the same as Fullerton AVRI’s…just smile and and move on. Now you know the truth. To directly quote Scott Zimmerman…”this is a great story in itself, American Standard…made in Japan!”

By 1986, the new facilities in Corona were opened up and the first line of production crews began building the AVRI series here in California. The fine body sculpting-tapers that Scott Zimmerman built in Fullerton were revised for production time and costs reasons. Next time you hold a Fullerton AVRI…do not let go!

It has been estimated that around fifteen thousand guitars of this type were built, known as “Fullerton Reissues” or “AVRI”. The neck plate serial numbers began sequentially, starting with V000001 in 1982. By 1985, as they moved to Corona they were at approximately V015000. It must noted however that no “order” regarding serial numbers was followed. Talking with many from the era, the numbered ‘plates’ were in various bins, already stamped and often the grab and use method was the order of the day. We are left with relying on neck pencil dates and pot codes to date this era accurately.

These are highly regarded guitars that were hand built to accurate specs. Custom Color choices were available in 4 options, Lake Placid Blue, Olympic (vintage) White, Fiesta Red and Black.

The Custom color production was less that 5% of the total made that era, making these particularly desirable/collectable. Some, but very few, had NOS pickups; Grey Bottoms and Red Bottoms. Often times tags were glued in the neck pockets with the serial number that corresponded to the neck plate. V000001 to V001200 is the sequence associated with the year 1982. Of these, only about 150 had the NOS pickups grey or red, and only about 45-55 were painted in the 4 custom colors as above, very early red bottoms using the old thin plastic wire…soon to be changed to cloth by the end of 1982. To read pot code dates, the last 4 digits are the year and week.

By 1985, two colors were added; Candy Apple Red and Mary Kaye Blonde. It wasn’t until the late 1980’s (about 1989) that a third color was added…Seafoam Green (Surf Green). Production moved to the newly constructed Corona factory by the end of 1985.  Production numbers skyrocketed and well, you know the rest of the story, Fender’s Custom Shop would take the world by storm!

For interest you can see a factory original mid 1987/57 slim waist body, Lake placid blue reissue on the shop page, not for sale,  only listed to show new collectors an example of a original 1980's reissue , we are always interested in any nice examples of these reissues so if your selling give us a call

contact me at      Goldtop55@gmail.com