Most gear has a serial number. How to Date a Fender. Fender Pricing Info. The Reverb Price Guide Browse Now. May 30, 2012 Does anyone have a site that if you plug in a serial number your guitar can be identified? Make-Fender or Squier Country of origin (USA, Mex, Japan.

Fender Serial Numbers and Dates The Guitar Attic Fender Serial Numbers and info. DATING YOUR U.S.

MADE FENDER STRINGED INSTRUMENT For the majority of Fender's U.S. Instrument production history, production dates have been applied to various components. Most notably, production dates have been penciled or stamped on the butt end of the heel of the neck of most guitars and basses. There were periods of time when this was not consistently done, (between 1973 and 1981), and there are certainly other examples of short periods of time, and individual pieces, where the dating was simply omitted. While this neck dating is useful in roughly determining the age of a guitar, it is certainly not definitive. The neck date simply refers to the date that the individual component was produced.

Given the modular nature of Fender's production techniques, an individual neck may have been produced in a given year, placed in the manufacturing warehouse and remained in stock for a period of time, and then subsequently paired with a body to create a complete guitar in the following year. So, obviously a neck date, while being helpful in providing a date range of production, it cannot be a definitive reference. Unlike the auto industry which has specific model years for their products, most specifications for a given Fender instrument model, change little if any, through the lifetime of the model. While there have been periods where dramatic changes have occurred, for example: the transition periods between Leo's Fender and the CBS years, as well as the transition between CBS' Fender and the current ownership, generally speaking, most models are feature specific and do not change from year to year.

Serial numbers are also helpful in determining the year of production of a given instrument. Serial numbers have been used in various locations on Fender instruments through the years.

They have been placed at the top of the neck plate, on the front of the headstock, on the back of the headstock, and on the back of the neck near where the neck bolts onto the body. They were stamped on the back vibrato cover plate (early '50s Strats), and on the bridge plate between the pickup and the saddles on some Telecasters.

But once again, due to the modular nature of Fender's production methods, and the fact that most serial numbers schemes are not sequential and usually overlap from between 2 to 4 years, (from the early days of Fender, through to the mid 1980s), dating by the serial number is not an exact science. DATING YOUR INSTRUMENT The following chart details the Fender serial number schemes used from 1950 to 1964. You will notice that there is quite a bit of overlap of numbers and years. The only way to try to narrow the date range of your specific instrument would be to remove the neck and check the butt end of the heel of the neck for a production date, which may be stamped or written there.

(If you are not comfortable performing this operation, please use an experienced professional guitar tech in your area). SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES Up to 6000 1950 to 1954 Up to 10,000 1954 to 1956 10,000s 1955 to 1956 10,000s to 20,000s 1957 20,000s to 30,000s 1958 30,000s to 40,000s 1959 40,000s to 50,000s 1960 50,000s to 70,000s 1961 60,000s to 90,000s 1962 80,000s to 90,000s 1963 90,000s up to L10,000s 1963 L10,000s up to L20,000s 1963 L20,000s up to L50,000s 1964 In January of 1965, Fender was sold to the CBS Corporation.

The serial numbers do not immediately reflect the change, as CBS continued to make instruments using existing, tooling, parts, and serial number schemes. The following chart details the Fender serial number schemes used from 1965 to 1976. You will notice that there is quite a bit of overlap of both numbers and years. SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES L50,000s up to L90,000s 1965 100,000s 1965 100,000s to 200,000s 1966 to 1967 200,000s 1968 200,000s to 300,000s 1969 to 1970 300,000s 1971 to 1972 300,000s to 500,000s 1973 400,000s to 500,000s 1974 to 1975 500,000s to 700,000s 1976 The following charts detail the most common Fender serial number schemes used from 1976 to the present. You will notice that there is quite a bit of overlap of both numbers and years. The only way to try to narrow the date range of your specific instrument would be to remove the neck and check the butt end of the heel of the neck for a production date, which may be stamped or written there.

(If you are not comfortable performing this operation, please use an experienced professional guitar tech in your area). Please note the introduction of the 'S' prefix serial numbers. The 'S', stood for decade of the 1970s, and began CBS' attempt to use serial numbers to identify the year of production for the piece. The 'E', stood for the decade of the 1980s and was, as shown below, introduced in 1979. As you can see by the overlaps of numbers and years, the reference to the actual production date is rather loose. SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES 76 + 5 DIGITS S6 + 5 DIGITS 1976 S7 + 5 DIGITS S8 + 5 DIGITS 1977 S7 + 5 DIGITS S8 + 5 DIGITS S9 + 5 DIGITS 1978 S9 + 5 DIGITS E0 + 5 DIGITS 1979 S9 + 5 DIGITS E0 + 5 DIGITS E1 + 5 DIGITS 1980 S9 + 5 DIGITS E0 + 5 DIGITS E1 + 5 DIGITS 1981 1982 marked the introduction of the U.S. Vintage Series instruments and the use of the 'V' prefix serial numbers.

The only way to definitively date the U.S. 'V' prefix serial numbered instruments, is to remove the neck, and check the butt end of the heel of the neck for a production date, which may be stamped or written there. SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES EI + 5 DIGITS E2 + 5 DIGITS E3 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1982 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E2 + 5 DIGITS E3 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1983 (For U.S.

Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E3 + 5 DIGITS E4 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1984 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) In March of 1985, the CBS Corporation sold Fender to a group of private investors. The serial numbers do not reflect the change, as Fender continued to make instruments using existing tooling, parts, and serial number schemes. SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES E3 + 5 DIGITS E4 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S.

Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1985 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1986 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E4 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1987 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E4 + 5 DIGITS E8 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1988 (For U.S.

Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E8 + 5 DIGITS E9 + 5 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1989 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) With 1990 came the introduction of the 'N' prefix serial numbers, which stood for the 1990s. The numbers and decals are produced far in advance, and apparently, some N9 decals, (which were supposed to be used in 1999), were affixed to some instruments in 1990.

As a result, you will see some 1990 guitars bearing N9 serial numbers. SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES E9 + 5 DIGITS N9 + 5 DIGITS N0 + 5 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1990 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) N0 + 5 DIGITS N1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1991 N1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N2 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S.

Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1992 N2 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1993 N3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1994 N4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N5 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1995 N5 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N6 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1996 N6 + 6 or 6 DIGITS N7 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1997 N7 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N8 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series) 1998 N9 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 1999 1999 With the year 2000 came the introduction of the 'Z' prefix serial numbers on US made instruments, which stood for the 0 of the new millennium.

A Z0 prefix dates to 2000, a Z1 prefix dates to 2001 etcetera. The American Deluxe Series instruments use the same dating convention but with the addition of a 'D' in front of the 'Z', i.e. DZ1, DZ2 etcetera.

Once again, and as always, there is typically some overlap and carryover of number prefixes from year to year. Resume Samples For Freshers Ece Engineers Free Download. SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES N9 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z0 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ0 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am.

Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 2000 Z0 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 2001 Z1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z2 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ2 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 2002 Z2 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Deluxe Series) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 2003 Z3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) XN4 + 4 Digits 2004 Z4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z5 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ5 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am.

Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) XN5 + 4 Digits 2005 The following serial numbers are somewhat outside the more, well known Fender serial number schemes. If you have what you consider to be a somewhat 'odd' serial number, please check the following chart to see if you find your serial number configuration here. This chart contains ODD SERIAL NUMBERS NUMBER DESCRIPTION AMXN + 6 DIGITS California Series electric guitars and basses, '97 and '98 DN + 6 DIGITS American Deluxe series instruments, '98 and '99 NC(XXXXXX) Squier Strat Bullets (dating unclear) FN(XXXXXX) US made guitars and basses destined for the export market. Some may have stayed in the U.S or found their way back (Made to Standard Strat specs, dating unclear) I(XXXXXXX) A limited number of these 'I' series guitars were made in '89 and '90. They were made for the export market and have Made in USA stamped on the heel of the neck. LE(XXXXXX) Blonde Jazzmasters and Jaguars with Gold hardware made in 1994.

Using Fender Guitar Serial Numbers to determine the date of manufacture. Fender Serial Numbers, 1950 to 2007 (Identifying the Year). An inexact science to be sure. Dating a Fender guitar with the serial number is a hit or miss propisition. It helps narrow things down, but in most cases is an inexact science. Leo Fender never intended for his guitars to become collectors items. He never invisioned a need to pinpoint the manufacturing date of any of his guitars.

At least not while he was at Fender Musical Instrument Corporation. With that said, and with great help from numerous sources including FMIC, George Gruhn's publications, and A. Duchossoir the following information should help you but it is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Before 1977 Fender guitars hd a serial number on the bridgeplate or neckplate. Serial numbers are basically chronological, but there is some overlap in some years.

Before the later 1970's Fender never expected the guitars to be collectable or for serial numbers to be important. The bridge plate or neckplate were applied to a guitar with no thought to keeping any kind of number sequence. Fender serial numbers were assigned like this: 1. In the factory, there was a large container with serialized items such as neckplates and bridges. A Fender employee simply reached in and grabbed one (or many) and installed them on the instrument(s) as they worked.

As you can see from this over-simplified example, serial number assignment was fairly random. Just keep this in mind. The only truly definitive way to date a pre-CBS fender is to look at all the dates on the instrument (body date, neck date, pot dates). The serial number can only generalized the age of the instrument within a few years. Fender Esquire, Broadcaster, and Telecaster Serial Numbers 1950 to 1954 (serial number stamped on bridgeplate) This system of serial numbers is unique to these three models until about the early summer of 1954 (when Fender switched to a universal neck plate serial number system for all models): Esquire, Broadcaster and Telecaster, Numbers On Bridge Plate 0001 to 0999 = 1950 to 1952 1000 to 5300 = 1952 to 1954 Serial Numbers for all Fender Guitar Models, from summer 1954 to mid 1976 In mid-1954 Fender changed the location of serial numbers to the neckplate.

This was probably done as a cost saving measure. Because different companies did the stamping of the serial numbers on neckplates they vary in location and layout. In 1957/1958 some serial numbers started with a minus sign ('-'), or had a '0' prefix before the number. Also in 1959/1960 some serial numbers were at the bottom of the neck plate instead of the usual top. Double stamped serial number plates were also produced (number on both front and back of the neck plate) in late 1957 to early 1959. Unfortunately, there is also some overlap in serial numbers between years -- again due to the fact that neckplates were re-ordered various times from various manufacturers. 4 to 6 digit Neck Plate Serial Numbers No other letters or markings on the neck plate, except for the rare '-' or '0' prefix, as noted.

0001 to 6000 = 1954 6000 to 9000 = 1955 9000 to 16000 = 1956 16000 to 25000 = 1957 (some numbers with a '0' or '-' prefix) 25000 to 30000 = 1958 (some numbers with a '0' or '-' prefix) 30000 to 40000 = 1959 40000 to 58000 = 1960 55000 to 72000 = 1961 72000 to 93000 = 1962 93000 to 99999 = 1963 L-Series (1963 to late 1965) Called an 'L Plate,' Fender neckplates started showing up with LXXXXX numbers sometime in 1963. It was an error by the company that produced the neckplate stamping for Fender. Fender was using up their neckplates with numbers under 100,000.

So, they ordered neckplates that were supposed to have numbers above 100,000. But the stamper misread the order and thought that the number '1' was an 'L' and so instead of plates starting with 100,000 they started with L00,000. Fender demanded corrected neckplates immediately.

But it took a while to manufacture and number the plates. So, the company just used the L Plates not wanting to let them go to waste.

Neckplates with an 'L Plate' are considered a Pre-CBS Fender (even though the CBS corporation bought Fender in January 1965). Sometimes an 'L' serial number can be seen as early as late 1962. L00001 to L20000 = 1963 L20000 to L55000 = 1964 L55000 to L99999 = 1965 F-Series (late 1965 to mid-1976) After CBS took over Fender changed the neck plates once again. This time, probably in a corporate branding effort, a large Fender script 'F' was added to the neckplate below the serial number. F Series guitars are generally considered CBS Fenders. Though most collectors will value all 1965 Fenders similarly to Pre-CBS (the sale was consummated in early February, 1965) 100000 to 110000 = late 1965 110000 to 200000 = 1966 180000 to 210000 = 1967 210000 to 250000 = 1968 250000 to 280000 = 1969 280000 to 300000 = 1970 300000 to 330000 = 1971 330000 to 370000 = 1972 370000 to 520000 = 1973 500000 to 580000 = 1974 580000 to 690000 = 1975 690000 to 750000 = 1976 Serial Number on Peghead Decal.

For many reasons, Fender decided to change the serial numbering system and it's location in the mid-1970's. You can imagine that it might have been cheaper to have the serial numbers added to the decals rather than have them machined. But you can also imagine that there were many times for inventory purposes when suppliers, vendors, and etc. Wanted to be able to see the serial number, and now, the year of production without turning the guitar over. So starting in mid-1976 the serial number was moved to a decal on the peghead. Even with the new system, Fender didn't like to throw away a perfectly good serialized decal just because the year code would be incorrect.

So, the information on the peghead could be off as much as two years. Generally speaking, a 'S' prefix equals the 1970's (Seventies), 'E' prefix equals the 1980's (Eighties), and 'N' prefix equals the 1990's (Nineties). Tele Popup Software Cracking on this page. Also note: 'E' and 'N' prefix serial numbers were also sometimes also Japanese-made. In March 1985, CBS sold Fender to a group of private investors made up of the management of the corporation at the time. The serial numbers do not reflect this change - Fender continued to make instruments using existing serial number schemes. The new Fender (FMIC) did not acquire any physical assets of the old company, just the name 'Fender' and the rights to all products and trademarks. So, without any factories FMIC moved all guitar production during 1985 and early 1986 to Japan, while FMIC built a new factory in Corona, California.

The Japanese-made Fenders do have some slight serial number differences (typically a 'J' serial number prefix).