Vintage guitar of the week #9 - 1968 Fender Coronado II in Antigua

This is what the Antigua finish is supposed to look like.

Whether Fender's Antigua finish works or not greatly depends on what body shape it's applied to. Where it's applied best is on a body with some "real estate" to it, so to speak. Such an example is the '68 Coronado II.

On Amazon, you can find two other guitars (at the time I write this,) a Strat and a Jazzmaster, in Antigua. Both look awful because the finish just doesn't work with either of those two body shapes. But the larger, rounder shape of the Coronado II totally does work with it.

Now, to note, the Fender Coronado is made new right now and comes in several different finishes, all of which look good. But an Antigua Coronado has a super-classy look to it. Very upscale. Notice that even the pick guard has the look carried over.

What does a Coronado sound like? Well, the Coronado was originally Fender's answer to the Gibson ES-330 and Epiphone Casino. While the Coronado doesn't necessarily sound like either of those two guitars, it does have proper semi-hollow body tone, but in a Fender flavor which is brighter. Not crazy-bright like a Strat (obviously,) but bright for a semi-hollow.

For the look however, the only way to get Antigua is to buy the real-deal '68. But the other finishes on the newer releases look great, too.

On a final note, the '68 is a super-lightweight at under 6.5 pounds. That makes it a very easy player.

Published 2015 Sep 5