Fender American Vintage '62 Strat, ice blue metallic, made in USA 2001. Good heavens, what a delightful item. The American Vintage series launched to great acclaim in 1982: finally, Fender were building guitars that lived up to their heritage in terms of both quality and specs. Yamano, Fender's Japan distributor at the time this was made, was in the habit of ordering limited runs of AVRI guitars in limited non-catalog finishes, so that's most likely how this came to be. Yamano ran additional quality control checks over these special run instruments, so the build and finish quality had to be absolutely A1 or they'd just send them back to USA for another try. This feels like a good Strat should: effortless, fast, slim neck, blessed with a sweet piece of maple with some attractive concentric grain and a streaky, dark choc rosewood board. The body is resonant and lively, so it really comes back at you when you hit a big chord. All Strats are chimey and bright, but the best ones have a certain thickness to the mids and lows and a weighty, assured attack... this has those in spades, it sounds massive. The neck pickup is creamy and full, the bridge pickup is thick and juicy; it just all sounds complex, rich and satisfying. The ice blue finish has yellowed to a sage green, it's got that certain depth and non-uniformity that only a legitimately aged finish gets. The original case is missing but it's got a Fender branded ABS hard case which works just fine. Very, very saucy indeed.

Model: Fender American Vintage '62 Stratocaster
Made: Corona USA, neck date 2001 (serial V132523)
Finish: ice blue metallic, nitro finish, 3-ply cream guard
Body: alder
Neck: maple with rosewood slab board, vintage C profile, 43mm nut, 25.5" scale, 7.25" radius
Weight: 3.580kg
Mods: none
Pickups: Fender American Vintage 57/62 single coil x3
Case: non-original Fender branded ABS hard case

Cosmetic condition notes: mild finish wear. Headstock has some scuffs on the end and bottom edge as well as some dimples on the back. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples on the back only. The back has a decent bit of buckle rash near the neck plate, scuffs and dimples around the whole outside of the body and a sticker fade mark and some scuffs on the cavity cover. The sides have some pretty notable scuffs along the back edge from near the jack up to the elbow area, as well as some dimples on the bottom horn and a few dings along the top edge. The front has some dimples along the back egde, in the elbow area and some unusual line marks on the top horn, nothing too nasty or noticeable, plsu some standard play wear on the guard and horns. Overall: good condition (7/10).

Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electrics tested and working properly. Frets look fershly dressed and polished with minor wear,  8/10 for fret life left. Wearing fresh 10/46 Moonshjners strings.