USED SPECIAL! Fender 1969 Wildwood III Acoustic Guitar in Natural - USDWILDWOOD
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USED SPECIAL! Fender 1969 Wildwood III Acoustic Guitar in Natural
Used late-1960s USA-made Fender acoustic with Kingman-based design, bolt-on neck and distinctive Wildwood III character
This Fender Wildwood III Acoustic Guitar in Natural is a distinctive late-1960s Fender flat-top with the unusual design approach that made the company’s early acoustic guitars stand apart. This used item has been fully tested and inspected to ensure reliable, enjoyable performance, making it a smart way to add a rare vintage Fender acoustic to your collection at a great value. Built during Fender’s early U.S.-made acoustic era, the Wildwood was based on the Kingman platform and paired a spruce top with dyed figured beechwood back and sides, a bolt-on neck, through-body tension rods and a Stratocaster-style headstock.
Features
The Wildwood series was one of Fender’s most visually unusual acoustic lines of the 1960s. The Wildwood III version was associated with Fender’s Rainbow Gold dyed beechwood treatment, where colour was introduced into growing beech trees before the wood was harvested. Because of that process, each Wildwood guitar has its own unique grain pattern and shading.
The body follows Fender’s Kingman-based dreadnought acoustic design, giving the guitar a large, full-bodied shape with a spruce top and figured beechwood back and sides. Fender’s 1968 catalogue notes that Wildwood acoustics used the Kingman body, with carefully bound and inlaid necks and a laminated headstock matched to the body pattern.
Like other early Fender flat-top acoustics, this guitar uses a bolt-on neck and Fender-style headstock, reflecting Leo Fender’s electric-guitar design thinking applied to an acoustic instrument. The neck design gives the guitar a familiar Fender feel, while the 25.5 inch scale length and 21-fret layout provide an extended playing range for an acoustic of this era.
The rosewood fretboard with block inlays, bound neck, natural top, gold-toned pickguard and 3-by-3 tuner layout give this Wildwood III a strong vintage presence. Serial number 17491 places it near other documented late-1960s examples, though Fender’s acoustic serial records do not support exact-year dating on their own.
Specifications
- Instrument Type: Acoustic Guitar
- Condition: Used
- Model: Wildwood III
- Approximate Year: Late 1960s, likely circa 1968
- Serial Number: 17491
- Country of Manufacture: USA
- Production Era: Early U.S.-made Fender acoustic guitar era
- Factory Context: Fender acoustic production had moved to the Anaheim, California acoustic instrument plant by this period
- Body Shape: Dreadnought / Kingman-based body
- Body Type: Hollow acoustic flat-top
- Top Material: Spruce
- Back and Sides: Dyed figured beechwood
- Finish: Natural top with Wildwood III dyed back and sides
- Neck Material: Maple
- Neck Construction: Bolt-on
- Neck Reinforcement: Through-body tension rod design
- Neck Shape: C-shape
- Fretboard Material: Rosewood
- Fretboard Inlays: Block inlays
- Number of Frets: 21
- Scale Length: 25.5 inches
- Nut Material: Bone
- Tuner Layout: 3-by-3
- Headstock Style: Stratocaster-style Fender acoustic headstock
- Pickguard: Gold-toned elevated pickguard
- Bridge: Adjustable individual-saddle acoustic bridge design
- Orientation: Right handed
- Number of Strings: 6
- String Type: Steel
- Included Case: Not specified
Why you should choose the Fender Wildwood III Acoustic Guitar
The Fender Wildwood III Acoustic Guitar is a strong choice for players and collectors who want one of Fender’s most unusual vintage acoustic designs. Its Kingman-based body, bolt-on Fender-style neck, natural spruce top and Wildwood III dyed beechwood back and sides give it a look and feel unlike most traditional flat-tops. As a USED SPECIAL!, this late-1960s Fender offers excellent value for anyone looking for a rare, visually distinctive acoustic with real vintage Fender personality.