Fender serial number. Vintage Guitars Info 2020-02-07

serial number search

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. To get the exact date on guitars made between 1976 and 1991, it is important to cross-reference the dates on the neck written on the heel. N5, or V 1995 Starts with N5, N6, or V 1996 Starts with N6, N7, or V 1997 Starts with N7, N8, or V 1998 Starts with N8. Fender was inconsistent in using undercoats on their custom color finishes. When was my Fender instrument made? Remember, these serial and neck numbers were never really intended for historical dating. The earliest version had 12 coupling caps. In 1982 Fender decided to start making reissued vintage guitars.

Fender Instruments Serial Number Dating Guide

Although it is not be traced back directly to the serial numbers. Most notably, production dates have been penciled or stamped on the butt end of the heel of the neck of most guitars and basses, although there were periods when this was not consistently done 1973 to 1981, for example or simply omitted. For now, the dating schemes for these series are: A6 + 5-digits — 1976-77 A7 + 5-digits — 1977-78 A8 + 5-digits — 1978-79 A9 + 5-digits — 1979-80 B + 5-digits — 1975, 1976 F9 + 5-digits — 1979-80 F0 + 5-digits — 1980-81 F1 + 5-digits — 1981-82 F2 + 5-digits — 1982-83 F3 + 5-digits — 1983-84 F4 + 5-digits — 1984 Finally, these tables are only a guide. By 1950 he was ready to take his now perfected prototypes onto the market. And yes there is some overlap in serial numbers between years. The serial numbers do not reflect this change - Fender continued to make instruments using existing serial number schemes.

How to Date your Fender Guitar by Serial Number

This system of serial numbers is unique to this model until about 1955 even though Fender went to a universal neckplate serial number system on all instruments in 1954, some old style Precision Bass serialized bridges were still left over and used until 1955. Fullerplast dries in 15 minutes, and is paintable in one hour. Fender Coronado gained sudden notoriety when used by Elvis in the movie. During 1954 and some of 1955, Fender used a silver metallic undercoat beneath their custom colors. But the nail's sole job now was to provide a way to set the body down to dry, without anything touching the paint. Some old Fender guitars have the manufacture date written by pencil on the bottom of the neck month, day, year - second photo after the chart below ilustrates it. This process created a lot more production work.

How to Date your Fender Guitar by Serial Number

There are some easy ways to find out when your vintage Fender was manufactured. The pastel colors like Dakota Red, Daphne Blue, Foam Green and the like don't often use an undercoat coat either. For years, serial numbers have been used in various locations on Fender instruments, such as the top of the neck plate, the front or back of the headstock and the back of the neck near the junction with the body. Undercoats in the 1950's were even more inconsistent. Dating a guitar by Serial Number is easy, as long as you know which serial numbers match which years for each guitar model. This article is intended to help you date your Fender Stratocaster, Telecaster, and Precision Bass guitars all the way back to the early 1950s.

Fender Guitar History, Models, and How to Find Serial Numbers

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. Hit the jump to see just how old that guitar or bass really is. . 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. If your serial number has spaces between the first two numbers and the rest of the numbers, starts with a 76, or is only the number 500 refer to chart 2. Unlike Gibson, Leo found did everything the cheapest and fastest way possible.

The Guitar Dater Project

We base our price estimates on real-world transactions and record them in our entries so you can see what your instrument has sold for in the past. On the neck plate it has Fender. Sell Your Gear If you have an instrument you're looking to sell, you can make a listing on Reverb by going to Listing on Reverb is free and we only charge a small fee if and when your item sells through our site. As you can see by the overlap of numbers and years, the reference to the actual date of manufacture is rather vague. Vintage Series excluded '52 Telecasters 1986 For U.

Fender US Guitar Serial Dating

Since several models can share one chassis type for example, the early brown 5G7 Bandmaster, 5G5 Pro and 5G12 Concert , this kind of interpretation is inaccurate. As a result, it can create misleading or missing information as parts are exchanged. Without a clear coat, metallic colors can oxidize due to the metal particles in the finish. This allowed Fender to use cheaper Alder with more cosmetic flaws. The amps that received the stamped suffix must also be added to this sub-total.

Fender: Fender Japan Serial guide

And now for an important update! Vintage Series excluded '52 Telecasters 1985 For U. Any idea whats the date? Sorry, since I do not collect new Fenders, I don't really keep track of these things. The only way to verify an over lapping date is to check the corresponding neck date and body date. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year E4 + 5 digits V + 4, 5 or 6 digits U. I want to help you understand how to tell the age of your Fender as well as any Fender you see. He made a bolt-on neck, so the neck and the body could be manufactured at the same time. When done, the body was moved to a drying area and left on its nail legs to dry.

Fender US Guitar Serial Dating

And this is why people have fallen out of using sites like Guitar Dater Project - it won't recognize any legitimate Fender serial number after 2009. The sealer allowed any color coat be it sunburst or a custom color to not soak into the wood. Generally speaking, the more yellowed the clear coat, the less desirable the guitar. The guitar is also notable for the shorter scale neck, designed to make it more suitable for younger guitarists. After some more dry time, the body can be sealed with lacquer and the color finish can be applied. Hi all, I have a Fender stratocaster and with the serial number I discovered that it was made at the Fuji-gen Plant for Fender Japan , Japan in the Year s : 1984 - 1987. The reason Fender used this stamp was very simple.

How to Date your Fender Guitar by Serial Number

In about 1982 Fender started making import guitars from Japan and around 1990 Fender started importing from Mexico. Fender then switched to a serial numbering on the neck plate for all models. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year E2 + 5 digits E3 + 5 digits V + 4, 5 or 6 digits U. Fender's production methods from the early fifties had the effect the numbers may not be consecutive. It is now back in very good condition. Australian purchased and is in top condition.