The Coronado: The Un-Fender-Like Fender

The Fender Coronado is considered quite a departure from previous Fender instruments and stands out to vintage guitar enthusiasts as a peculiar point in Fender history. Introduced in 1965, the Coronado was a double-cutaway, thin-line, hollow-body electric guitar designed by Roger Rossmeisl, who also designed at the time for Rickenbacker. So why the departure from Fender’s traditional designs?

The Coronado was Fender’s attempt to jump on the semi-acoustic bandwagon and capitalize on the semi-acoustic’s growing popularity.

Between 1966 and 1972, three versions of the Coronado were produced. The Fender Coronado I, discontinued in 1970, was the original single pickup design. The Coronado II added a bridge pickup with relative tone and volume controls. In 1967, the XII model – a 12-string version – was released.

It was a true hollow-bodied electric. Like the Gibson ES-330 and the Epiphone Casino, the Coronado didn’t have a central solid wood block in the body. The Gibson ES-335 looked very similar to the Coronado, but was actually quite different in that it had a solid central block running lengthways through the body with two hollow “wings” attached to either side.

Vintage guitar collectors appreciate the fact that a number of Coronado II and XII guitars were offered with a unique “Wildwood” finish. This involved using a specially prepared, heavily grained beechwood. A chemical dye was injected into the growing trees prior to harvesting which stained the grain pattern of the wood.

What also made the Coronado so “un-Fender like” were its pickups — made by DeArmond, a company that made pickups for Gretsch. The bridge was also unusual – a free-floating, non-anchored ‘tune-o-matic’ style bridge with a suspended tailpiece.

And vintage fender guitar collectors would no doubt recognize the unique Coronado cases made in USA by the Vitoria Luggage Co.

So now you know what made them unique. Who made them famous? For starters, there’s Elvis. Remember Elvis Presley in the 1968 film, “Speedway”? Are you old enough? If so, you may remember his song “There Ain’t Nothing Like a Song” with Nancy Sinatra. The Coronado was the only guitar used by The King throughout the entire film and put the un-Fender-like Fender in the spotlight. Other notable users include Dave Davies of the Kinks, Wayne Newton, Jimmie Vaughn, Josh Klinghoffer of Red Hot Chili Peppers and so many more.

What do players and collectors look for these day? All of the Coronado models are very desirable — the Coronado I and II, the Coronado II Wildwood, Coronado XII, Bass I or Bass II would all be respectable additions to a collection.  Even though the Fender Coronado didn’t enjoy much commercial success back then due to feedback at high volumes, today this vintage guitar has gained a significant following after release for its natural resonance and bright deep tone.

Fender has re-introduced the Coronado in 2013! See the Video below!