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 :. Also, for the first half or so of , the inaugural run of Stratocasters had a distinct number sequence all under number By mid, 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 to the beginning of , though there are some areas of inconsistency in this era:. At the very end of and into , Fender changed to a system where serial numbers began with an 'L. Here the range of the L-series serial used each year. Some of the earliest ones actually popped up in late as well:. After the CBS purchase of Fender in , 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. Starting in , 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 numbers will start with a letter that indicates the decade, followed by a number that indicates the year of that decade. In the s, 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 One starting with Z5 would be from This is particularly pronounced in the transitional period of the mid-'80s, though the system has been pretty much on point since about Squier violin strings, banjo strings and guitar strings became well known nationwide and were especially popular among students because of their reasonable price.
In the s, Squier began making strings for the era's new electric instruments; the company also sold pianos, radios and phonograph records until divesting itself of all string-related products in Fender Electric Instruments entered the picture in the s, when the V.
Squier Company began supplying Southern California inventor and businessman Leo Fender with strings for his unusual new electric guitars. Squier Company became an official original equipment manufacturer for Fender in Fender acquired the V. By the mids, the Squier name was retired as the strings had taken the Fender name.
Before the Fender Squier line of guitars was introduced in , Fender was making lower priced guitars such as the Fender Lead series at its Fullerton, California plant. Until the introduction of the Fender Squier series, Fender had never produced lower priced guitars based on its main Stratocaster and Telecaster models and had always used different model designs for its lower priced guitars. In the late s and early s Fender was facing competition from lower priced Japanese made guitars.
The higher priced Fender guitars were made in the United States and could not compete with the lower prices of Japanese made Fender copies. In the early s, Japanese labor and production costs were much lower than in America and to compete with the Japanese made guitars, Fender moved the lower priced Fender guitar production from America to Japan. Fender began negotiations with several Japanese musical instrument distributors and reached an agreement with Yamano Gakki and Kanda Shokai to establish Fender Japan.
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?
Like 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 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:. In 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 :. Also, for the first half or so of , the inaugural run of Stratocasters had a distinct number sequence all under number By mid, 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 to the beginning of , though there are some areas of inconsistency in this era:. At the very end of and into , Fender changed to a system where serial numbers began with an "L.
Here the range of the L-series serial used each year. Some of the earliest ones actually popped up in late as well:. After the CBS purchase of Fender in , 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. If you love the road-worn relic look, these guys assemble some real mouth-watering pieces.
February the Ensenada Mexico manufacturing plant was burnt to the ground, leaving the production to move to Corona, CA for a temporary solution. Here is a summary of the serial number, model, and year. To gain the best results use our decoder. During this time period, there are a lot of overlaps.
Use our decoder to find out which instrument fits your serial number. Serial Numbers were from the midss but we lack instrument details and overlapping makes this period difficult.
We know the year the guitar was made and manufactured in Fullerton, USA. Use decoder to determine. Use decoder for exact year. There are no model details just that this period was in Fullerton, USA.
The digits purely stand for a production number. This period of guitars were the U. S Vintage Series. The date of the guitar should be on the back of the neck. For closer date details use decoder.
Serial Numbers with 5 or 6 digits only are from the period and produced from the Cor-Tek factory in Korea. These serial formats will no doubt overlap with others. Please use the Squire decoder. Use Decoder to find full details.
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