fender custom shop serial numbers database

Fender custom shop serial numbers database serial number#
Fender custom shop serial numbers database code#
Fender custom shop serial numbers database plus#

Fender custom shop serial numbers database plus#

Thus, both “N0” and “N9” were used on 1990 American Standard and Plus Stratocasters. But, “N9” decals were ordered by mistake instead of “N0”! Wrong decals were used for a time before correct “N0” serial numbers were finally order.

At the beginning of 1990, when Fender was still using the old “E9” decals, the new ones were ordered.

Vintage Reissues were the only notable exception to this rule (look down the page). Thus, “E5”, “E6” and “E7” were never used.

After the 1985 buyout, the “E4” prefix was used until 1988, because the new FMIC had a sizeable inventory of old decals.

Many 19 guitars were made with the “S9” prefix instead of “E0” or “E1” (in which “E” stands for “eighties”).

Moreover, there are other exceptions to this scheme that must be considered. 4, 5 or 6 months for the Mexican Stratocasters. 3 months for the US Stratocasters and ca. Usually new decals were applied only after some months - ca. In fact, at the beginning of a new year the old decals were not instantly discarded and continued to be used into the new year. This scheme, clear and simple, actually is not a reliable method to date a Stratocaster. Thus, since 2010, Fender Stratocaster serial numbers had the simple “US” prefix followed by the last two digits of the year (e.g. In 2010, Fender decided to merge their serial numbers with that of the American Standard Stratocaster. Until 2010, the American Deluxe and the Signature guitars follows the same serialization scheme, but their serial numbers were preceded respectively by “D” and “S” letters. Later, other letters were used to identify the decades: “E” in the 1980s, “N” in the 1990s and “Z” in the 2000s.

Fender custom shop serial numbers database serial number#

In the late '70s the serial number was also printed on a sticker placed into the body pickups cavities, underneath the pickguard and into the neck pocket.Īt first, the serial number had a simple “76” prefix in bold numerals, which in a few months was replaced by “S6”, with “S” standing for “seventies”.

Fender custom shop serial numbers database code#

A new 7-digit code was adopted, with a 2-digit prefix indicating the year plus five numbers identifying the guitar. In late 1976 Fender stopped stamping the serial number on the neck plate and began to incorporate it into the headstock decals. Therefore, the famous 0100 Stratocaster, dated April 1954, was not the first Stratocaster made, as often reported. Some, like the 19, the 008, the 771, just to name a few, are simply dated 1954 others also refer to the month, like the 0155 (March 1954), the 0035 (April 1954), the 0065 (June 1954), the 0207 (May 1954).

The earliest serial numbers stamped on the back plate were two, three or four-digit and have been used without any strict correlation in time.

Werner compiled a list of old Fender instruments, which included the very first Stratocasters. However, a famous collector, James Werner, supported another theory, which is the most accredited. It’s interesting to note that the last digit wasn't perfectly in line with the first three digits and sometimes is even slightly set apart, suggesting that this was due to a faulty machine or that the Stratocaster serial number was born three digits and that the fourth was added in a 2-step stamping process. The first Stratocasters featured a serial number stamped on the plastic vibrato back plate.Īccording to an unaccurate old theory, four-digit serial numbers in the 0100’s and 0200’s were the earliest – but not the lowest – applied to a Stratocaster.