Fender Coronado

1966 Coronado II, Cherry Red, Checkerboard Binding, Shaller Roller bridge, F tuners, 21 Frets, Block inlays and binding on neck, A true Hollow body electric guitar, Dearmond Pickups (non-adjustable), Maple Body and Neck, Gold Pickguard.

I play all styles, This guitar's action is amazing. Fast Playing neck, and the sound of the pickups is amazing. I play in a loud (120db) band, and it will give you the good feedback not the squealing type, but can be controlled. I play through a Ampeg Vt-22 combo amp and use a EHX Graphic Fuzz for dirt. I was totally expecting this guitar to sound horrible as I couldn't find any demo's online, but was blown away by its great tone...My band mates couldn't believe how great it sounded for single coils. I prefer these single coils to any humbucker I've played. They must be loaded with mojo.

Guitar plays awesome. Finish is typical for a 41 year old guitar, lots of checking and wear, but thats the good stuff you want in a vintage guitar. It has that "broken in" feel you can't get out of a new guitar. The tuners hold tune very well, I put new strings on it (D'addario 10-52)before practice, and only had to re-tune 1 time. Pots weren't scratchy, switch worked perfectly. I LOVE this guitar.

The bride was aftermarket, its a schaller roller bridge, but works great and looks like it was made for the guitar.

I've played this live plenty of times now, It roars with tone! I get the best compliments, This is my gigging guitar, My fender American Deluxe Tele is my backup. What does that tell you?

No warranty. I got it used on ebay. $550 shipped. But fender is great at trying to help you in any way they can.

I've owned dozens of guitars and this one is my favorite of all time. I will buy another one in the future.

1967 Fender Coronado II, Fender USA, 21 Frets, Hollow Body, binding, two volume, two tone and a three position switch. Two pickups, I believe Dimarzzio Brand (stock), passive
electronics, Maple Neck, rosewood fretboard, spruce top, alder or ash body, three color
sunburst laquer, double cutaway hollowbody, tune-o-matic style fender bridge with floating tailpiece, Fender "F" tuners, C neck, Original Victoria Luggage Case, Strap.

Great Rock and Roll Guitar, sounds great with Fender Tube Amp, Feed back can be controlled, Rich sound, very bright on lead pickup.

Fast low action, pickups are set, no adjustment other than pole pieces. Fit and finish are
fantastic, pre-CBS, plays almost as fast as a Mosrite.

Guitar is built very well. This will last. I have three of them, including a wildwood and
a single pickup Coronado I and they are fantastic instruments- a real sleeper in the fender
line. This is great because you can get a perfect example for under $1500.00, likely 10% the cost of a comparable Gibson in a comparable age.

No need

Playing for 35 years, have 3 coronados, 2 telecasters, 2 esquires, 1 Stratocaster, 1 Mosrite
and a a few misc. acoustics. Hard to find in this condition but not impossible. I would replace if lost or stolen. Great, fast easy to play. If it had a bit less feedback, it would be
great but it is too good to give up due to just that.

I have (2) Fender Coronado II's and (1) Coronado I, all made in the US. These are hollow
bodied electrics with two "f" holes. The Coronado II's have two pickups, two volume and
two tone controls, as well as a three position selector switch. The type I has one neck
pickup, one volume and one tone control. The guitars have one Fender neck pickup and
the type II's have a bridge pickup. The electronics are passive as the guitars were made
in 1966 and 1967. The bodies are made of Beech and the necks of maple with rosewood
fingerboards. The finish is nitro-cellulose laquer, in a high gloss over the double cutaway
hollow body, body. The bridges are of a tune-o-matic style with a suspended tailpiece.
The tuners were made by fender (marked) and the necks are a "C" shape thin, with thin
low frets. The guitars all came in cases made by the Victoria Luggage Co.

I play classic rock and role through a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb Amp and the guitar does
have some humming when you take your fingers off of the strings (lose ground). The guitars have an incredibly rich fender sound, very rich and full with great sustain. The
lead position on the type II's is as bright as a telecaster and the middle position (both
pickups) is very full with medium tone and the neck pickups sound like a great acoustic
guitar that was amped through a piezo on the bridge. The guitars have incredible actions, are very fast and easy to play. The Coronados are the best playing guitars that I own and
will outplay my Les Paul, my Strat, Tele, Esquire, and is second only to my 1967 Mosrite.
The guitar is very light weight, has a fast neck, a real rock and roll sound and just hums
like my other Fenders (as I don't have any hum bucking pickups in my collection). This
instrument was highly underrated due to the non-humbucking pickups and the lack of
a piece of wood running through the cavity that reduced the actual side tone created through the pickups and the amp. The side tone gives the guitar limitless sustain.

I got the guitars as mint or new old stock and not from the factory so I don't know how they were setup when they left fender. I had to have them setup by my guy. The pickups
were adjusted fine. The bridges are free floating and have cushioned feet that sit on the
top so they can be easily moved. The guitars have no flaws in any part of their construction or in any of the almost 40 year old hardware. The plating is all original and
very nice. Although the guitars are technically CBS made guitars they are still of the Pre-
CBS construction and quality.

High Fender Quality, professional quality and built to last like all Fenders. The strap
buttons are solid like my other Fenders. I backup all of my guitars as anything man
made can go down, although I have never had any Fender ever do so. To elaborate,
my Fenders are all vintage, ranging in production dates from the middle 60's to the
early 70's with an exception to a prototype telecoustic made in 1991.

I have dealt with Fender from the early 70's on, and they have been very good to me.
Leo's head tech even did a fret job and setup on my new (at that time) 1973 hardtail
strat while I waited and watched. The warranties are all lifetime!

I have been playing for 33 years, I have four Fender Amps (65 Deluxe Reverb, 80 Concert 65 watt, Amp can and small tube 15 watt practice amp. I have a 73 Strat hardtail, 68 Tele
Thinline, type 1, 68 Esquire all natural ash), 1966 Coronado II, sunburst, 1967 Coronado
Wildwood II six string, 1966 Coronado I, marked "Special" protoype for the 1966 NAMM
show, White with black binding, Two Mosrite natural finish (spruce top, walnut back, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard) guitars, six strings, Gibson Les Paul Standard, maple
top, mahogany back and neck, natural finish, Gibson Flying V, 1981, "The V", Gibson LC-1,
Fender Telecoustic Prototype with fisher eletronics and light brown binding on a completely mahogany guitar with rosewood board, and so on. I have a variety of effects,
pedals, preamps, equalizers, two Marshall amps and all too much gear for one guy!

I have two Coronados a Wildwood 6 string and a cherry 12 string, both made in 1967. They are the best all around electrics that I own. I rate them a 10 in every category except for hum. DeArmonds will not allow you to run a very loud volumes. It has an almost acoustic sound and is the equal of the Gibsons such as the 175s etc. It has a better sound than the 335s and the Guild Starfire with center blocks because there are some neat overtones that are captured by the pickups.

Incredible sound. The 12 string, unplugged has almost as much volume as a small acoustic guitar. The Wildwood 6 string with vibrato has much difference between the two pickups. The neck pickup is very mellow while the bridge is extremely bright.

fit and finish are first rate. The grover tuners on the 6-string are among the best I've seen

Reliabilty is excellent. BUT.......you have to know what the instrument is capable of. I find that a solid state amp like the Fender Ultimate Chorus is a good match because it has lots of head room. You get a good bluesy or jazz sound out of this combination

I havn't dealt with Fender on these instruments

The Fender Coronado is much underrated. If you play at soft to moderate volumes, it may be one of the best electrics you can play.

Coronados were a full semi-hollowbody, NO CENTER BLOCK, bolt on neck series in which Fender was trying to be Gibson!! Roger Rossmeisl was brought in from Rickenbacker to bring Fender into the world of Semi-hollow body electrics, Hollow-body Jazz, and full body Acoustics. He brought many of his German guitar building skills with him. Some Coronados have a checkerboard body binding a la Ricks! For the fifst time, Fender used outside made pickups from DeArmond. All Coros used these pickups, although 2 different covers were used. They were available in all Fender standard and Custom colors, as well as some "unlisted" ones!! I have a 67 Wildwood II and a 67 Coronado 2 in Firemist Gold Metallic. What else is out there???????

Having the DeArmond single coil pickups and being a true hollow body, you can get a great Gretsch vibe going. Add a little reverb and wiggle the bar and you get some nice twang. If you like to play loud, FORGET IT!! While there is a very nice diversity to the sound (pickups are a good distance apart), playing a Coronado at even moderate volumes would cause Ted Nugent to cringe!! This was the main drawback here. With only a small piece of wood in the body supporting the bridge (its in there - LOOK), hums, howls, and squeals abound. Trying to tame this beast is futile!!!

Build quality is high. Rossmeisl had high regards for his projects, so these were made well. The usual 4 bolt neck gives a solid feel, though being hollow, you cant fight your way out of a barroom brawl with it as you can a Strat!!! The Wildwoods have a four piece bookmatched Beechwood veneered body. The Beech trees had dye injected into them before they were cut down. The swirls of color in the grain can go from mild to wild!! They even overlayed the peghead with the wood!! There were 6 Wildwood colros available. Each one unique!!

I don't ever see this being your only guitar on a gig. I would bet that 99% of the Coronados left are played in living rooms. Have you actually ever SEEN someone seriously gigging with these?? The hardware was top-rate. The Wildwoods had Grover pegs with the Fender "F" engraved on them. Fender tried to build a guitar to lure the 335/355 player over to them.But hey, they were also making Solid State amps!!! It looks as though CBS felt it could do no wrong. Well, we all know how THAT went!!!

You'll never see a re-issue of a Coronado. I can guarantee that!!!!

I enjoy my Coronados and 69 Competition Orange Mustangs because its a welcome change from all the strats out there. Maybe they arent the most powerful or versitile, but Ill always get a comment like "What the hell is that? They actually made them in the 60s?" If it wasnt for the feedback, my Firemist Gold Coronado would be my main piece. I hust get nervous that she may act up a little at the wrong time. I wish I could have one in every colr made!! Ive seen Sonic Blue, White, Gretsch Orange, Teal Green, Lake Placid Blue... send me photos!!!!!!