THE UNIQUE GUITAR BLOG: The Fender Coronado Page 1 of 8

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THE UNIQUE GUITAR BLOG

All things guitar

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010

The Fender Coronado

In 1966 Fender developed a guitar to

compete with Gibson’s ES-330. This was
an era when double cutaway guitars were
popular since they were being played by
many British groups.

Gibson had several models, from the ES-

MY BLOG LIST
125T to the ES-355. So did the Epiphone
with the Casino, Sheraton and others,
HI, I'M MARC AND which by now were being manufactured
I LOVE THE
GUITAR. by Gibson. The Beatles were seen with a
pair of Epi Casinos. Guild, Gretsch and
This blog is about all things even Hagstrom had come out with hollow
guitar, especially guitars body, double cutaway instruments.
that are unusual and
unique.

Fender once again went to guitar designer/luthier Roger Rossmeisl

FOLLOWERS to come up with a hollow body, thin, double cutaway instrument
and Roger came up with the Fender Coronado.

Just like the ES-330 the

Coronado did not have center
block. It was a true hollowbody
instrument. Even the horns were
hollow.

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► 2011 (42)

▼ 2010 (79)
► December (4)

► November (2) The Coronado actually looked

► October (9) more like Hagstrom’s Viking
guitar than the rounded horn
► September (5)
Gibson ES design. The upper
► August (7) cutaway bouts were sharper and
► July (9) the lower body appeared to be
wider.
► June (3)

► May (6) Fender offered four versions of the

► April (3) Coronado within their catalogue.
The Coronado I featured a single
▼ March (7)
pickup below the neck. The Coronado II had a neck and bridge
Pedal Board Setup
pickup. The Coronado XII was a double pickup twelve string
The Fender D'Aquisto version. Plus two Coronado basses were offered.
Models

The Acoustic Control

Corporation The top, back and sides of the
Amplifiers and Th... Coronado body featured
laminated beechwood. The tops
The Fender Coronado
were arched. The Coronado I
The Fender Montego - was a rather plain instrument.
Fender's Jazzbox The body was bound, but
The Fender Starcaster the “f” holes and the neck's
fingerboard were not bound. The rosewood fingerboard featured
The Fender Mustang
white circular dot markers. The body came in a variety of colors,
► February (12) however the headstock on the Coronado I was always black with a
gold Fender decal.
► January (12)

► 2009 (41) The Coronado I bridge was a very plain, non-adjustable, non-
anchored, rosewood arch top guitar bridge. The trapeze tailpiece
was also very plain. All the Coronados featured a glossy
ABOUT ME
nitrocellulose lacquer. Incidently, the nitrocellulose lacquer process
Marc is what Fender uses on it's new line of Thin Skin models and
custom shop guitars.

Coronado II with added Bigsby Vibrato

The Coronado II was a much fancier instrument. Its two “f” holes
I've played guitar since I were bound with white plastic as was the rosewood fingerboard.
was 13 years old. I've been The fingerboard also featured white block position markers. The
body was bound with a sort of semi-herringbone trim. The color of

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playing fingerstyle guitar

since the early 1990's.
Thanks so much to all of
you who follow my blog. the headstock was either black
You are the greatest. or matched the color of the body. Once

View my complete profile again the decal was the gold Fender
logo. This guitar featured an archtop
guitar bridge with a chrome adjustable
HERE ARE SOME
OTHER WEB SITES poles for each string. The bridge was not
OF INTEREST anchored to the body. The tailpiece was
deluxe and embossed with a gold “F”.
Bill Menting's Vintage
Guitars
Eliott Reitz - Dean V with
built in Roland Microcube
L. Mills, Luthier
Mark Farner Rock Patriot
Martin Edwards Luthier
Practicable
TEO Guitars - Custom
made Mandoguitars
Terry Fisher It could also be ordered with a
The Beatles in 3-D rather unique vibrato unit. The
arm on this vibrato was the
The EH Man's Electro
same long one used on
Harmonix Extravaganza
Jazzmasters and Jaguars.
Will Rees - Fine
Woodworking & Musical
Instrument

The Coronado XII featured the same appointments as the

Coronado II except for the headstock. The headstock on these
guitars was the same one used on the Fender XII guitar which
came to be known as “the hockey stick” style, however the
headstock was painted to match the body color.. The decal on this
instrument was located on the downward curve at the top and read
Fender Coronado XII, instead of just Fender.

The Coronado II bass also had the same fancy appointments of the
Coronado II. The pickups were of course different and the

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headstock
was painted to
match the body
and featured the 4
on a side style
similar to that
found on the P or
J bass. The decal
read Fender
Coronado Bass II.
The Coronado II
bass featured
bound “f” holes,
deluxe binding on
the body, a neck
and bridge pickup,
a bound rosewood
fingerboard with
white block position markers. Both basses featured Fender’s bolt-
on neck. The bridge on both instruments was sort of a staggered
stair step type of bridge for compensation.

As I've mentioned the Coronado

basses came in two versions.
Once again the Coronado I bass
had one neck pickup, no
binding on the “f” holes and
white dot position markers on
the fingerboard.

As on the Coronado I guitar, the Coronado I bass headstock was

always black.

The potentiometer knobs on all the guitars were black plastic with
a silver top. The single pickup models featured a volume and tone
control. The double pickup models came with two volume controls
and two tone controls plus a three-way pickup selector switch
which was located out of the way on the bottom horn. The tuning

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keys generally had chrome buttons and posts. The chrome bass
tuning keys were the open Fender oval style. (Although I have
seen the bass with the cloverleaf style pegs.)

The fancier models were available in a

variety of finishes including “Wildwood”.
Wildwood was a process developed by a
Danish inventor in which beech trees were
injected with dye prior to havesting. This
created a unique veneer that contained the
dye in the grain.

Fender also offered the Coronado in what they

referred to as Antiqua. This was a finish that
created a dark gilt effect on the parameter of the
guitars body and “f” holes.

Probably the most unusual feature for Fender was the use of
DeArmond pickups for the Coronado line. DeArmond pickups made
in Toledo Ohio were somewhat popular with jazzers. That is the
only reason I can imagine Fender would outsource the
manufacturing of pickups.

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Unlike the Montego, Fender shipped

these guitar complete with cases made
by Victoria Luggage, a USA company.

The instruments were

expensive to make and were
never the hit Fender expected.
Jazz players once again did not
like the bolt on neck and Rock
players did not like the hollow
body because of feedback from loud amplifiers. Gibson kept it’s
hold on the hollow and semi-hollow body market.

In 1970 Fender ended construction of the Coronado I and in 1972

Fender stopped manufacturing all Coronados.

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Posted by Marc at 12:25 AM

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
I own a 67 Coronado II in pristine condition.made for
someone that I nevr got the name of.beautiful
axe.the prettiest rainbow Green wood I ever saw(not
like they have in stock photos) and action second to
none.serves me well and has since 67 along with a
HSS fat Strat counterpart.
mschraps@yahoo.com

August 24, 2010 12:41 PM

toby said...
Gretsch and Guild players love DeArmond pickups :)

November 7, 2010 7:11 AM

cialis online said...

here are several notable subcategories within the
acoustic guitar group: classical and flamenco
guitar??? is it one of them, I do know, I think yes but

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I'm not sure!!22dd

March 31, 2011 4:15 PM

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