Xhefri's GuitarsGibson, Fender, Martin or Kay; thus the plethora of. Ash bodies were used on Strats until mid-1956, when Fender switched to Alder for all colors except Blond.
It has two harmonica looking pickups, two switches, volume and tone. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year E8 + 5 digits E9 + 5 digits V + 5 or 6 digits U.
For example, there is a picture in Tom Wheeler's American Guitars, page 54 upper left corner, of a man with long rubber gloves dipping bodies into a tank at Fender in the late 1950's. Xhefri's GuitarsThese forms are apparently associated with the change to Crafted in China, so post-1996 models only would have this form of serial number. Precision Jazz Dimension Jaguar Mustang Squier Mod Shop Custom Shop.
1982 – 1984 Japanese Vintage and Squier Fender Serial Numbers. The Japanese Fender serial numbers from 1982 — 1984 have a few oddities.The first Japanese models were Fender Reissues or Vintage guitars. Fender wanted to differentiate the American made Reissue and Vintage guitars from the Japanese ones, so Fender substituted a “JV” serial number, Japanese Vintage, for the “V” serial.
Be aware these nails were inserted by humans with a hammer. The island of Matsumoto is where the Fugi plant is located. No one likes it when you forget their birthday and neither does your Fender.
April 1973 to 1980: After March 1973, Fender dropped the old style date stamp and continued to use the new style, 8-digit code. How to Date a Fender with Serial NumbersAt many points in Fender's history, serial number usage overlapped again owing to the modular manner of production. If any one has the chrome bridge cover part and is interested in selling. Duchossoir's The Fender Telecaster, page 57 upper right corner and in Tom Wheeler's Stratocaster Chronicles book.
I personally prefer an Ash body. At this time, the location of the serial number also shifted from the bridge to the neckplate the metal plate located on back of where the neck meets the body. How to Date a Fender with Serial NumbersMaybe alcohol was involved during this time span! Stripping an existing bad finish to apply another is just too much work. I've seen this on instruments as early as 1959, and as late as 1966. Again, usually the pastel colors like Dakota Red and Black often didn't use any undercoat.
Yamara and Gotoh retooled to handle the woodwork and finish aspects of the guitars—thus the Crafted in Japan line was created. A picture of this can be seen in Tom Wheeler's American Guitars, page 54 lower left corner, or in Tom Wheeler's 2004 book, Stratocaster Chronicles. The treble pickup cover still has very sharp edges indicating little to no wear.
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This information is courtesy, republished here for your convenience. Serial number identification and decodingVintage Series, check neck date for specific year E2 + 5 digits E3 + 5 digits V + 4, 5 or 6 digits U. Over the years Fender changed serial number placement on various models and parts. The first month of production was about April, though there are some prototype examples seen with earlier dates. The only way to try to narrow the date range of your instrument is to remove the neck and check the butt end of the neck heel for a production date as mentioned above. The numbers and decals were produced far in advance, and some N9 decals denoting 1999 were inadvertently affixed to some instruments in 1990. The approximate production year can be determined from this more about serial numbers will follow.
It houses 15-20 different smaller companies, Like Kawi, Gen Gakki Ten, Yamara, Gotoh, Yamoto, etc. Fender Instruments Serial Number Dating GuideHistory of the Fender brand The Fender brand began with the work of an inventor named.
Ask someone what a Strat is and they might be light on details. It features a distinctive chambered body made of mahogany.
Fullerplast dries in 15 minutes, and is paintable in one hour. Given the modular nature of Fender production techniques, an individual neck may have been produced in a given year, then stored for a period of time before being paired with a body to create a complete guitar, perhaps, for example, in the following year. Great in-depth articles on Teisco Guitars at MyRareGuitars. How to Determine the Age of an Antique Silvertone Guitar. Serial Number dating?Not all schemes are covered here! © 2009 -2015 All rights reserved.
Here the range of the L-series serial used each year. During 1963 and 1964, when guitar production was really high, bodies destine to be a custom color often didn't get the yellow stain, Fullerplast, primer, and clear coat procedure. So when the production schedule allowed, Fender used an undercoat. The small aluminum sheilding plate under the pots and switch increased in size and decreased in thickness in 1959.
Since it was used for Alder Sunburst bodies, sometimes you don't see it on custom color finishes.
The most important thing to keep in mind when dating a Fender is the highly modular nature of the designs. Like Henry Ford, part of Leo Fender's genius was in optimizing the company's production efficiency. His guitars were built en masse by an entire factory, not a single luthier toiling over one instrument at a time.
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Features like bolt-on necks and pickups wired into the pickguard all helped the Fender factory churn out guitar after guitar, day after day. This also means that various parts used on a particular guitar may have come from different points in time, so no single number can absolutely define when the instrument was built.Instead, the best approach to dating a Fender is to combine indicators from the design of the instrument, the dates found on the neck and body, along with the serial number.
Once you have the information you need, if you're interested in selling your Fender, you can use Reverb to get it in front of the largest audience of musicians in the worldDesign Changes and FeaturesPerhaps the best place to start when dating your Fender is to get an approximate idea of the era based on the instrument's design and components. This can be a tall order for someone less versed in guitar history, but we do have some resources here on Reverb to help you out.For starters, there's the Reverb Price Guide which has thousands of entries with pictures and details on various guitars and other gear. Some browsing around the can definitely help you find which model you have.We also have some other blog posts related to Fender that can hopefully be of some help. There's and that follows the evolution of the most popular Fender guitar of all. Similarly, take a look at for general timeline of the history of everyone's favorite offset guitar.
For Fender during the turning point era of the mid-'60s, check out. Learn everything you need to know to choose the right Stratocaster for you.Body and Neck DatesThrough much of Fender's production history, Fender workers would print or write a production date on both bodies and necks where the two pieces meet. These dates will tell when the original part was manufactured, but are not exact indicators of when the guitar was actually put together and finished.Here is what the neck date and body date look like from a 1952 Telecaster:If you're not comfortable removing the neck of a guitar to peek at the date marker, I encourage you to take it to a local tech or luthier.I will also mention briefly pot-codes as a resource (numbers on the internal potentiometers of the guitar). These can definitely be useful in cases where no other numbers exist, but just tell when the pot itself was made.
Who knows how long it was waiting in the Fender factory before finding its way into a Tele?Serial NumbersLike the body and neck dates, using serial numbers to date a Fender is not a sure bet. At many points in Fender's history, serial number usage overlapped again owing to the modular manner of production.
Below we'll go into detail about the various serial number schemes employed by Fender as far back as 1950. There are certainly plenty of exceptions, so again, using serial numbers in conjunction with other dating methods is always the best bet.Click on the links here to jump directly to the serial number style that matches your instrument:.The Early Years: 1950 - 1954In the early years, Fender serial numbers schemes were specific to the model. Esquires, Broadcasters and Telecasters shared a serial number sequence, while the landmark Precision Bass had its own system.
In this early period, the serial number can be found on the bridge of the instrument (see image).Here are the rough serial number ranges for the early Esquires and Telecasters. 161 to to 1 to 61 to 04701951 - 19520475 to 08401952 - 19530848 to 18971953 - 1954Also, for the first half or so of 1954, the inaugural run of Stratocasters had a distinct number sequence all under number 6000.Classic Serial Numbers - 1954 - 1963By mid-1954, Fender began using a universal serial number sequence for all its instruments. At this time, the location of the serial number also shifted from the bridge to the neckplate (the metal plate located on back of where the neck meets the body).Here's how the serial numbers break down from 1954 to the beginning of 1963, though there are some areas of inconsistency in this era.
Learn everything you need to know to choose the right Telecaster for you. L Series - The Transition Period of 1963 to 1965At the very end of 1962 and into 1963, Fender changed to a system where serial numbers began with an 'L.' According to some accounts, the L was supposed to just be a 1 to mark the cross over into the 100,000 range from the previous scheme, but an L was used by mistake.Here the range of the L-series serial used each year. Some of the earliest ones actually popped up in late 1962 as well. 0L00001 to L20000 to L59000 to L999991965F Series - CBS Era 1965 - 1976After the CBS purchase of Fender in 1965, the factory switched to a new serial sequence with numbers that continued the same general format used prior to the takeover.
These are generally referred to as F series due the large Fender branded F on the neckplates of the era. This period also saw a switch from the orginal four-bolt neckplate of the '60s to a three-bolt neckplate in just one example of cost-saving costs introduced under CBS. 100000 to 110000late to 200000 to 210000 to 250000 to 280000 to 300000 to 340000 to 370000 to 500000 to 580000 to 690000 to Post 1976Starting in 1976, Fender transitioned to a new serial number scheme and moved the placement of most serial numbers to the headstock of the instrument. Depending on the era and model, the number can be found on either the front or back of the headstock. After a short period of overlap with the old system, the post-76 numbers will start with a letter that indicates the decade, followed by a number that indicates the year of that decade.
The decade letter codes break down like this: S = 1970s, E = 1980s, N = 1990s, Z = 2000s. In the 2000s, you'll also see serials starting with a DZ which indicates the Deluxe series, but the format is otherwise the same.For example, a serial number with N4 would be from 1994. One starting with Z5 would be from 2005.This scheme is not 100% consistent due to a number of production factors, such as Fender producing more serialized decals than needed in a given year. This is particularly pronounced in the transitional period of the mid-'80s, though the system has been pretty much on point since about 1990.After 2009, the letter changed to a format starting with US then two digits that tell the year of the current decade.Here's the breakdown of Post-1976 American-made Fender serials.
Fender Japan serial numbers can usually be found on the back of the neck near the neck joint. Though examples also exist with the number on the headstock or the neck-plate in the case of certain early reissue models. Up until 1997, the serial was paired with the words 'Made in Japan.' In 1982, Fender expanded operations with a series of instruments produced in Japan by the Fuji Gen Gakki company. Like the US serial numbers, MIJ (made in Japan) serials start with a letter or pair of letters that indicate the rough year of production. This system, however, is notoriously inconsistent and incomplete, which makes dating by serial number even less reliable for MIJ Fenders.Here's a breakdown of serials for the 'Made in Japan' era.
K + 6 digits1990 - 1991L + 6 digits1991 - 1992M + 6 digits1992 - 1993N + 6 digits1993 - 1994O + 6 digits1993 - 1994P + 6 digits1993 - 1994Q + 6 digits1993 - 1994S + 6 digits1994 - 1995T + 6 digits1994 - 1995U + 6 digits1995 - 1996N + 5 digits1995 - 1996V + 6 digits1996 - 1997Crafted in Japan Serial NumbersIn 1997, Fender changed the 'Made in Japan' decal to say 'Crafted in Japan.' There is some overlap with the earlier 'MIJ' serials, so it's important to note if your instrument carries the 'Made in Japan' or 'Crafted in Japan' decal. MZ3 + 5 or 6 digits2003MZ4 + 5 or 6 digits2004MZ5 + 5 or 6 digits2005MZ6 + 5 or 6 digits2006MZ7 + 5 or 6 digits2007MZ8 + 5 or 6 digits2008MZ9 + 5 or 6 digits2009MX10 + 6 digits2010MX11 + 6 digits2011MX12 + 6 digits2012MX13 + 6 digits2013MX14 + 6 digits2014ExceptionsThere are a number of exceptions to all these serial number schemes.
As mentioned above, many reissue models use serial numbers that don't really correlate to their age. Additionally, there have been plenty of artist models, limited editions and other rare models that use a unique serial number. Examples include the 35th anniversary series, many of the uniquely finished Strats from the early '80s, as well as various export-specific models which carry a serial number starting with FN.Again, the serial number alone in any of these cases is not definitive and the best approach is to combine that with other methods like the neck and body dates, as well as just the features of the specific instrument. If you have any questions as to what Fender you're dealing with, I encourage you to seek out a local guitar shop or luthier to help figure it out.