NGD - Fender AV II 1963 Telecaster

[Surfysonic]

I've been interested in some of the new American Vintage II offerings, in particular, the AVII 1963 Tele and 1961 Strat. Sam Ash offered up this used AVII 1963 Tele on Reverb at a price I couldn't refuse so I decided to jump on it. I purged a number of my current gear to cover the cost. It's nice to have thinned the herd - feels good, man, feels good!

I've been concerned about the multiple reportings of QC issues with this production release of the various models. Thankfully, I haven't seen any issues so far such as badly installed frets, inconistent dot marker alignment, etc. There is a bit of gap in the neck pocket on either side of the neck, however, only a sheet of paper can fit in those gaps - not a credit card's thickness as some folks have reported in the AV II series.

I haven't checked inside the guitar yet, so I'll report back if there are any routing or wiring issues.

How does it sound? Like Tele heaven to me. Neck pickup, both pickups, and bridge pickup all sound great - smooth, chimey, and not harsh/ice picky. No plans to upgrade the pickups.

How's the neck? Not chunky U thick like a '52 RI Tele, but the "C" profile is comfortable - quite similar to my '63 Jag's neck profile. Maybe slightly slimmer, but it fills the hand.

No imperfections in the finish so far other than maybe a little scuffing at the butt end from being in the case. Not concerned with it, TBH.

Not gonna lie - it's the clay dots that sold me for the AVII '63 Tele and the AVII '61 Strat initially. I'll want to go and try the Strat first as I understand the neck may be thinner than I prefer.

I quite like the stock parchment pickguard, but I think I'll swap my blue sparkle Tele's anodized gold pickguard with the parchment pickguard on that Tele. I'll follow up with updated photos of the changed pickguards.

If given the choice re: sunburst finishes, I'm fairly partial to 2-tone tobacco finishes. However, I appreciate the smooth transistion of the 3TS on this Tele and on my new Squier Starcaster.

I'll never be able to afford an actual '63 Tele but this AV II '63 Tele definitely ticks the box for wanting a birth year Tele.

[BoringPostcards]

Nice! Good score!

[Surfysonic]

Nice! Good score!

Thanks!

Swapped the pickguards with my blue sparkle Tele. Happy with it for now. I have a ton of pickguards in storage. I might try a cream or Spitfire tort down the road if I get bored with the gold.

[Embenny]

Congrats! That looks like a great Tele. I quite liked the white guard on it, but it's hard to go wrong with sunburst. The gold guard looks great too, as would spitfire, black, parchment, pearloid...

It's a bit unfair to stick it next to that Hallmark, though. What a showstopper finish you've got on that one!

[Surfysonic]

Congrats! That looks like a great Tele. I quite liked the white guard on it, but it's hard to go wrong with sunburst. The gold guard looks great too, as would spitfire, black, parchment, pearloid...

It's a bit unfair to stick it next to that Hallmark, though. What a showstopper finish you've got on that one!

Thanks, Mike! I've always liked gold guards on 'burst Jazzmasters so I wanted to see how it looks on a Tele.

Heh, yeah, the Hallmark 65 Custom is something special and serious bang for the buck. Can't recommend them enough.

[Unicorn Warrior]

Man, those clay dots are great. I really love the look and specs of all the guitars from the AVII series

[Surfysonic]

Man, those clay dots are great. I really love the look and specs of all the guitars from the AVII series

Yeah, the clay dots look terrific. Compared to my '63 Jag, the clay dots look alike (minus the age from the '63 Jag).

I'm spending the rest of my evening having a look at the AVII '61 Strat demos on YouTube. Hope to get down to some area guitar shops this weekend to check out one in person to see if I'll get on with the neck.

[algeriet]

Delicious guitar, also what's the story on that blue Tele?

[Surfysonic]

Delicious guitar, also what's the story on that blue Tele?

Thanks! Oh, this poor Tele, the things I've put it through!

It's a parts build - started it's life as a replacement Fender poly black tele body and I've had the All Parts Chunky C (think baseball bat with Rosewood) neck for years that's been on some previous builds. Given my insane obsession with the clay dot look, I did the brown shoe dye thing on the pearloid dots with decidedly mixed results.



Here's it's first, best iteration with a Fender maple neck before going with the All Parts Chunky C profile neck with rosewood fretboard...the Armadillo brass components and Spitfire pickguard are now on my fiesta red Vintera '50s Tele. I moved the Fralin Hum-Cancelling Tele pickups to another build that I sold to a friend.





Funny thing, I'm kind in a black finish guitar phase lately (love my black Squier Custom Esquire). I may do another build like this one some day.

In my modding madness learning experience, I heat-gun stripped the poly black finish and applied General Finishes Milk Paint Halcyon Blue (a kind of ice blue-ish color) and a flat mat laquer clear on it. I was kind of going for a beach wood effect at the time. Applying the milk paint finish was an interesting process by using an old t-shirt to apply. Also, I sanded down the lacquer coating on the back of the neck.





I eventually did another, nicer looking General Finishes Milk Paint called Blue Moon on my Cabronita P90 build with better results.





Then, during my sparkle finish phase last summer, I used Krylon Glitter Blast Sapphire Shimmer Blue Spray Paint cans on it. While not perfect and definitely messy, I've been happy with these projects. I also applied Birchwood Casey Truoil Gun Stock Finish on the neck for that aged finish look with decent results.



While definitely considered my "beater" guitar, it does sport Fender Custom Shop '51 Nocaster pickups that are fantastic.







Now with the parchment pickguard from the AVII '63 Tele.

[Nevets]

That's a really sweet pair of teles. Congrats on the AVII. I'm not usually a fan of sunbursts but that's gorgeous.

[Surfysonic]

That's a really sweet pair of teles. Congrats on the AVII. I'm not usually a fan of sunbursts but that's gorgeous.

Thanks! I'm not either but I'm currently on a tone burst kick! I appreciate the subtle blending of the 'burst colors.

[JSett]

What a genuinely lovely looking guitar.

I too prefer the white guard over the gold but personal preference is more important, as always. A nice tort would look dapper, not going to lie.

[Surfysonic]

What a genuinely lovely looking guitar.

I too prefer the white guard over the gold but personal preference is more important, as always. A nice tort would look dapper, not going to lie.

Thanks, Johnny! I do like the gold guard. If I have time tomorrow, I'll swap out the Spitfire tort guard I have on my Vintera '50s fiesta red Tele for fun. I had the gold guard on the fiesta red Tele before but it kind of had bit of mustard/ketchup vibe for me.

[algeriet]

Cool DIY build, also love to see Armadillo's name here. I got two sets of brass knobs from him last year or so and his stuff is top notch.

[garyfanclub]

Very cool. Suffice to say I'd be in serious trouble if the AVII's came in olympic white.