Fender 1968 Coronado II - Antigua

In the mid-1960s, Fender watched the thinline semi-hollow market — dominated by the Gibson ES-330, Epiphone Casino, and Guild Starfire — and decided it needed a seat at the table. The result was the Coronado series, announced in November 1965 and designed by Roger Rossmeisl, who had come to Fender from Rickenbacker and left his fingerprints all over the design: the checkered binding, the F-tailpiece tremolo, the overall aesthetic that reads as distinctly its own even among the crowded semi-hollow field of the era. The Coronado was all-maple construction with DeArmond-designed pickups — a combination that gives these guitars a brighter, more percussive character than the mahogany-influenced competition — and while it never achieved the commercial heights of the Gibson and Epiphone offerings it was positioned against, history has been kind to the Coronado. The players who find them tend to love them, and the Interstellar Tone Traveler suspects more than a few have passed through other shops without the recognition they deserved. This 1968 Coronado II wears Antigua — the antique-style finish Fender introduced in 1967, that distinctive cream-to-brownish burst that fades with a deliberately aged character and looks, fifty-plus years later, exactly as it was designed to. The matching Antigua headstock, the period chrome hardware, and the "Antigua" script on the pickguard together make a complete visual statement that is unmistakably of its era.

The Coronado II's dual DeArmond single-coil pickups are among the more distinctive-sounding vintage Fender pickup designs — brighter and more articulate than humbuckers, with a tonal character that sits somewhere between a traditional Fender single-coil and the fuller voice of a semi-hollow body in full acoustic sympathy. Individual volume and tone controls for each pickup give complete independent management of each position, and the 3-way toggle provides straightforward neck, both, and bridge selection. The integrated tremolo unit — the Rossmeisl-influenced F-tailpiece design that gives the Coronado its immediately recognizable profile from behind — operates with the smooth, vintage feel of a well-maintained 1968 unit. Rosewood fingerboard with block inlays, C-shaped maple neck with heel-adjust truss rod, 25.5" scale, bone nut at 1 5/8", 12" radius, vintage frets in solid playing condition. This is a piece of Fender history that doesn't come up often — an all-original example of a model that deserved more of the market than it got, wearing one of the great finishes of the era.

Condition Notes:
Overall condition is Very Good — clean, all original. One known issue: a crack in the pickguard that has been professionally repaired and is stable; the repair is cosmetically visible on close inspection but structurally sound. Original hardshell case is present and functional; the case handle is missing. Vintage frets show normal play wear consistent with age; no issues with playability or intonation.

Build Date: 1968
Model: Coronado II
Body Construction: Hollow Body
Body Top: Arched Laminated Maple
Body Back: Laminated Maple
Body Sides: Laminated Maple
Body Finish: Nitro
Body Binding: Cream 
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Fingerboard Inlay: Block 
Nut: Bone, 1 5/8" 
Neck Profile: "C"
Headstock: Coronado (Matching) 
Frets: Vintage
Truss Rod: Fully Adjustable (Heel Adjust) 
Radius: 12"
Fingerboard Binding: Cream 
Scale Length: 25.5"
Tuners: Fender
Hardware Color: Chrome
Bridge Style: Adjustable with Tremolo 
Pickguard: Antigua Pickguard
Pickups: DeArmond single coils
Switching: 3-Way Toggle 
Controls: Vol 1, Neck - Vol 2, Bridge - Tone 1 - Neck, Tone 2 - Bridge 
Case: OHSC