This 1966 Fender Coronado is Conor’s favorite guitar, and the only vintage guitar he owned for quite some time, until he acquried more recently.
He bought it from the well-known Some Neck Guitars shop in Dublin, a place he often visited when he was younger. He would look at the vintage guitars there and imagine one day being able to afford one.
That only became possible in 2019, while Fontaines D.C. were doing pre-production for their second album, A Hero’s Death. Conor said he was drawn to this particular model because he is a big fan of The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Their singer, guitarist, and founder, Anton Newcombe, often plays hollow-body guitars, and Conor wanted something with that kind of sound.
My favorite guitar is a 1966 Fender Coronado that I bought at Some Neck Guitars in Dublin. It’s the only vintage guitar I own, and it’s kind of a weird guitar. It just does a very specific thing, that kind of ’60s psychedelic hollow-body-style sound.
Conor Curley [1]
Usage, Specs
As for its use, Conor likely used the guitar on A Hero’s Death, since he said he bought it during pre-production for the album. He also used it live during that period. For example, in the 2020 Live on arté Echoes Session, he played the Coronado on songs such as “A Hero’s Death,” “Televised Mind,” and “I Don’t Belong.”
It continued to be used for live gigs going into 2022 (see Live Rock en Seine 2022), but since then, Conor acquired a few more Coronados, and his main touring one became a late ’60s Fender Coronado II Wildwood model.
As far as specs, the guitar is a hollow-body model finished in red (with black headstock), equipped with a chrome floating trapeze tailpiece with a stamped “F” logo. As far as electronicts, the guitar has two specialized single-coil pickups manufactured by DeArmond. These pickups are known for producing a bright, clear, and “Gretsch-like” tone that differs from typical Fender sounds.
The bridge pickup on it is actually insanely microphonic, which is, in a lot of ways, probably something I should fix. I should probably get that pickup rewound. But I’m afraid of changing it now because it’s on recordings, and I worry that it won’t be able to completely do that thing anymore.
I only use the neck and middle positions, so it’s kind of fine blended in with the neck. The neck pickup is an absolute beast on that guitar.
Conor Curley [1]
Leave a Reply