AO Series Discontinued

[Zeus]

*prays so hard that the next vintage reissue jazzmasters actually have vintage frets instead bullshit "vintage tall" frets* If Fender somehow can escape its current mania for "vintage tall" and "narrow tall" frets, a great and mighty peace shall descend upon this earth.

Amen!

I absolutely hated the frets on the two AO60s I owned. One of the main reasons I moved them on.

Rather than revert back to "American Vintage", I think it's more likely Fender will instead release an "American Original II" line with a few cosmetic changes.

[cestlamort]

The New (American) Originals

[BlueMelody]

*prays so hard that the next vintage reissue jazzmasters actually have vintage frets instead bullshit "vintage tall" frets* If Fender somehow can escape its current mania for "vintage tall" and "narrow tall" frets, a great and mighty peace shall descend upon this earth.

I actually like the vintage tall frets that much that I had my '62 refretted with them. For me, they feel great

Yup, great frets…love them. I also like and have Fenders with vintage frets, but the AO’s are so nice with the vintage talls.

[JamesSGBrown]

Just bring back target-burst and matching headstocks and colour variants that aren't white or blue and I'll grab one.
The 'burst on the AOs was horrible. Neither here nor there- the MIM 'bursts are all the same recently too, there's like no yellow in them whatsoever.

[seenoevil II]

Whatever the specs, I think we can all agree, the base msrp will be at least 500 higher than the AO.

Grain of salt that I never owned one. I wasnt a huge fan of the AO line. I didn't like how the necks were the same as every other american fender. I always thought of "that line" as where you went to escape fender's contempoary decision making.

I found the color choices were very meh as well.

If I had to guess, and because I'm a pessimist at heart, I'd say that there will be more sinergy with the performer/pro/ultra lines. Meaning that they'll all be the same save for color choices and a few features designed expressly to justify the different price points. Translation, they'll take stuff away from the increasingly expensive "lower teir" line to justify the higher line.

[GreenKnee]

Whatever the specs, I think we can all agree, the base msrp will be at least 500 higher than the AO.

Grain of salt that I never owned one. I wasnt a huge fan of the AO line. I didn't like how the necks were the same as every other american fender. I always thought of "that line" as where you went to escape fender's contempoary decision making.

I found the color choices were very meh as well.

If I had to guess, and because I'm a pessimist at heart, I'd say that there will be more sinergy with the performer/pro/ultra lines. Meaning that they'll all be the same save for color choices and a few features designed expressly to justify the different price points. Translation, they'll take stuff away from the increasingly expensive "lower teir" line to justify the higher line.

Fender have recently been doing the opposite of this though. That contoured neck heel that was originally only on the Ultra series has permeated its way down to the Squier series, American electronics can be found on lower price models, cooler custom colours are often on the cheaper models and the traditional finishes left for the expensive models save for some limited runs.

I wonder if Fender will venture out of the norm and go for some 70s American Originals. This would fit in well with the ethos of that line as the 70s guitars look cool but could benefit from modern touches as the originals aren't known for their craftsmanship and quality materials...

[algeriet]

Just bring back target-burst and matching headstocks and colour variants that aren't white or blue and I'll grab one.
The 'burst on the AOs was horrible. Neither here nor there- the MIM 'bursts are all the same recently too, there's like no yellow in them whatsoever.

Agreed, the AV65's targetburst was amazing and everything before and after has been lackluster, save for original 60's targetbursts of course.

[graceless]

Whatever the specs, I think we can all agree, the base msrp will be at least 500 higher than the AO.

Grain of salt that I never owned one. I wasnt a huge fan of the AO line. I didn't like how the necks were the same as every other american fender. I always thought of "that line" as where you went to escape fender's contempoary decision making.

I found the color choices were very meh as well.

To the color comments that are echoed throughout...I loved the Jaguar colors. Foam green, Daphne Blue, the classic burst...fantastic. The jazzmaster colors were boring and most of the others, also boring. But I really feel like they nailed the Jags. The only other modern jag that's in the same ballpark is the dual-humbucking vintera

[Surfysonic]

I'm happy with my AO '60s Jazzmaster and the Ocean Turquoise is a lovely color. I'm not particularly a fan of Ice Blue Metallic, but I appreciate it and don't consider it boring. Sunburst, Candy Apple Red, Olympic White, and Black I'd consider boring as these were the most prevalent colors in Fender's lineup for a long time.

That said, I do appreciate a well done 2 or 3-tone or tobacco sunburst. The new Player Plus non offset line's Aged Candy Apple Red is pretty sweet - hopefully that color will find it's way to offsets.

As far as a new AVRI, I'd be especially stoked for a '63 but I know '63s have been covered by Fender Custom Shop, so not sure if it's possible. Maybe a '61 (I think also done by CS)? Anything pre-64 with the clay dots will get my attention.

[seenoevil II]

I mean, I'll be real. Unless they reissue the year i like in the color i like with top quality components, I'll just grumble and get back to whatever else i was doing.

If however, they make an oly white or LPB (un tinted) '61 slab 7.25" board- or- a bullseye burst, black guard, large headstock, b&b model, i might just buy one... used and proceed to rave about how amazing they are, so so much better than the AO.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Whatever the specs, I think we can all agree, the base msrp will be at least 500 higher than the AO.

Grain of salt that I never owned one. I wasnt a huge fan of the AO line. I didn't like how the necks were the same as every other american fender. I always thought of "that line" as where you went to escape fender's contempoary decision making.

What are you talking about? The necks are completely different than the rest of the Fender line. The AO50's Tele has a super beefy "U" shape. The 50's Strat has a very chunky soft V. All the AO60's have a roughly similar 60's C neck with a pretty big taper from skinny (around 0.80") at the 1st fret up to chunky (0.96") by the time you get to the 12th fret.

It's worth pointing out that ALL of the AO neck profiles were carried over from the previous AV line.
AO50's Tele neck = AV52
AO50's Strat neck = AV59
AO60's Strat neck = AV65
AO60's Jag neck = AV65
AO60's JM neck = AV65
AO60's Tele neck = AV64

Anyone who is used to Fender modern C neck profiles finds the AO's to be chunky. Not only are the AO necks different from the rest of the Fender lines, they're different from each other. I know because I own 4 of them.

[seenoevil II]

Cool. I stand corrected. My memory ain't what it used to be and I seem to recall the specs listing the "modern deep C" along with the vintage tall frets. But if they weren't they weren't.

[Futuron]

If I had to guess, and because I'm a pessimist at heart, I'd say that there will be more sinergy with the performer/pro/ultra lines. Meaning that they'll all be the same save for color choices and a few features designed expressly to justify the different price points. Translation, they'll take stuff away from the increasingly expensive "lower teir" line to justify the higher line.

The problem with that expectation is that the Ultra series is the same price point

[seenoevil II]

If I had to guess, and because I'm a pessimist at heart, I'd say that there will be more sinergy with the performer/pro/ultra lines. Meaning that they'll all be the same save for color choices and a few features designed expressly to justify the different price points. Translation, they'll take stuff away from the increasingly expensive "lower teir" line to justify the higher line.

The problem with that expectation is that the Ultra series is the same price point

As the AO, yes. Not the pro or performer (it not even having a proper trem). If I had to guess though, I'd say the new AO will be more expensive than the ultra.

I mean, I seem to have had an inaccurate picture of the current line in my head. At least in a couple respects. Although, fender being so bullish on vint tall as to retcon it on to older models is telling. TBH, I'm not that invested in contempoary fender. If i got that itch again, id just part one together (likely for less money).

[Maggieo]

I wanna see some 70s JMs and Jags, but with excellent workmanship this time.