Fender California Vintage King Antigua review – the most polarising guitar finish of all goes acoustic
$899/£779, fender.com
Antigua. When most people hear the name they think of it as a rather lovely island in the middle of the Caribbean that you might fancy taking a holiday on. Or maybe they think of it as a hotbed of offshore banking. Or maybe you think of Antigua’s most famous son, Sir Viv Richards.
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For guitarists, however, the word Antigua tends to provoke a strong reaction – name as it is for one of the most polarising and divisive guitar finishes that Fender has ever produced. For years it’s been a little-seen relic of the CBS era, but now, the company has seen fit to add it to a whole range of limited edition Fender and Squier models – even, gulp, acoustic guitars.
Is this the rightful revival of a truly unique and historic finish, or one of the greatest crimes Fender has ever committed to the body of a perfectly good instrument? Well…
Image: Adam Gasson
Antigua burst finish – what is it?
The legend goes that Fender came up with the Antigua finish entirely by accident. The tale tells that something went badly wrong with a bunch of Coronado guitars in the late 60s, where the body binding process on the hollowbody design went wrong and ended up burning the edges of the already completed yellow finish on the guitars.
Far be it for a CBS-era Fender to throw away an entire batch of guitars, so some bright spark decided to see how it would look if they sprayed a black burst round the outside of the edge of the guitar to hide the burned finish.
It turned out that they quite liked the results, and so the headstock, f-holes and pickguard were sprayed in similar fashion, and it was named Antigua for what appears to be no better reason than it sounded exotic and luxurious – it was even written in script logo on the pickguard.
Before long, the finish found its way onto other Fender instruments, and it gained a certain cult following – though perhaps that’s overstating things. It has been called ‘Fender’s most hated finish’ in the years since, and continues to provoke extreme reaction today – there are plenty who wish that Fender had simply chucked those burned Coronados in the bin and never inflicted its like on the world!
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender California Vintage King – what is it?
The California Vintage line is the top end of Fender’s Asian-made acoustic range, and underneath that polarising finish you’ll find a pretty impressive instrument. It’s all solid wood for starters – with a solid Sitka spruce top, solid ovangkol back and sides, and an okoume neck.
The neck has a modern and comfortable ‘V’ profile – it’s designed to be great for chord work and long periods of playing, and accessible for beginners.
Inside, you’ll find another run out of Fender’s own patented “Performance X” bracing pattern, which claims to allow for more top movement and added depth to the sound. Finally, there’s the period-accurate six-in-line headstock – again, the Fender headstock on an acoustic guitar is another polariser. This guitar might set the record in that regard, but I think it looks pretty sharp – especially with the lovely pearloid block inlays.
Image: Adam Gasson
It isn’t all the same old, same old, however. The Fishman Sonitone pickup has made way for the new Fishman Presys VT Plus preamp system, which should offer a boost in quality and reliability for natural sound reproduction.
And then there’s the Antigua finish. I’m just going to put my cards on the table here – I’m in love, and I don’t care who knows it! Images do not do this thing justice. It’s sleek, suave, stylish, and just as relevant today as it became in the 1970s. To split hairs, I’d love it even more with a black pickguard, but I understand the history of the matching guard on Antigua guitars.
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender California Vintage King – feel and sounds
One of the most common pieces of, shall we say “constructive criticism” of last year’s California Vintage models was that they each lacked a touch of low end. I noted as much in my review last year of the otherwise very good California Vintage Palomino model. I know that high-end sparkle is quintessentially Fender, but that approach rarely cuts the mustard when it comes to acoustic guitars in most cases.
The first thing I noticed upon the very first strum of the King was the immense depth in the sound compared to the similarly big-bodied Palomino. It’s a room-filler for sure, but it still retains that sprinkle of signature Fender sparkle. For the price, the tone is beyond impressive and is exactly what you’d want from your brand new dreadnought.
The new Fishman pickup does a solid job at staying true to the natural tones of the King, but I do feel some on-board EQ wouldn’t go amiss. After wishing last year’s model would give me a more solid low-end, I found myself wanting to tame that slightly when plugged in as it can be just a tad overbearing at times.
Image: Adam Gasson
Fender California Vintage King Antigua – should I buy one?
There’s long been a sense that Fender’s all-solid acoustic guitars offer some of the best bang for buck of any instruments on the market, and that feeling is only enhanced with this latest iteration of the King.
If you are looking for a new acoustic guitar with an impressive, room filling sound and a stunning aesthetic, you won’t need to look much further. I feel that many players look down on Fender’s acoustics because of where they’re made, but really all it takes to shift that preconception is to spend a bit of time with one.
We should be long past associating guitars that are made in China with being made in an inferior way, because the evidence is right there in our hands. This feels, looks and sounds every bit the premium product we might expect from the rest of the Fender range, and is surely one of the best sub-$1,000 acoustics you can get.
Fender California Vintage King alternatives
If the King’s aesthetics put you off, don’t fret, Fender’s PD-220E Dreadnought ($829) offers a much more traditional look and vibe with the same impressive solid wood construction as the California Vintage range. At this price there’s plenty of competition from the big guns too, and Martin’s X Series is certainly offering a strong challenge in the shape of the solid-topped D-X2E ($699).
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
