2004 Fender AVRI '62 Stratocaster - Rare Ocean Turquoise Metallic

This guitar is now advertised elsewhere also so I reserve the right to end the listing should it sell as a result.

From the '2nd Gen' - i.e. Post '98 run of Californian made AVRI Guitars, this stunning and rare 'Ocean Turquoise Metallic' nitro finish is just glorious. A beautiful alder body twinned with dark, chocolatey slab Rosewood board on a vintage tint maple neck. When I've seen these come up for sale, sadly a lot of them don't come quite as complete as this one. The couple of small upgrades made on this were extremely carefully considered only to make it more vintage accurate aesthetically, or to edge it sonically as close as could be to a true 1962 original.

It comes complete with it's original G&G USA Brown with Gold Interior Hard Shell Case.

Contrary to most people's beliefs the original/ former 'US Vintage' series were not particularly period correct.  The changes to the body Radii and 57/62 pickups brought the 1998-2012 models much more in line with the true vintage guitar. This run of AVRI Guitars gives players the Authentic 7.25" vintage fretboard radius and period correct fretwire that is a must if you are into the vintage spec Guitars, whilst hitting the sweet spot on the '62 re-issue in terms of providing a super comfortable yet reminiscent '62 spec neck profile.

They also provided them in the standard array of colours you'd expect, but offered some really cool rare custom colour finishes of the era, which were Du-Pont automotive colour codes, renamed by Fender. This one falls into the latter category.

Ocean Turquoise Metallic was introduced in 1965 as a replacement for Sherwood Green. It is essentially a halfway house between Sherwood Green and Lake Placid Blue. Being 19 years old now, the clear coat has yellowed just a hair, giving it a slight subtle lean to the Sherwood Green end of that spectrum. 

One oversight on the AVRI models was the exclusion of the 'Pat. Pending' demarcation on the head stock Waterslide Decal. Back in 62, the tremolo design patent was still in pending status - and the decals would denote such a fact. This example has had that rectified with an identical 'Decal over lacquer' waterslide applied, making the aesthetic of the headstock an exact match for its 1962 made counterpart.

This era also came as standard with an OEM under-pickguard aluminium shield. This is still present on this Guitar. The other point of note was that back in 2004, Fender didn't produce it's own capacitors, meaning the IC caps used in the US Standards were utilised in this range. This Guitar keeps its Gen 2 57/62 Pickups, but adds in the following:

• CRL USA Spring Loaded 5 - Way Switch (as used in the '60s) - upgraded from stock slightly cheaper oak grigsby type.
• CTS 250k custom taper Tone Pots and a custom 280k Volume pot (adhering to the typical ohmage tolerance of the pots back then, most measured 280-290k on a multimeter) - these have been upgraded from the stock, less accurate Fender branded CTS stock pots.
• RS Guitarworks Vintage Paper in Oil capacitor, these are hand wound on 1950s era machines, uses period correct kraft paper - built to military spec construction - Expensive!

The original 5-Way spare switch is provided in the case Candy, which comprises:

• Original and un-opened Mist and Wipe Fender cleaning kit
• Fender Owners Manual
• Fender Nitro Care Booklet
• Fender Owner's Registration Card
• Additional Tremolo Springs in original Fender envelope
• Fender original 5 way spare switch
• Wiring Diagram A4 sheet
• Fender '62 Ashtray Bridge Cover
• 2 x Original Case Keys
• Allen Key for saddles (no truss rod allan key is provided or neccessary with AVRI Fenders as they are neck heel screwdriver   adjustments)
• Original/ unused AVRI Fender period correct Leather Strap & Guitar Cable
• Original Period Correct Tremolo Arm

Condition Report (8.75/10)

This guitar is very clean, well above par for an AVRI of it's age. However, if you're familiar with the series (or Nitro Guitars), one must wrap them in cotton wool to keep them mint for the 19 years that this has lived. 

The Body is very clean for it's age generally and contains one slight scuff mark (not a ding) by the front forearm bevel which is very minor, a couple of minuscule small marks by the neck plate screws (way too small to photo), one perfectly stable lacquer crack by the neck pocket/plate, and one small imperfection in the front treble side neck pocket (photo 7 & 8). Some surface swirling is present under exacting light (normal for any Guitar) and there is just a hint of lacquer checking in the nitro on the headstock face.

There is also an absolutely minuscule amount of wear to the decal on the headstock due to it being 'decal over lacquer', this is normal for AVRI Guitars.

The back face of the Guitar is extremely clean indeed as are the contours and cutaways, whilst the back of the neck is virtually mint. The fretboard is mint condition and the frets are 90% healthy and are good for many, many years to come. 

Metal/Nickel hardware is in fabulous condition for it's age, minor tarnishing on the tuner heads but that is about it. 

In terms of the plastics, they're fabulous condition with only a tiny hairline crack in one backplate screw hole (functions fine and is virtually a given at some point that this will happen with single ply backplates). 

The weight of the guitar is 8 lb 2.5 ounces. Please see photo of the guitar on scales.

Upgrades:

All desciribed in the main body of the listing. Guitar is otherwise stock.

Free shipping:

I will ship to the buyer fully insured for final sale value. This is typically via ParcelForce or UPS. Insurance is via Secursus. Please buy with confidence. I provide accurate and detailed descriptions, which I try to make as informative as I can.

Of course, if you would like to collect this is no problem at all.  I am also more than happy to answer any questions regarding the guitar or take additional photo's of anything specific.