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The 1965 Stratocaster joins Fender’s American Vintage II reissues of Strats from ’54, ’57, ’61, and ’73. It’s the company’s first dip into a “transitional” instrument from the year CBS acquired the brand amidst the “guitar boom.”
With the AVII series, Fender’s goal in part is to reexamine underappreciated instruments while fixing a few details that history regards as flaws (in the March ’23 issue, Fender Director of Branding Rich Siegle and Senior V.P. of Product Development Justin Norvell describe their process; the piece can be read at VintageGuitar.com). In that spirit, the ’65 Strat has a two-piece alder body, C-shaped neck, and nitro lacquer finish in Sonic Blue (other choices are Shoreline Gold and Candy Apple Red). Its pallor has a hint of green under a nitro lacquer finish. The pearl-dot inlays on a rosewood fretboard and eggshell white three-ply/11-hole pickguard complete a classy look.
The Pure Vintage synchronized Tremolo, which has bent-steel saddles, gives the guitar a classic appearance and old-school functionality. Pickups are Pure Vintage ’65 “gray-bottom” single-coil, which have Alnico V magnets, enamel-coated wire, and staggered polepieces controlled via five-way switch. Other touches include a bone nut and the bold-font transitional headstock logo that followed the “spaghetti” version.
Plugged into a Deluxe Reverb, the guitar came to life with SoCal surf vibes and sounds reminiscent of Mark Knopfler. Its tones are perky, robust, and lush, with plenty of classic midrange. More vivid than the real McCoy, it seamlessly shifted from bite to smooth, then barked or sweetened nicely while never breaking character. The pickups are chimey, quacky, and versatile, and the middle pickup is not reverse-wound in the 2 and 4 positions. Each pickup is super – clean, balanced, and articulate, but do buzz a bit under saturated again.
The AVII ’65 Strat blends history and technology. It rocks the blues, Motown, and country for clean rhythms and harkens to a glorious time. – Oscar Jordan
This article originally appeared in VG’s June 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
