Fender Coronado II 1967 with 73/74 serial number

[Stephane Spectre]

Hello everyone,

I just bought a cool Fender Coronado II guitar which appears to be all original. The neck stamp is Jan 67 but the neckplate bears a 74/75 number: 504XXX.

However, I understand that Coronados were produced until 1971 only. On top of that, I have seen a few Coronados advertised and sold by reputable vintage shops as 1967 models and some of them also had 500XXX number plates.

Does anyone have any knowledge on this ??

Many thanks to all of you.

[S. Cane]

Can you provide more details and pics?

As far as I know the 'vintage' Coronados were made until '72, which means the neckplate could have been changed at some point.

Is there any other marking or number on the guitar?

Too bad the best guy to give you a good deal of info is John C, he hasn't been around lately but I'll try to reach him.

[OldStrummer]

I considered purchasing a Coronado a while back, but never followed through. From what little I know about them, they were made 1966 - 1972 and then Fender began making them again in 2013. At least they say so, but you can't find one on Fender's site.

Still, there are a number of 60's-70's Coronados on sale at Reverb. Perhaps by checking them out you can get a better handle on yours?

[John C]

I considered purchasing a Coronado a while back, but never followed through. From what little I know about them, they were made 1966 - 1972 and then Fender began making them again in 2013. At least they say so, but you can't find one on Fender's site.

Still, there are a number of 60's-70's Coronados on sale at Reverb. Perhaps by checking them out you can get a better handle on yours?

Unfortunately I know very little about Coronados. Fender did revive them for a few years in the early/mid 2010s as part of the Made in China "Modern Player" series, but those models went away after 3-4 years. They had a Modern Player Starcaster that survived a bit longer, but it was replaced by some Squier versions a few years ago.

As far as the serial numbers - anything is possible with Fender; any source that posts that a range of 1960s or 1970s numbers (prior to the change to headstock serial number decals) is only putting up their "best guess" for the range. There are always anomalies.

[Stephane Spectre]

I Still, there are a number of 60's-70's Coronados on sale at Reverb. Perhaps by checking them out you can get a better handle on yours?

Well that's exactly what I did prior to my first post. Hence the phrase "On top of that, I have seen a few Coronados advertised and sold by reputable vintage shops as 1967 models and some of them also had 500XXX number plates".

There are currently at least 6 Coronados advertised as 1967 models on Reverb that bear 500000 something serial numbers:

504324 (1967 CAR)
501353 (1967, SB, exact same model as mine)
500366 (1967, SB, exact same model as mine, but with checkered binding)
500569 (1967, SB, exact same model as mine)
504290 (1967, SB, exact same model as mine)
5034x7 (1967, LPB)
Mine is 504254.

In other words, all these Coronado have 1967 neck dates but serial numbers from 1973/1974.

Since I have never seen a Strat, a Tele, a Pbass, a Jbass from 1967 with 73/74 serial numbers, and I have seen many (they all had serial numbers in the 180000/200000 range), I guess one could assume that:
- Fender sold Coronados in 1973/1974 that we built with parts dating from 1967.
or
- In 1967, Fender stamped a special batch of neck plates in the 500000 range for Coronados only. That would be very strange though.

Does anyone have knowledge on this matter?

[OldStrummer]

You have likely already checked the Fender Instruments Serial Number Dating Guide (which is not affiliated with FMIC). There is a section that reads

400,000s to 500,000s	1974 to 1975
500,000s to 700,000s	1976

The charts below detail the most common Fender serial number schemes from 1976 to the present. Once again, there is quite a bit of overlap in numbers and years. The only way to try to narrow the date range of your specific instrument is to remove the neck and check the butt end of the neck heel for a production date, which may be stamped or written there (if you’re uncomfortable doing this yourself, please refer to an experienced professional guitar tech in your area). Serial numbers with an “S” prefix denote the 1970s (signifying a CBS attempt to use serial numbers to identify production years); an “E” prefix was introduced in 1979 to denote the 1980s. As seen in the overlap of numbers and years, even these references to actual production dates are rather loose.

This may not be helpful to you, but it underscores the vagaries associated with identifying a Fender build year due to its purchase by CBS and subsequent serial numbering changes.

[Ataxia]

Hello!

I purchased my used Fender Coronado II in 1973. The serial number is 502094. When it was repaired about 25 years ago, I saw the date stamp on the neck but didn’t take a photo. I’m pretty sure the neck stamp said it was made in 1967. Other people have tried to tell me it was made in the mid 70’s based on the serial number, but it was already aged in 1973 when I bought it.

In other words, I can verify that your guitar was likely made in 1967.

Nice guitar!!

Hello everyone,

I just bought a cool Fender Coronado II guitar which appears to be all original. The neck stamp is Jan 67 but the neckplate bears a 74/75 number: 504XXX.

However, I understand that Coronados were produced until 1971 only. On top of that, I have seen a few Coronados advertised and sold by reputable vintage shops as 1967 models and some of them also had 500XXX number plates.

Does anyone have any knowledge on this ??

Many thanks to all of you.

[Ming]

Hi there.
IÂ’m new to the forum and thought IÂ’d add some info off my Coronado.
Again itÂ’s an odd serial 502xxx but with the neck date stamp of
19 Dec 66B