Vintage Reissues advert, 1982 catalog
Despite the innovations brought with the Smith Strat and the introduction of the Gold Stratocaster and the Walnut Strat, in the early 80's the passion of guitarists towards the Stratocasters of the '50s and '60s showed no sign of diminishing: for this reason Dan Smith thought that time had come to build instruments inspired by the historical guitars of the past: the Vintage Stratocasters.
Dan Smith designed the first prototypes of the '57 Stratocaster and '62 Stratocaster in 1981, after touring the United States, together with John Page, in search of the Stratocasters made in Leo's time. They found a large collection of about 200 Fender in Larry Hendrikson’s store, the Ax-In-Hand, in Illinois; here they could test and analyze many pre-CBS Stratocasters, to be used as a base for the Vintage Stratocasters. In the same year the prototypes were built and they were presented at the Anaheim NAMM in January 1982; however, the reissues were distributed later, only at the end of the year, because the entire Fullerton factory had to be restructured and reorganized.
According to Fender, the Vintage Stratocasters were exact replicas of the originals, but actually they were very far from being similar: for example, the first reissues had the "Smith" headstock, slightly different from the pre-CBS one, in the ’62 there weren’t neither the old celluloid pickguard, nor the clay dots and patent numbers, and also pickups, string trees and neck were different. In any case, the reissues were excellent reproductions for the time: they both had staggered poles pickups, small headstock, vintage style hardware and nitro finish with polyester undercoat; moreover, the ’57 reissue had a single-layer pickguard and fretted maple neck, while the ’62 featured a 3-ply pickguard and maple neck with rosewood fretboard.
Looking at the distance of the 12th fret markers in the Vintage Reissue images in the 1982 catalog, it is possible to notice that this was faithful to the original pre-CBS guitars, while, actually, in the reissues this distance was not vintage-correct, because it would have cost too much to "redesign" the factory to maintain this detail; instead it seems paradoxical that in the reissues made by Fender Japan in the same period the two fret markers had the right distance! So what kind of guitars are that ones in the catalog? Fender never left any statement about them, but these guitars were probably prototypes and Tokai, as stated by George Gruhn, expert of vintage instruments, interviewed on Vintage Guitar by Edward D. Driscoll Jr.: «If you get out a magnifying glass or have good eyesight, and you look at the rear-view picture of the vintage Stratocaster reissue, you can read the brand name on the back of the tuners. It says Tokai! It would appear that Fender didn’t have their own thing ready, and they simply photographed a Tokai vintage replica Strat and either superimposed or stuck the Fender name on the peghead for the catalog and ran with it. But sure enough, the tuners say Tokai on them».
Dan Smith designed the first prototypes of the '57 Stratocaster and '62 Stratocaster in 1981, after touring the United States, together with John Page, in search of the Stratocasters made in Leo's time. They found a large collection of about 200 Fender in Larry Hendrikson’s store, the Ax-In-Hand, in Illinois; here they could test and analyze many pre-CBS Stratocasters, to be used as a base for the Vintage Stratocasters. In the same year the prototypes were built and they were presented at the Anaheim NAMM in January 1982; however, the reissues were distributed later, only at the end of the year, because the entire Fullerton factory had to be restructured and reorganized.
According to Fender, the Vintage Stratocasters were exact replicas of the originals, but actually they were very far from being similar: for example, the first reissues had the "Smith" headstock, slightly different from the pre-CBS one, in the ’62 there weren’t neither the old celluloid pickguard, nor the clay dots and patent numbers, and also pickups, string trees and neck were different. In any case, the reissues were excellent reproductions for the time: they both had staggered poles pickups, small headstock, vintage style hardware and nitro finish with polyester undercoat; moreover, the ’57 reissue had a single-layer pickguard and fretted maple neck, while the ’62 featured a 3-ply pickguard and maple neck with rosewood fretboard.
Looking at the distance of the 12th fret markers in the Vintage Reissue images in the 1982 catalog, it is possible to notice that this was faithful to the original pre-CBS guitars, while, actually, in the reissues this distance was not vintage-correct, because it would have cost too much to "redesign" the factory to maintain this detail; instead it seems paradoxical that in the reissues made by Fender Japan in the same period the two fret markers had the right distance! So what kind of guitars are that ones in the catalog? Fender never left any statement about them, but these guitars were probably prototypes and Tokai, as stated by George Gruhn, expert of vintage instruments, interviewed on Vintage Guitar by Edward D. Driscoll Jr.: «If you get out a magnifying glass or have good eyesight, and you look at the rear-view picture of the vintage Stratocaster reissue, you can read the brand name on the back of the tuners. It says Tokai! It would appear that Fender didn’t have their own thing ready, and they simply photographed a Tokai vintage replica Strat and either superimposed or stuck the Fender name on the peghead for the catalog and ran with it. But sure enough, the tuners say Tokai on them».
'57 Vintage Stratocaster, 1982 catalog
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'62 Vintage Stratocaster, 1982 catalog
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Although it may seem a contradiction that two guitars inspired by the past helped the company that had most renewed the electric guitars to come back into fashion, these two reissues were the proof that Fender was still able to make excellent instruments. Improvement in production was due to a complete revision of the factories, which were no more capable to support the huge amount of production (from a numerical point of view), with a greater attention to quality. Simultaneously, the use of CNC (Computer Numeric Controlled System) allowed a more precise woodworking.
The first Stratocasters of the Vintage series had been made since the first half of 1982, in Fullerton, until January 1985, when this factory closed. It has been estimated that around sixteen thousand guitars of this type were built, known as "Fullerton Reissues", which are particularly desired by collectors, the reason why it’s so easy, unfortunately, to find fakes. Production had been moved to the new Corona factory since the end of 1985, and in 1998 the series was renamed American Vintage Series.
The first Stratocasters of the Vintage series had been made since the first half of 1982, in Fullerton, until January 1985, when this factory closed. It has been estimated that around sixteen thousand guitars of this type were built, known as "Fullerton Reissues", which are particularly desired by collectors, the reason why it’s so easy, unfortunately, to find fakes. Production had been moved to the new Corona factory since the end of 1985, and in 1998 the series was renamed American Vintage Series.
Antonio Calvosa
