The Coronado was a thinline hollow bodied guitar made by Fender from 1966 to 1972. It was designed by former Rickenbacker designer Roger Rossmeisl, who would later design other guitars for Fender.
The Coronado came in three models- the Coronado I with only one pickup at the neck, the II with two pickups and the XII, which was a 12 string variant. Pickups used were made by DeArmond.
The Coronado II and XII were also available in the desirable “Wildwood†finish, which was an attractively coloured patterned natural grain, made by injecting dyes into growing trees a few years before harvest. There were three shades of Wildwood available on the guitars- Rainbow Green, Rainbow Blue and Rainbow Gold. The bodies were made of maple, and unusually for a semi, the neck was bolted on.
The Coronado was unsuccessful, with the target audience, jazz players, rejecting it for the use of the traditional Fender headstock and the large amount of feedback from the hollow body and single coil pickups.
Traditional Fender players thought the Coronado wasn’t enough of a “real†Fender, and the guitar was a flop.
Examples now sell for upwards of £700 in most places.
You can read about the history of Fender guitars here
2 replies on “Collectable Guitars pt 23 – Fender Coronado”
JOHNNY WINTER PLAYED ONE OF THESE “FINE” INSTRUMENTS around his rock festival circuit in the late 1960 (IE., “WOODSTOCK”). Can you Please provide ANY imformation on the Models he USED? and , are they Still Available to the GENERAL PUBLIC (OUTSIDE of “COLLECTORS’) for PURCHASE??
taking my1966 rainbow green Coronado II Wildwood I to a roadshow in August to either find out what they cost or sell it on the spot if I hear a decent number.great six string guitar,fantastic action and very clean with hard shell case.I still play but not like in days gone by.
if anyone is interested contact should be made at mschraps@yahoo.com oherwise it goes to the roadshow.
Mark