If you’re a vintage guitar collector or player, this article might be extremely useful when buying a Fender guitar or bass, to help determine its age, value and origin.
I have been quite general with this serial number guide, and this mainly applies to standard run instruments, regardless of the country of manufacture. There are of course some exceptions and anomalies in Fender’s serial number convention, where numbering and lettering differ, for example, artist models, signature series, limited editions, vintage reissue series and other rare models.
The serial number alone is not a full-proof guarantee of the year, so matching the instrument's serial with other characteristics and features such as neck and body dates, potentiometer codes and pick-up dates will help confirm this.
How To Check Guitar Authenticity
Once you have decoded the serial number and determined its age and origin, verifying the information is a good idea. This can be done by checking the guitar's features, such as the body shape, pickups, and hardware, and comparing them to the standard specifications for that model and year.
If you would like an appraisal on your Fender guitar or bass, then please get in touch on sales@ and I can help you figure it out. I can also tell you things that a serial number alone cannot – for example if parts, like pots, pickups and hardware have been replaced or restored.
Unique Characteristics: Post-76 Fender serial numbers will start with a letter indicating the decade, followed by a number that indicates the year within that decade.
Fender Finders (mm Sep 87)
Location: Usually found on the back of the neck near the neck joint. Though some examples have the number on the headstock or the neck-plate in certain reissue models.
In 1997, Fender changed the Made in Japan decal to say Crafted in Japan and then after 2007, Fender Japan switched back to the Made in Japan.This post is for any of you who have used the Fender's serial number lookup page and would like to know what all the abbreviations and/or acronyms mean when you look up your guitar. (PS: the Fender lookup is a great resource, but it won't cover vintage instruments. For that, you can see our serial number database, which covers Fender and many other brands.) I will be adding to this list regularly. PLEASE see more info at bottom of page that explains how the Fender lookup works!
2. There may be more than one abbreviation for the same term. If a term is not abbreviated (i.e., “BAJA” = Baja) then it won’t appear here. Note the Fender site abbreviates terms for space. So in a long name “Deluxe” may appear as “DLX.” While in a shorter name it may be spelled out “DELUXE.”
Fender Product Registration
3. Though abbreviations show some consistency, it appears Fender employees make them up as needed and don’t follow an established company list.
PS: Here are a few I've seen that I can't figure out. If you know what they mean, please put in comments below:
If your serial is in the database, it will tell you the date of manufacture, and it is especially helpful when you want to know the official name of the finish on your guitar (i.e., SOT = sunset transparent orange, SNB = sonic blue, etc.--there are so many!)
Where Can I Find A Serial Number On A Strat American Hss? Link?
Note: if your serial number does not produce a result, it DOES NOT necessarily mean your guitar is not a real Fender. The database is by no means comprehensive. At that point, you should contact Fender support and ask them about your serial.
This post took hours to compile and will help you make sense of the many abbreviations Fender uses. For instance if you were to look up your guitar's serial number, it might give you the model name as, FSR USA NITRO SAT STRAT MN HBST.
Important hint: look at the model number on the page, often you can click on it, and it will take you to a full product sheet with all specs. But the site will not always provide this, and knowing the naming abbreviations can tell you a lot about your instrument.
Under The Hood #7: Fender Guitars Dating And Serial Numbers
So anytime you are looking at a used Fender, take the time to look it up on their website. If you know an abbreviation I missed, by all means, let me know in the comments section below. Good luck!When was my Fender instrument made? It’s a common question we get at The Music Zoo. If you have a Fender in your hands, you can use this guide to precisely date your Fender instrument all the way back to 1950. Information on Japanese and Mexican-made instruments is included towards the bottom. This information is courtesy Fender.com, republished here for your convenience. Hit the jump to see just how old that guitar or bass really is.
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. Neck-dating can be useful in determining the
Age of a guitar, but it is certainly not definitive because the neck date simply refers to the date that the individual
Korean Fender Serial Numbers
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. Therefore, while helpful in determining a
Most specifications for a given Fender instrument model change little (if at all) throughout the lifetime of the model. While there have been periods of dramatic change—such as the transition periods between the Leo Fender years and the CBS years or the transition between the CBS years and the current ownership—most models are generally feature-specific and do not change from year to year.
Serial numbers are also helpful in determining an instrument’s production year. 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. Serial numbers were stamped on the back vibrato cover plate on early ’50s Stratocaster® guitars, and on the bridge plate between the pickup and the saddles on some Telecaster® guitars.
The Guitar Dater Project
But once again, due to Fender’s modular production methods and often non-sequential serial numbering (usually overlapping two to four years from the early days of Fender to the mid-1980s), dating by serial number is not always precisely definitive.
The chart below details Fender serial number schemes used from 1950 to 1964. Notice that there is quite a bit of overlap in numbers and years. The only way to try to narrow the date range of your specific instrument is to remove the neck and check the butt end of the neck heel for a production date, which may be stamped or written there (if you’re uncomfortable doing this yourself, please refer to an experienced professional guitar tech in your area).
Fender was sold to CBS in January 1965. Serial numbering didn’t change immediately because instruments continued to be made using existing, tooling, parts and serial number schemes. The chart below details Fender serial number schemes used from 1965 to 1976. Notice that there is quite a bit of overlap in numbers and years.
Fender Serial Number Lookup
The charts below detail the most common Fender serial number schemes from 1976 to the present. Once again, there is quite a bit of overlap in numbers and years. The only way to try to narrow the date range of your specific instrument is to remove the neck and check the butt end of the neck heel for a production date, which may be stamped or written there (if you’re uncomfortable doing this yourself, please refer to an experienced professional guitar tech in your area). Serial numbers with an “S” prefix denote the 1970s (signifying a CBS attempt to use serial numbers to identify production years); an “E” prefix was introduced in 1979 to denote the 1980s. As seen in the overlap of numbers and years, even these references to actual production dates are rather loose.
1982 saw the introduction of the U.S. Vintage Series instruments and “V”-prefix serial numbers. The only way to definitively date U.S. instruments with “V”-prefix serial numbers is to remove the neck and check the butt end of the neck heel for a production date, which may be stamped or written there.
CBS sold Fender in March 1985. Serial numbering didn’t change because instruments continued to be made using existing tooling, parts and serial number schemes.
Help Identifying This Strat Serial Number
“N”-prefix serial numbers denoting the 1990s were introduced in 1990. The numbers and decals were produced far in advance, and some N9 decals (denoting 1999), were inadvertantly affixed to some instruments in 1990. Consequently, some 1990 guitars bear 1999 “N9” serial numbers.
“Z”-prefix serial numbers denoting the new millennium appeared on U.S.-made instruments in 2000. Z0 denotes 2000; Z1 denotes 2001, etc. 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, etc. As always, there is typically some number prefix overlap and carryover from year
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