'67(or something) beat-up Coronado

[aWolfAppears]

Hello, all, this is my first post. I have been lurking for....a really long time. I figured it was about time I actually, you know, was more than just that creepy guy peeking over the fence.

So! I got this Coronado quite a while ago for a pretty sweet price, assuming I'd have to do some work on it. This is my first vintage guitar and MAN it is super awesome, but I was right, it does need some work. Hopefully some of you informed people can help me out.
First, When I got it this orange wire was sticking out of the f-hole, causing tons of hum and noise and such - obviously it is the ground wire. I stuck it on the nut of the volume pot for safe-keeping, but what is the best way to get this back where it needs to be? Working in these hollow body guitars is such an ordeal.


Second, there are some frets that have a tiny bit of a gap between the fretboard and the fret itself on the edge...is this fixable by anything but a fret job? And if one fret buzzes but those above and below it don't, is it just lower than the rest?

And, of course, obligatory pic of the whole thing:

[HNB]

Hawt!

[DGNR8]

The ground wire is supposed to come out at the very bottom where the strap screw is. It sounds hideous, but I have done this several times and it is easier than it looks. There are probably workarounds that would ground it some other way. But this is how it was designed.

You will have to loosen the strings because that screw holds the tailpiece on. It probably wouldn't hurt to remove the bridge pickup so you have an opening bit enough to stick your hand in. Otherwise you can do this using the lower F hole.

Remove the tailpiece and screw so that you can work with the hole without obstructions. Insert joke. Thread a guitar string, or fishing line through the hole into the guitar. Make it longer than you need so that if you shove enough in there, you can eventually see it in the F hole. Make sure the source end is secure, so you don't lose it in the body. That defeats the purpose and would suck. At the F hole, make a tiny loop in both the string and the ground wire so they link. Using a small piece of tape, or solder, etc. wrap the ends so that you can yank on them without separating the two loops. This would suck. Pull the guide string gently, to coax the ground wire through the tail. The hole is plenty big enough for this, but too much tape or yanking can mess it up.

Once you have the wire sticking out the bottom, put the whole assembly almost on, so you can wrap the wire around the tail screw on the outside. That way you can tighten it up, and it will still be in contact with metal. I think the purpose of doing them this way is so the entire length of the guitar will be grounded. I guess you could poke it up through the bridge pickup hole and string it over to the bridge, but the wire would be visible. In theory it would ground the tail through the strings. I don't know enough about circuits to improvise with that shit.

Another thing I would recommend is buying some matching cream binding and gluing it around the edge where it is missing. The last thing on earth you want to do is lose any of the checkerboard binding (or get the exposed wood wet). You can use super glue and masking tape if that's all you have. Get an Exacto or pocket knife and shave off any overhang or sharp edge until it is flush with the old binding. Clear lacquer would be nice, but only to fill in the cracks. The binding is plastic so it really doesn't need to be protected like the wood does.

I don't have much fret experience. You could try putting pressure on them to see if they move. If they do, it is conceivable that you could use some hide glue (or wood glue) on the edges and clamp them down. I have made fixes like that before. If you are lucky, that could do it. If they still buzz, you may want to either learn more about them for real, or take it somewhere to have it fixed. They are worth the trouble.

[cobascis]

^^ That is a great post.

I had this exact problem, except I had no way of getting at the ground wire! Shit! I ended up having my tech solder a bit of wire from a pickup to the tailpiece. Coronados are unbelievably tight to get into. The pickup holes are tiny and the f holes are even thinner.

The wire on yours may not be original. They used solid core on the ground wire a lot of the time and it breaks after to much strain. Once a wire is lost in that body there is little hope (at least with my ability) of getting it out.

I love the burst on yours! Really good looking at not actually that beat up. Wish I could give advice on the frets. How is the wear on the back of the neck? On mine there is only lacquer on the headstock and at where the neck meets the body it has been played so much.

Here is mine, I just got a repro pickguard. Excuse the dazed expression:

[taylornutt]

Pretty Coronado. Great guitars.

My 1967 Coronado II looks almost identical to yours(missing pickguard) except most of the black of my sunburst is gone.

[cobascis]

Really like how much black the OP has in the burst. It seems Coronado bursts varied a TON.

[Bacchus]

It seems Coronado bursts varied a TON.

Yeah, that's kind of crazy. Never noticed that before.

[aWolfAppears]

@DGNR8: Wow! That's a ton of great info, thanks! That should be a lot of help getting that wire back where it goes. And at some point ideally I'll get the binding fixed professionally, I took it in to get an estimate and the guy said all the outside binding (not the checker, thank goodness!) needs to be replaces. Which makes sense since pieces keep falling off. It's all really dried out and shrunken. Unfortunately I have neither money for it nor time (I am home for the summer but leave to go back to college in a couple weeks). I never thought about getting the wood wet, though...I'll have to deal with that.

@cobascis: Sounds like the necks on ours are about the same! It is really worn, but man, it plays amazingly. By far the best neck I have owned (minus a couple fret issues). I can't decide if I want to get a pickguard for mine...yours sure does look really nice with it...

It's funny how different the burst is. Each guitar in this thread could almost be a different finish, there is so much difference in the black!

[Thomas]

Pretty Coronado. Great guitars.

My 1967 Coronado II looks almost identical to yours(missing pickguard) except most of the black of my sunburst is gone.

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Supposedly the ones with big black edges were done to cover fills that were done when the workers messed up the binding cuts. The cherry burst is supposed to look more like yours. Mine is dark cherry at the edge and sides, no black anywhere on the guitar.

[NickS]

Van Halen & Coronado? Interesting mixture. Cool guitar, good luck with the restoration.

[Thomas]

I love the check binding on these. The only thing that's stopped me from picking up a Coro 2 is my lack of interest in bridge pickups and trems, so the 1 will do me for now. Saying that, if the right one came along at the right time for me financially I'd find it very difficult not to pull the trigger.

[taylornutt]

The prices on Coronados has been down lately it seems.

If you want to try to replace the checkerboard binding, I believe they used the same binding on Rickenbackers, so maybe they make replacement binding you could purchase.

The designer of the Coronados used to work for Rickenbacker.

[aWolfAppears]

if the right one came along at the right time for me financially I'd find it very difficult not to pull the trigger.

This is exactly why I have one. The price was awesome and I've always wanted a vintage Fender, so why not? I definitely don't regret it.

All the checkerboard binding on mine is perfectly intact fortunately, but that is good to know about the Rick binding if I ever need to repair/replace it.

[taylornutt]

I looked at the picture again. You checkered binding appears to be intacted just the cream binding around it that needs fixing. That actually should easier to fix that I thought. I didn't know they used 2 layers of binding. Very interesting.

[kapepepper]

nice coro
welcome to the club

and please somebody buy this one. Really nice price for a custom colour

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Fender-Coronado-II-/280933522381?pt=Guitar&hash=item4168f15bcd

[taylornutt]

nice coro
welcome to the club

and please somebody buy this one. Really nice price for a custom colour

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Fender-Coronado-II-/280933522381?pt=Guitar&hash=item4168f15bcd

They just dropped the price on this. Was $1200.00

That's unbelievable and gorgeous.

[aWolfAppears]

WOW that is one of the best-looking finishes on a guitar I have seen. Dang.

[DGNR8]

LPB? Can't be ocean turquoise, can it? Damnation that thing is nice.

Binding is deceptively easy. It's just plastic crap, but it finishes the look. I wouldn't worry about the binding, I just think you want to keep an eye on it. You can buy the checker on ebay, but it's more of a plan B option. Never throw anything away. I even save sawdust. You never know. I repaired a chewed up neck last week using rosewood dust and it looks factory now.

[cobascis]

I really like this coronado.

Also I just got some vintage Coro knobs for 20 bucks (4 of them) on Ebay! Great deal, I've seen them sell for 80 bucks.

[James]

(Sorry for the mini-hijack)

LPB? Can't be ocean turquoise, can it?

It's LPB. They did come in some colours but that one is very similar to mine. It still has the white 'F' on the tailpiece which is fairly unusual.

Here are a bunch of pics that show the colour in different lights and the various fading. Notice how it's gone more green under the pickguard, and the forearm area in darker blue where the clearcoat is worn and the original blue shows through.

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