ShortScale.org

I stopped by Guitar Center to look around and see if there was any used gear during the Memorial Day sale.

While perusing the used Guitar section, I saw a used Fender Coronado II. I played it immediately and I was floored how good it sounded through a Fender Blues Junior III they had setup.

Then I saw the price tag: $799!

I think I my heart skipped 3 beats!!! You never see these guitars in music stores or Craiglist and never for that price.

I immediately called my wife and told her I was not leaving without it. She said 'oK' I am super stoked.

I have never had such a bad case of GAS come on that quick and strong. Luckily my wife is amazing and understood. I knew if I put that guitar back I would never have another shot at a deal like that.

Overall Condition

Frets are in good condition except for the 1st one, but playable.

Missing the tremolo arm. Any idea what I could use as a replacement one?

Missing the pickguard. I probably won't replace it. I think it looks hot without it.

Strap Button by the neck is loose. Not sure how to fix it.

A couple of the pots are kinda scratchy when you turn them.


I love the case too:

Dude, NICE guitar! Seriously, HNGD! Don't do a thing do it, just make it into a player and have a blast

Beautiful find! Congratulations.

Any good websites for dating Coronados?

Guitar Center said it was a 1973 but I thought Coronado IIs were discontinued in 1972.

Check the neck stamp. Serials on these often don't make a lot of sense, but the neck stamp is pretty clear.

The Fender F neck plate has the number 502952.

I can pull the neck when I restring it and see what is says as well. My Coronado has the Mustang Style bridge and tremolo, and the black pickups. Can that help me date it as well?

What years did they have checker pattern on the front binding?

That is cooool. I can't imagine how you feel, like you've robbed a bank or something. That's a fine looking instrument.

James wrote:I think the chequered binding is consistent on the II, his has it and it's hard to tell from your photo but it looks like yours does too.

Seems like most of the II's had it from the thread I read on it, but hard to say. I think the neck stamp is going to be your best bet.

Serial Decoder came up with:

Your guitar was made at the
Fullerton Plant (Fender - CBS Era), USA
in the Year(s): 1973 - 1974

Serial Decoder

It isn't always right though.

paul_ wrote:That is cooool. I can't imagine how you feel, like you've robbed a bank or something. That's a fine looking instrument.

Exactly. Kinda like when I got my AVRI Jaguar. They miss priced it and I got an incredible deal.

Guitar Center has no idea what they are selling, so that is why I wasn't completely surprised. Still somebody was obviously clueless to price it that low.

Somebody must have been really hard up for money and sold it for $200-$300 dollars for them to put that price on it.

That is fiiiiit. Very jealous, it has the trem tail piece too! ...i have to get me a coro.

Date-wise i can't be much help other than it's no earlier than '67 based on the open top pickups and they seemed to phase out the chequered binding around late 68/69 when they brought out the antigua models.

Everything about this is beautiful!
Congratulations.

Jaded wrote:That is fiiiiit. Very jealous, it has the trem tail piece too! ...i have to get me a coro.

Date-wise i can't be much help other than it's no earlier than '67 based on the open top pickups and they seemed to phase out the chequered binding around late 68/69 when they brought out the antigua models.

That actually helps. If you are right, then that puts my Coronado between '67-'69. That makes the guitar even cooler if it's from the 1960's.

I found out the tail piece uses a Jaguar/Jazzmaster trem arm, so I can borrow my Jaguar tremolo arm for now.

It's funny because the tremolo is basically a flattened Mustang tremolo tube that uses the Jaguar tremolo arm with a set screw.

Ankhanu wrote:Everything about this is beautiful!
Congratulations.

I love that it is a player. The rough spots, checking finish and aging gives the guitar lots of character.

FYI: I took all the duct tape off the case. The tolex was coming up on the edge and I can glue it down. The case should work once it's all cleaned up.

taylornutt wrote:That actually helps. If you are right, then that puts my Coronado between '67-'69. That makes the guitar even cooler if it's from the 1960's.

I found out the tail piece uses a Jaguar/Jazzmaster trem arm, so I can borrow my Jaguar tremolo arm for now.

It's funny because the tremolo is basically a flattened Mustang tremolo tube that uses the Jaguar tremolo arm with a set screw.

Well none of it is backed up by facts, just things i've noticed from "the golden age" book and looking at them on ebay etc. One thing i have read is that the open top pickups are the better of the two as they're slightly hotter and less "anaemic" sounding.

I've always been really interested in that trem, the few pics i've seen of the inner workings look mad like its the bastard son of a Mustang and Gibson Lyre trem. Does it stay in tune alright?

taylornutt wrote:

paul_ wrote:That is cooool. I can't imagine how you feel, like you've robbed a bank or something. That's a fine looking instrument.

Exactly. Kinda like when I got my AVRI Jaguar. They miss priced it and I got an incredible deal.

Guitar Center has no idea what they are selling, so that is why I wasn't completely surprised. Still somebody was obviously clueless to price it that low.

Ah, this has happened to me twice at GC: my Gibson LP standard and '73 Marshall head were both priced really low on accident.

I tried using my Jaguar tremolo arm on the Coronado. While the length seems right and seems to match videos and pics I have seen, the arm is too tall and sticks out to far.

I am thinking of finding an extra Jaguar tremolo arm and cutting the shaft down to 3/4" to 1" should make it more like the stock trem arm.

It's a very smooth tremolo with the longer arm. Now I know what it would be like to have a Jazzmaster with a Mustang tremolo.

That guitar is beautiful, one of my dream guitars for sure.

for the strap button, you can just fill it with wood filler.

I've no idea what type of trem arm fits because I have a non-trem version.

As for the date, the only reliable things you have are the neck stamp and pots. I was happy with just the neck stamp and didn't bother to look at the pot codes. I'm not sure when they stopped doing chequered binding, but I would guess that yours is earlier than 73 and that date came about by using standard serial dating (as already mentioned in this thread) when usually the Coronados don't match up to standard serial patterns.

The II came out around the start of 67, but with all chrome pickup covers and later changed to have the black centre. So (again as already mentioned) you can say yours isn't early 67. I'm not sure about the Mustang style bridge, other than that it's probably most common on trem models.

As for the strap button, just use the super glue and tooth pick method. The strap button sits on a small metal plate, but under that it screws into a block of wood.

Nice score. I'm not normally a fan but It's quite a nice sunburst with the edges so red. The amount of black seems to vary an awful lot. Looking at this XII below, it almost looks like it could fade. The side colours vary to match the top, too.

I appreciate all the info. I was reading another shortscale post on Coronados and I definitely learned you can't just look at a Coronado and tell what it is. We definitely should made a Coronado guide since internet info is so sparce on this guitar.

I like this pic you posted with the trem bar. It confirms that a standard height Jaguar bar is definitely too tall and I will trying modifying one.

How do you clean the pots? A couple of mine are scratchy. Never had a hollow body before so I am ignorant when it comes to maintenence. Are there any warning signs I should check for in terms of the overall structure fo the guitar? Besides the wear and checking everything seems okay.



I noticed my pickup switch seems to be missing something.Mine just has the nut