Last year a guy had a Fender Strat with a similar serial number, and he revealed to kcbuck that it was a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, olympic Pearl, Maple Neck axe made in 2000, in Corona, CA. Armed with this information, kcbuck was able to tell that poster the following regarding the value of that guitar; Mint 98%: $1,050.00 USD. Enter Serial Number eg. The Fender serial number decoder currently supports all documented MIA, MIJ, MIM, MIK and MII formats with the exception of Custom Shop, Relic and Reissue instruments. Please note that fender serial numbers tend to overlap by at least a year, and thereby the date of your guitar can only be approximated.

Want to know how to date your Fender guitar by serial number? Then you’re in the right place.

The thing is that i had Fender Japan guitars with 'E' serial dating 1988 and 1989 on the bottom of the neck (written by pencil on the wood of the neck, under the original finish coat), and I have seen other photos showing the same thing in some forums. See below one of the guitars I had with E8 serial (1988).

Just enter the number below, hit the ‘Decode’ button and our lookup tool will tell you the year your guitar is from, which country it was manufactured in, and even the plant it came from.

You can add any model of Fender guitar: Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, Mustang, Jazzmaster, you name it! (scroll down below if you need help finding the serial number).

Where to Find the Serial Number on Your Fender Guitar?

The location of the serial number has annoyingly changed from model to model over the years. So where do you find it?

Locations include:

At the top of the neck plate
On the front or at the back of the headstock
On the cover plate of the vibrato (on Stratocasters)
On the back of the vibrato cover plate (on early ’50s Stratocasters)
At the end of the heel of the neck
Between the pick-up and the saddles (some Telecasters)

Some General Rules

The naming convention is a bit haphazard (it’s no different with Gibson serial numbers), but here are some general rules that should ring true 99% of the time – but beware, there are plenty of exceptions:

The prefix ‘L’ at the beginning of a serial number indicates a guitar from the early ’60s
The prefix ‘S’ at the beginning of a serial number stands for the decade of the seventies
The prefix ‘E’ stands for the decade of the eighties
The U.S. Vintage Series (launched in 1982) uses ‘V’ as a prefix for the serial number
The prefix ‘N’ at the beginning of a serial number stands for the nineties
The prefix ‘Z’ stands for guitars made in the noughties (2000 – 2010)

Note that made in Mexico Fender guitars (MIM) and made in Japan guitars (MIJ) have their own unique serial number system.

Pre-1976 Model? Check the Heel Too

Before 1976, frustratingly they often randomly assigned serial numbers. If you want to double-check the year of production year, it’s often a good idea to look at the heel of the neck (which entails removing the neck). Sometimes the potentiometers are worth checking too.

That’s all for now. We’ll keep adding more info as and when we find it.

Good luck!

Vintage Guitars Info's
Vintage Fender Guitars, Basses, Amps.
Introduction and General Specs.Overview of collecting vintage Fender guitars, basses and amps. General specifications, serial numbers, Fender vintage guitar cases.Private vintage guitar collector.
Picture Gallery, Fender section.
Contact the vintage guitar info guy.September 1952 Fender calendar.

Reissue and Original Fender Vintage Parts Comparison
Models: Fender Acoustic Flattop Info
Inside a 1954 to 1965 Fender Stratocaster video.

DVD video version of this web page for Stratocasters and Telecasters:

Introduction.

pre-CBS

Because of this, Fender's most innocent era of the 1950's istheir most collectible. This decade produced guitars with one-piece maple necks, single layer pickguards, thin 'spaghetti' logos, and tweed cases that seem to capture collectors the most.

The early 1960's Fenders with 'slab' rosewood fingerboards are also collectible,but not to the extent of the earlier 1950's maple-neck era. Of the rosewoodfingerboard models, the 'slab' fingerboard (1958/mid-1959 to August 1962) variants are more desirable than the 'veener' fingerboard (August 1962 and later)pre-CBS models. The 'transistion' era (late summer 1964 to December 1965)are the least collectible of the pre-CBS models. This era is knownas a 'transition' because later summer 1964 to December 1965 was the timewhen there was a transition from the Leo Fender management to CBSmanagement, and mass-production manufacturing techniques werestarting to take a firm hold.

By 1966 (a year after CBS bought Fender), CBS management had really taken hold of Fender's production facilities and incorporated many changes. The sum of of all these changes had a serious effect on Fender guitars as a whole. 1966 brought an era of 'large' pegheads, less contoured bodies, and much higher production numbers. CBS looked for ways to cut productiontime and costs, which generally led to much lower quality. Because ofthis, 1966 and later Fender instruments are considered far less collectible than vintage pre-CBS Fender guitars.

The Guitar Models.

The Esquire was Fender's first electric spanish guitar. Originally introducedin June of 1950 as a black (and later blond), one or two pickup model, it was discontinued by Fender's marketing arm in September 1950. Only about 50 of these original Esquires were shipped, though Fenderhad a backorder of hundreds of units. And many came backto Fender to have the neck (and body!) replaced because of neck warpage,from the lack of a truss rod. In October 1950, the Broadcaster replaced the Esquire as their two pickupelectric spanish guitar, with a truss rod! The Esquire was re-introduced in early 1951 as a single pickup version of the Broadcaster. The 1951 and later Esquire, because of its single pickup, does not have the value today of itstwo pickup brother, due to its limited tonal range with one pickup.By February 1951, the Broadcasterwas renamed the Telecaster (though theguitars didn't actually have a 'Telecaster' decal on them until the summer of 1951), because of a naming conflict with a trademarked Gretsch drum line. 1954 Fender Stratocaster ad.

From country, to rockand roll, to surf music, Fender found a niche with its instruments.Especially different for the era was those Fenders with Custom Color finish

Fender Stratocaster Value By Serial Number