Fender '62 Reissue Stratocaster

2005 built, I won't bore you with what you know already!

Ice mettalic blue!!!!!

I am a semi-pro player of 15 years experience. I play Blues, Rock, Pop. I use a fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12, and normally gig without fx pedals. The '62 has the real vintage tone I crave, the pick ups are a little noisy but, it has LEO FENDER voicings. I love the sound of this axe. IMO a great guitar will sound cool without being plugged in. The alder body on this model is the best feature, the resonance is sh*# hot!!!!!! So when I play thios without amp it still accomodates every note like a good hotel accomodates her guests.

I have not needed to adjust anything!! Played gr8 straight out of the box. It was the playability that sold this honey to me in the first place.

This is built like a tank!! Like any USA strat it is designed to be gigged!!!!!!!!!

N/A

I own a USA Clapton strat, but wanted a rosewood neck strat to add a new dimension to my tonal pallet. I was keen on the vintage machineheads and bridge but not sure on the pick ups I wanted. Thankfully when I visited the store, they had a Deville 2x12 for trying out the strats and therefore I had my own amp to play through. The sounds sent shivers down my spine. I was hooked in minutes. Great playing, great sounding horny looking axe!!!

'83 sunburst 62 reissue. The coolest thing about this guitar, is that it is almost exactly as old as the guitar it copies was, when it was made. It IS an old guitar now.

had to have the pickups dipped. They were only sealed with lacquer, and they were more than a bit microphonic.

cool, cool guitar to hold. Nice weight. I'm fairly certain that it has an old school style nitrocellulose finish. The finish seems thinner and is slightly tacky to the touch, like nitrocellulose. Comfortable,slim, straight neck. It WILL need a fret job soon, though. Whole thing needs to be tweeked to my satisfaction.

Hey its a fender strat. It'll outlast ME.

really, really dig this guitar. I think it may be the closest to owning and playing a vintage Fender that I'll ever get. Unfortunately I wont be able to that until I get it refretted.

made in 2005, 21 frets, volume/2 tones, 3 way with optional 5 way, 62/62/56 pickups, alder with rosewood fret, grover tuners

I gave a 10 in features cuz anyone getting a vintage guitar already know that they dontwant a million features...just what works

Play a wide variety, but mostly due to SRV influences. Not nosiey at all becaue its well shielded. The pickups do not put out enough of an output for me so im switching to texas specials.

Although this is the most playable guitar ever....some disappointing quarks...such as a paint bubble, and under the pick gaurd it looks like something wierd is growing on a screw hole...i assume the paint was unproperly dried and the saw dust became stuck.

Awesome, built well.

Dunno.

Awesome guitar with a few building quarks

The guitar is a U.S. model. it was build in 1982.
sunburst, 21 frets, rosewood fretboard, white pickgard, spaghetti style logo. the neck has been refinished by the previous owner in a professional way. it also got new frets. the neck is pretty slim, not medium C like other 62 reissues that i had the occasion to play. seems to be original anyway.

main desciption: warm and direct, i would say. compared to other strats (1990 U.S. fat strat, 1990 mex strat, 1995 u.s. standard strat) it is smoother without being weaker in sound. where other strats do a "daing" this one does a "dang". very nice attack. playing chords, the guitar emits a well balanced sound that won't get on your nerves. due to its accuracy in sound, the strat does a good job for the more edgy parts of my music and i love it as a crunchy rhythm guitar.

my favourite amp is a 130W musicman hd212 which i think matches perfectly with the 62' reissue. i do not like to plug effects between the amp and the guitar, but for live performances i use a rat pedal and an ibanez bass chorus pedal. works fine with the strat.

the guitar was built in the early 80ies. i was told this was a time when the fender quality was increasing. the pickup settings have a very characteristic sound. i would say, more than on other strats. on the early 62' reissues, every setting sounds like the very essence of what it is supposed to be. e.g.: the bridge pickup is incredible. give it a little crunch on a fender twin. this will be the day when you realize what "crunch" really is (that's how it went with me).

it's shurely not a 70's strat which will provide you a more agressive tone and a little more sustain. the 62's sound is more compact, warm, neutral. the guitar will nicely follow the way of your playing. you can get edgy and cranky tones out of it, too.

i bought it used, so i had to do some resetting. no big deal though. finish is the original nitro lacquer. this 20-year-old guitar looks really vintage: vertical cracks in the finish (though not apparent to the eye), some places where the finish has vanished, etc. doesn't change the sound. still got it's shine.
it's a light weight (alder body). Kluson style tuners work fine, even better than the schaller tuners on my other guitars.

it's a fender stratocaster. very reliable. on stage, i use it without a backup, leaving other strats at home. when i break a string, i prefer waiting and let someone put a new string on. it's worth waiting.

never had to deal with them

i've been playing for 15 years and music is my living. if this guitar was stolen, i would track down the thief by all means. this guitar is a sort of personality. the sound is not that much spectacular compared to 70's reissues or american strats. but it's simply beautiful. every 62' reissue sounds slightly different, though. of course they are all within a typical range of sound (direct, warm, well balanced). You'll have to compare if you want to find the perfect one. i did.

2004 or 05 American made. Vintage strat features. I will comment only on the quality of the components because we all know the features by heart. Very comfortable vintage neck shape with a thick, good quality rosewood fingerboard, extremely resonant body (I like to play it accoustically and just groove on the sound), and a nice sunburst finish. Hardware feels solid, and the tuners are especially nice. Pickups sound sweet, incredibly deep and warm with a great three-dimensional shimmer. Comes with some doofy vintage accesories which are kind of fun, a very handy 5-way switch to convert to modern specs (I have actually found that I like the 3-way) and a totally cool brown tolex case.
A ten for delivering everything that someone wanting a vintage strat wants.

I play blues, jazz, funk, some rock and punk. I went to the music store convinced that I wanted an American Deluxe. I played them and liked them a lot, but when I played this guitar, the diference was dramatic. The DLX was louder, with no hum, had more midrange and sustain, and the S-1 switch made a bunch of nice modern sounds. BUT. The 62 RI had a life, clarity, and resonance that the DLX was unable to match. The DLX is nowhere near as dynamic or complex, and does not have the same sense of 3-dimensionality (if that is indeed a word) as the '62 RI. I finally understand why people are so nuts on vintage strats: The 62 has a beatiful voice. It is not very loud, it hums like Glenn Gould, it doesn't have enough grunt to support a really saturated tone, but it sounds sexy, like a whisper in your ear versus the high-gain shouting in your face sound.
Neck pickup is warm and full, with more articulation as you dig in. It also does good jazz tone, especially together with the middle. Middle pickup is clear and ringing, great for combined rhythm/lead. Bridge pickup is bright and shimmery,and gives authentic quack with the middle pickup.

Fit and finish is nice. Guitar plays well, wood is really good, hardware inspires confidence. Not a cheap guitar, but feels like it is worth it.

I haven't had it for 43 years yet. I will get back to you. The guitars that it is based upon are still in service. It will be interesting to see if the reissues have the same longevity.

No idea.

I have been playing for 15 years. I love the way this guitar responds to my playing. The dynamics are amazing: with a moderately distorted amp, you can clean up the tone just by lightening your attack. With a clean tone, you can sharpen the sound by picking harder.
If you want a vintage strat and can't get a real vintage one (or even if you can), this is your guitar.
If it were lost, I would buy another. I am going to buy another anyway, and I have no intention of losing this one.

January, 1983 USA '62 RI Stratocaster. Purchased from original owner. RW board, sunburst, standard RI features. This early version has a very slight "C" contour neck, very fast playing. Vintage frets, 7.25" radius. This guitar differs from original as follows: the owner had it shielded (including pickups) when new at Garruthers, also added a mid-boost, which is run off the bridge pickup tone control. Other controls work standard.

I have Strats with Lace Holy Grails, Rio Grande Vintage Tallboys and MIJ pickups. This guitar is different--a very meaty & thick tone, rich rich rich, about the nicest "non-jangly" Strat tone I've got. They are also very powerful pickups, seem pretty high output. It looses a bit of the sparkle with the pickups shielded, but I don't mind that because I only want that on occasion, and I can bring enough back with amp controls to suit me. It is very quiet (not that I care), and just flatly sounds great. The mid-boost does thicken up the sound well, and is good for overdrive and wah, but I may take it out as it does require a 9V. I play it through a Music Man RD112 50, also a Pro Jr., usually straight in but also have a TS-9, Vox 847, Crybaby original, etc.

The original owner is a pro player, he had this thing set up so well that it forced me to tear apart two of my other Strats to get them right! It is very low action (.010 came with it) and very, very fast. No fretting out anywhere, just a superb playing guitar. The body wood is beautiful, nicer grain than my MIJ or CIJ sunburst RI models. The maple neck has some birdseye to it. A beauty. Frets are played down some but dressed very well so no issues there. A bit of scratch in the mid-boost control only, I can clean it up or replace it.

It is a Fender Stratocaster, it will take anything. Nitro finish, but who cares if it wears? Everything solid.

Never talked to 'em. Strats are darned easy to work on.

Playing guitar since 1970, mostly acoustic. Started electric guitar in about 1982, no longer gig much at all but play with guys in garage settings, also record on my computer. I love all my Strats but this is my sweetheart. I'd try to get another one if it were stolen, but they are all different. I love everything about it except the mid-boost may be jettisoned.

This guitar was bought late in 2004 at a vintage guitar store. The guitar is really for my daughter who is just learning to play. It is in excellant condition with only a couple of very minor scratches on the body. It was made in 1989 by Fender in Japan. It is a 1962 Reissue Model, and is vintage sunburst with white and chrome hardware. The neck was refretted by Mr. Jimmy Foster and the frets are larger than the original frets. Jimmy did a fantastic job as usual. (You should check out his Foster guitars!) The fingerboard is a solid slab of Rosewood, and the body I believe is Basswood since it is a bit lighter than my Alder bodied American Standard Stratocaster. It has all of the basic features that a 1962 Strat would have, including the old Kluson styled tuning machines. These seem to work and keep the guitar in tune fairly well. The guitar is pure vintage by design and has all of the standard Stratocaster features. It does not have the Walnut stripe on the back side of the neck. Just solid Maple. The tremelo block is a lighter weight metal than an American made Strat bridge would have but I can't really detect any major loss of tone or sustain. If it is there it could be made up with effects or at the amp. This guitar came with a rectangular plastic molded Fender case. Nothing fancy but it does allow safe storage and transport of the axe. I wish the body was made of Alder, and that the hardware was slightly higher in quality, but for half the cost of an American guitar I really can't complain. It just feels a bit cheaper than my American Standard, but you have to consider the cost to be fair. A really great guitar especially if you are on a tight budget or just learning. Wish my first guitar was this nice.

The guitar sounds great. Very much like my American Standard. I use Fender tube amps and this guitar produces a quality sound that is classic Stratocaster. I think that the pickups are not as refined as an American Strat but they are still usable and would not have to be replaced. Classic stratocaster best describes this guitar.

The guitar was in fantastic condition but felt greasy to the touch. I took it home and cleaned and polished the entire instrument. I removed one tremelo spring to allow the bridge to float and funtion again. After putting on some new Ernie Ball .009s, I performed a complete set up. The guitar looked, played, and sounded even better than at the store. Great finish, great neck profile, and the action and new fret job make the guitar feel fantastic. This is an easy guitar to play at any position on the neck.

It is a Stratocaster. It is slightly lighter but you could leave it out for young kids to play with and would only have to retune it for the gig. As indestructable as a guitar can get, except for the new metal electrics that slowly corrode. This is a 1989 guitar. It must have been played to be refretted. It has held up very well and looks brand new other that the maple has yellowed to give it that 1962 look.

Never had a problem with my two Fender amps, my American Standard, and doubt I will experience anything else from this guitar. Fender builds quality equipment for the dollar. I don't see how this guitar would really need a warranty. It is a Stratocaster. What could go wrong with it? I did order a manual for my 1986 Deluxe Reverb II amp. They sent it to me and it was just a poor Xerox copy of the original. Cost me $5.00. I guess I will base my rating on that experience.

I have been playing for 32 years. I feel that this is a fantastic guitar for the money. It is probably better than the Mexican Strats, although Fender now may be making them out of better materials. I would buy another one of these Japanese strats again. Especially the 1962 Reissue Model. Very cool. I only wish it were made of Alder and that the pickups and bridge were slightly higher in quality. It just doesn't have the feel of an American guitar. Still a very good value and nothing to be ashamed of. I found info on the web about Japanese Stratocasters. I feel good about my purchase. You could upgrade the bridge, pickups, pots, and wiring. Doing so would make the guitar even better. As is it will perform and sounds great. Most people would never even realize it is a Japanese Strat. I can feel the difference more than hear the difference. Great guitar, great neck, looks old like a 62 vintage Strat. Don't hesitate if the price is below $400.00. Unless you can find one made in the U.S. for that price.

'62 Reissue Strat made in 2001 at the Corona, CA factory.
Candy Apple Red in nitro with 21 fret rosewood slab fretboard and period correct dot spacing over a maple neck. 3-way toggle switch with volume/tone/tone controls. Stock Fender '57/'62 pickups with beveled and staggered AlNiCo magnets. Mint green guard 3-ply. Vintage tremolo bridge with stamped saddles. Kluson style tuners. Came with period correct brown tolex case with standard accessories.
Has all the features of a real '62 with the exception of the fingerboard dot material. The ones on this guitar appear to be nylon and not the "clay" dots of the originals. There are also no patent numbers on the headstock decal. '62s had 2 patent numbers. I guess it was cheaper for Fender to use the same decal as the '57. Otherwise, it is a good representation of the real deal, but points off for detail.

I play blues, classic and southern rock. I run line in to a '65 Super Reverb Reissue and occasionally a Custom Shop Bassbreaker. This guitar sounds very good played through tubes and isn't as noisy as my '57 reissue - probably due to more shielding under the pickguard. There is still some hum, but it's to be expected with single coils and not that bad really. The sound is rich and balanced with a good vintage vibe. I was considering replacing the pickups, but decided to keep these. The Neck and Middle pickups are warm and full with plenty of output. The bridge has a good bite and sparkle without sounding tinny. It can cover the blues and classic rock spectrum well, however, it doesn't stack up as well to the Custom Shop pickups like Texas Specials or Fat 50's.

Here is where I have some issues.
The setup was ok. I had to make some minor saddle adjustments for intonation and there is a dead spot at the 15-16th fret on the high E when you throw on a full bend. I can't seem to get rid of it. The trem bar won't screw in properly and gets very tight like the hole is not threaded properly. It won't screw in far enough and makes it too high to use effectively. The Kluson style tuning keys are a little misaligned when you look down the line at them. A problem I've noticed on a few strats.
The body finish is very nice with no issues at all. The CAR (one of Leo's favorites) color with nitro finish is well done and keeps a shine. The neck is the same with the exception of the rosewood fretboard. It's not finished very smooth and there is a lot of grain pitting that your fingers notice when bending strings.

I play at home and don't gig this guitar, but I think it would stand up to live playing. However, I would definitely have a spare in case that bridge gave me some more problems. That trem bar issue really bothers me. I bought a replacement bridge and it had the same problem with the trem bar that came with it.
The finish is solid. I have no concers there.
The strap buttons are solid as well.

I have not dealt with Fender on this guitar. I bought it from a dealer where it hung on the wall for a couple of years and was never bought so I got a deal on it. I haven't checked on the warranty, but plan to do so with the bridge issue.

I've been playing about 5 years seriously now. I own 3 other Strats - a '57 Reissue with David Gilmour EMG's and two '65 Custom Shop Strats.
I play through Fender and Marshall tube amps and use no pedals at this time.
Looking back, I probably should have ponied up for a Custom Shop '60 NOS instead. The workmanship on this guitar was not that great and I would have expected more from Fender on their famed '62 Reissue.
I like the sound, looks and finish. I don't like the fretboard and bridge problems.
Overall a good guitar, but check it out carefully.

2004, ocean turquoise, mint pickguard, aged pickups, knobs, and tremolo arm. 21 frets on a really dark rosewood fretboard on a stained maple neck. It came with a three way switch for that "vintage appeal" I suppose, but I didn't like it so much, so I had the five way put in. It came with a brown tolex hard case, which was a nice touch, plus a crappy ashtray tremolo cover and leather strap. It came with 10's on it I think, but a swapped those for some 12's. The tone is so much better.

I bought this guitar for that coveted "strat sound". My setup is as follows: Strat (or schecter C-1 elite)- dunlop crybaby- ibanez ts-9 - maxon od-808 - digitech digidelay - fender '64 twin reverb RI. With the amp cranked, the neck pickup on, and the Maxon on, this guitar absolutely nails that sweet SRV tone. I love it. the "out of phase" sounds are great as well. The bridge pickup however, does lack some of the bassy punch I'd like; it just sounds too thin. Of course, with the vintage pickups, this thing is pretty noisy. I say deal with it. The tone is so much better on these than those worthless "noise-cancelling" stacked single coils that fender puts on all their new guitars. Plus, after putting on 12's, this thing has such a punchy, cutting, deep throated tone that just sounds incredible. This thing just cuts right through for a great lead tone, while at the same time providing a wonderful rhythm sound.

This guitar came with a bit of a warped neck (to be expected). Unfortunately, Fender in trying to keep with the "vintage appeal", has the truss rod adjustment located at the heel of the neck rather than at the headstock. They make a slight indentation hinting that one might be able to reach the rod, but you really need to unscrew the neck to get to it. That's a real PIA, so I had a guitar tech drill out a little more room so now I can reach the rod with the neck in and the strings on. The action was a little high as well, but no biggy. Also, the spring they put in the tremolo arm socket to keep the arm from moving around falls out very easily. I would prefer a pop-in or a spring that didn't fall out. Other than that, the guitar was in great shape, the maple in the neck has incredible grain and the metallic color of the body is just magnificent.

So far, in the 3 months that I've owned the guitar, I've had only one real problem: A few nights ago, when playing with my band and doing some whammy bar tricks, the bar snapped! Unfortunately, it snapped inside the tremolo, so I have no way of getting it out. Kind of dissappointing. Other than that, no problem. These guitars are built to last, and it shows.

Haven't had to deal with them

I've been playing for about 4 years now, and this is definitely my favorite and best piece of gear. I love electric blues, and the SRV tone is by far my favorite. I like the guitar because, while I can truly get that SRV tone, I get also get some original tones as well...this is an incredibly versatile guitar. (although you're not going to achieve super saturated nu metal distortion, but you wouldn't really expect that from a strat, now would you?) If this guitar were lost or stolen, I'd cry, because I'm a teenager without a steady job, and I don't and would not have enough money to buy a new one. This guitar is perfect for me and I love it. It's perfect if you have a tube amplifier you can crank, or just a nice transparent sounding overdrive.

1986/87 built Jap 62 re-issue strat. Sunburst, nicely aged controls. Kulson tuners. The body is either alder or basswood- think it may be basswood, as it's lighter than my Jap standard strat, which is definitely alder. SSS, 5-way etc. Absolute eye-candy. THE best neck I've ever found on any strat ever, with it's nicely aged lacquer appearance to the thin-ish profile.

I was surprised by how much brighter it was than my other Jap strat. So I swapped pick-ups with the (ceramic) neck pick-up from the other strat (I know...ceramic...but one man's trash...) much warmer. (When I first got it it almost sounded clangy- tele-ish). Now it's fine. Good sustain. Usual noise on 1,3,5 but nothing excessive. Good all round guitar. 8 because the pick-up swap.

S/H so I don't know about new, but the guy before was using it for slide and he was using 11s and the bridge was sitting about 1 cm off the body (from insufficient trem springs). But the guitar in general...work of art!!! Two small nicks. You have to look REAL hard to see the joins in the timber. The laquer on the neck is to die for.

Rock'n'roll has a long history of treating Fenders in ways they were never meant to be used. But they still carry on. I think every component will last (except maybe my solder joins from swapping pickup- and I can't Fender down for that.......)

Hmmm...A big, fat, multinational company who explot poor in Korea and and Indonesia. Want a US strat? $1000+extras. I guess im saying that ir's not Leo working out of a garden shed. It's a monster.

It's got good tomes, eye-candy, excellent playabilty.