Fender American Vintage II 1961 Stratocaster - Olympic White Reviews

Really nice guitar in every way.
Smooth and easy to play, great sound, looks great. Really good value. I bought 2 of em, one for my old college roommate to have and enjoy. Its that good....

Been playing guitar almost 60 years and have had all manner of Stratocasters from actual oldies, Custom Shop, and everything in between. In my opinion, this Strat totally holds its own and sounds and feels just like the best that Fender has made over the years. I've been playing in bands since I was a teen, and still gig regularly. This guitar will immediately go out on jobs with me from now on. A few of them obviously made it out into the hands of some folks who had issues with things like a blemish here or there, or overspray on the paint. Mine arrived in perfect condition, not that it would really make a difference as I bought it for work, not just to hang on a wall and pretend to be a guitar player. It's a great tool, and it doesn't hurt that it is a great looking instrument as well.

So my first guitar was a super cheap Strat knockoff. Naturally I have always had a love/hate relationship with S Types. Fast forward 18 years and I had never owned a real Fender Stratocaster. I had always wanted a real Stratocaster like all my hero's have played.. So I did a stupid amount of research into the world of Stratocasters. Played several other brands of Strat style guitars from all different companies and finally got to try one of these in a local guitar store and fell in love with it! This guitar checks all the boxes of what I would want from a Stratocaster. The 61 pickups are amazing and this guitar sounds amazing with and without distortion on any pickup combo. However I wanted the guitar in Olympic white and they would have to order the guitar. After a few months of the guitar on backorder I had looked into buying the guitar else where as everyone else seemed to not have any problems getting this guitar in stock. I reached out to Sweetwater and talked to Stephen Gray who made the entire process so quick and simple to do! He emailed me all kinds of details on the guitar and was very knowledgeable about any questions I had about financing or any of the above. The service from Sweetwater was amazing and you all have gained a customer for life! Thank you for helping me get my dream guitar and making the entire experience fantastic!

I've had this guitar for a little over a week now and can't put it down! It plays like a dream and stays in tune (yes, a Strat!). I did have the good folks at Sweetwater do a setup on it before I got it and they did a magnificent job. The guitar is gorgeous and feels silky smooth. It has all those classic Stratocaster tones. Brent and all the folks at Sweetwater were a joy to work with as well.

I received my'61AVRI Fender Stratocaster,2weeks ago, I have a '62 FSR,strat.made in 83-1984 A FSR of 250.Now the '61 AVRI has clay dots,63 vintage pups.& Pat pending bridge,pre-CBS,thing,first time Fender did this,with period correct parts.The playability is great with the narrow tall fret wire, which they didn't have back in 1961 so this is an upgrade.7.25neck RADIUS is my favorite. As a guitar player of 55 plus yrs. I really like the job Fender did on these.As a player of 55+ yrs.

This guitar is just what fender needed, to get back to vintage specs. Perfect out of the box

This guitar is a wonderful example of a Fender reissue without having to reach custom shop prices - The neck shape and feel is brilliant, the colour is gorgeous, and the feel is akin to vintage but new to where you can rest assured that you'll make it your own in time. The clay dots are the cherry on top. From Frusciante, Harrison, Gilmour, the Fender Stratocaster is iconic in allowing you express your vision and this '61 AVII allows just that. Huge shoutout to my Sweetwater Sales Engineer, Greg Baum, for always being absolutely stellar in taking care of me and my purchases!

I purchased this 1961 reissue play dots 7.25 radius which is my favorite net radius, but I was thinking 62 and 61 next should be similar? They're not. If you like a fatter neck especially up by the 12th fret this guitar might be for you. Personally my 1962 reissued an 84 Fender Stratocaster is the best neck that I've ever felt on any Fender USA made Stratocaster, the 62 strat Reissue is the year Fender got it all right! The 61 in Olympic White I received a month ago has the narrow tall frets which was not found in 1961 but you'll find on this guitar. Neck profile,isn't the same as the '62 w 7.25 radius,so I'm disappointed but,it resonates unplugged better than 90% of the Stratocasters I picked up in 55 years of playing. 9n a scale of 1 to 10 I'll give it a sturdy eight!

Sounds good—looks good—but not worth the asking price. Fender has to work on their QC—minor blemishes and over-spray on neck. Not acceptable for this price point. Also, who is "Jimmy from DETROIT" and why not he post so many reviews about this guitar? It's just weird.

Just like my title suggests, the guitar sounds and plays amazing. With the 7.25" radius fingerboard I knew it would take some adjustments to get it to play and bend without choking out, which was the case. But the guitar plays wonderfully now. The pickups are awesome. This is an expensive Fender guitar and it sounds like one. The case is super retro and I love it too.

Because of the demand for this guitar I had to wait four months for it to be manufactured and delivered. Judging by the condition of the paint, they obviously rushed this guitar out the door. It arrived with cracks in the paint near some of the hardware and a very strong smell, which is due from it not being allowed to cure long enough after being painted. When I removed the neck to make some adjustments (you have to do that with this guitar just like the guitars that this one was modeled after) some of the paint chipped away on the body near the neck. The neck itself also had some paint stick to it. Make no mistake, this is an expensive guitar with a $ price tag. It having these issues with the paint is unforgivable. Again, if the guitar didn't play and sound so good I would have returned it.