Fender Date Codes
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This batch's run of serial numbers starts in mid-1984, when production was fairly normal. Preferred Series 7025 and Tung-Sol 12AX7 are suitable, 5751 not recommended.
Power tubes--a pair of 6L6GCs 5881s originally specified. A low noise, low microphony tube is recommended here. The fist Master volume controls were first installed in 72.
Fender Date Codes - At this time, the location of the serial number also shifted from the bridge to the neckplate the metal plate located on back of where the neck meets the body.
The most important thing to keep in mind when dating a Fender is the highly modular nature of the designs. Like Henry Ford, part of Leo Fender's genius was in optimizing the company's production efficiency. His guitars were built en masse by an entire factory, not a single luthier toiling over one instrument at a time. Features like bolt-on necks and pickups wired into the pickguard all helped the Fender factory churn out guitar after guitar, day after day. This also means that various parts used on a particular guitar may have come from different points in time, so no single number can absolutely define when the instrument was built. 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. Once you have the information you need, if you're interested in selling your Fender, you can use Reverb to get it in front of the largest audience of musicians in the world Design Changes and Features Perhaps the best place to start when dating your Fender is to get an approximate idea of the era based on the instrument's design and components. This can be a tall order for someone less versed in guitar history, but we do have some resources here on Reverb to help you out. For starters, there's the Reverb Price Guide which has thousands of entries with pictures and details on various guitars and other gear. Some browsing around the can definitely help you find which model you have. We also have some other blog posts related to Fender that can hopefully be of some help. There's and that follows the evolution of the most popular Fender guitar of all. Similarly, take a look at for general timeline of the history of everyone's favorite offset guitar. For Fender during the turning point era of the mid-'60s, check out Body and Neck Dates Through much of Fender's production history, Fender workers would print or write a production date on both bodies and necks where the two pieces meet. 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. Here is what the neck date and body date look like from a 1952 Telecaster: If you're not comfortable removing the neck of a guitar to peek at the date marker, I encourage you to take it to a local tech or luthier. I will also mention briefly pot-codes as a resource numbers on the internal potentiometers of the guitar. These can definitely be useful in cases where no other numbers exist, but just tell when the pot itself was made. Who knows how long it was waiting in the Fender factory before finding its way into a Tele? Serial Numbers Like the body and neck dates, using serial numbers to date a Fender is not a sure bet. At many points in Fender's history, serial number usage overlapped again owing to the modular manner of production. Below we'll go into detail about the various serial number schemes employed by Fender as far back as 1950. There are certainly plenty of exceptions, so again, using serial numbers in conjunction with other dating methods is always the best bet. Esquires, Broadcasters and Telecasters shared a serial number sequence, while the landmark Precision Bass had its own system. In this early period, the serial number can be found on the bridge of the instrument see image. Here are the rough serial number ranges for the early Esquires and Telecasters: 161 to 357 1951 299 to 619 1952 0001 to 0160 1952 0161 to 0470 1951 - 1952 0475 to 0840 1952 - 1953 0848 to 1897 1953 - 1954 Also, for the first half or so of 1954, the inaugural run of Stratocasters had a distinct number sequence all under number 6000. Classic Serial Numbers - 1954 - 1963 By mid-1954, Fender began using a universal serial number sequence for all its instruments. At this time, the location of the serial number also shifted from the bridge to the neckplate the metal plate located on back of where the neck meets the body. Here the range of the L-series serial used each year. Some of the earliest ones actually popped up in late 1962 as well: 0L00001 to L20000 1963 L20000 to L59000 1964 L59000 to L99999 1965 F Series - CBS Era 1965 - 1976 After the CBS purchase of Fender in 1965, the factory switched to a new serial sequence with numbers that continued the same general format used prior to the takeover. These are generally referred to as F series due the large Fender branded F on the neckplates of the era. This period also saw a switch from the orginal four-bolt neckplate of the '60s to a three-bolt neckplate in just one example of cost-saving costs introduced under CBS. Depending on the era and model, the number can be found on either the front or back of the headstock. After a short period of overlap with the old system, the post-76 numbers will start with a letter that indicates the decade, followed by a number that indicates the year of that decade. In the 2000s, you'll also see serials starting with a DZ which indicates the Deluxe series, but the format is otherwise the same. For example, a serial number with N4 would be from 1994. One starting with Z5 would be from 2005. This scheme is not 100% consistent due to a number of production factors, such as Fender producing more serialized decals than needed in a given year. This is particularly pronounced in the transitional period of the mid-'80s, though the system has been pretty much on point since about 1990. After 2009, the letter changed to a format starting with US then two digits that tell the year of the current decade. Here's the breakdown of Post-1976 American-made Fender serials: 76 + 5 digits 1976 S6 + 5 digits 1976 S7 + 5 digits 1977 - 1978 S8 + 5 digits 1978 S9 + 5 digits 1978 - 1979 E0 + 5 digits 1979 - 1981 E1 + 5 digits 1980 - 1982 E2 + 5 digits 1982 - 1983 E3 + 5 digits 1982 - 1985 E4 + 5 digits 1984 - 1988 E8 + 5 digits 1988 - 1989 E9 + 5 digits 1989 - 1990 N9 + 5 digits 1990 N0 + 5 digits 1990 - 1991 N1 + 5 or 6 digits 1991 - 1992 N2 + 5 or 6 digits 1992 - 1993 N3 + 5 or 6 digits 1993 - 1994 N4 + 5 or 6 digits 1994 - 1995 N5 + 5 or 6 digits 1995 - 1996 N6 + 5 or 6 digits 1996 - 1997 N7 + 5 or 6 digits 1997 - 1998 N8 + 5 or 6 digits 1998 - 1999 N9 + 5 or 6 digits 1999 - 2000 Z0 + 5 or 6 digits 2000 - 2001 Z2 + 5 or 6 digits 2001 - 2002 Z3 + 5 or 6 digits 2003 - 2004 Z4 + 5 or 6 digits 2004 - 2005 Z5 + 5 or 6 digits 2005 - 2006 Z6 + 5 or 6 digits 2006 - 2007 Z7 + 5 or 6 digits 2007 - 2008 Z8 + 5 or 6 digits 2008 - 2009 Z9 + 5 or 6 digits 2009 - 2010 US10 + 6 digits 2010 US11 + 6 digits 2011 US12 + 6 digits 2012 US13 + 6 digits 2013 US14 + 6 digits 2014 Signature Series American-made signature series instruments follow a very similar scheme to the above, but use a prefix S before the decade letter. For example, a Signature Series guitar from 1998 would have a serial starting with SN8 followed by five digits. American Vintage Reissue models The major exception to all of this is the American Vintage Reissue AVRI series. These have serial numbers starting with V and do not strictly correlate to years. The neck dates on these guitars, however, are usually reliable. Made in Japan Fender Serials Fender Japan serial numbers can usually be found on the back of the neck near the neck joint. Though examples also exist with the number on the headstock or the neck-plate in the case of certain early reissue models. Like the US serial numbers, MIJ made in Japan serials start with a letter or pair of letters that indicate the rough year of production. This system, however, is notoriously inconsistent and incomplete, which makes dating by serial number even less reliable for MIJ Fenders. Sell Your Gear on Reverb Made in Mexico Fender Serials Fender opened a factory in Ensenada, Mexico in the late '80s and instruments started coming off the line in 1990. Mexican-made MIM Fenders carry a serial number on the headstock starting with an M. The MIM serial number scheme is actually very straight-forward. For Mexican Fenders made in the 1990s, the serial will start with an MN followed by a number that indicates the year of the decade. Instruments made in the 2000s follow the same form but start with MZ. For the 2010s, the prefix is MX1. For example, a serial number starting with MN2 would be 1992. Here's the serial number breakdown for a majority of MIM Fenders: MN0 + 5 or 6 digits 1990 MN1 + 5 or 6 digits 1991 MN2 + 5 or 6 digits 1992 MN3 + 5 or 6 digits 1993 MN4 + 5 or 6 digits 1994 MN5 + 5 or 6 digits 1995 MN6 + 5 or 6 digits 1996 MN7 + 5 or 6 digits 1997 MN8 + 5 or 6 digits 1998 MN9 + 5 or 6 digits 1999 MZ0 + 5 or 6 digits 2000 MZ1 + 5 or 6 digits 2001 MZ2 + 5 or 6 digits 2002 MZ3 + 5 or 6 digits 2003 MZ4 + 5 or 6 digits 2004 MZ5 + 5 or 6 digits 2005 MZ6 + 5 or 6 digits 2006 MZ7 + 5 or 6 digits 2007 MZ8 + 5 or 6 digits 2008 MZ9 + 5 or 6 digits 2009 MX10 + 6 digits 2010 MX11 + 6 digits 2011 MX12 + 6 digits 2012 MX13 + 6 digits 2013 MX14 + 6 digits 2014 Exceptions There are a number of exceptions to all these serial number schemes. As mentioned above, many reissue models use serial numbers that don't really correlate to their age. Additionally, there have been plenty of artist models, limited editions and other rare models that use a unique serial number. Examples include the 35th anniversary series, many of the uniquely finished Strats from the early '80s, as well as various export-specific models which carry a serial number starting with FN. Again, the serial number alone in any of these cases is not definitive and the best approach is to combine that with other methods like the neck and body dates, as well as just the features of the specific instrument. If you have any questions as to what Fender you're dealing with, I encourage you to seek out a local guitar shop or luthier to help figure it out.
Recommend a type with fender amp serial number coiled heater, such as NOS 7025s or ECC83s. Another anomaly was observed in 1961 with the 6G6-A Bassman. Rectifier tube is 5U4. Once you have the information you need, if you're interested in selling your Fender, you can use Reverb to get it in front of the largest audience of musicians in the world Design Changes and Features Perhaps the best place to start when dating your Fender is to get an approximate idea of the era based on the instrument's design and components. These can definitely be useful in cases where no other numbers exist, but just tell when the pot itself was made. Super 6G4 First tube is first channel preamp, 7025 is specified. By the way, in the past there were all kinds of suffixes on tubes--6L6, 6L6G, 6L6GA, 6L6GB, 6L6GC, etc. Fourth tube is a 12AT7.
