Fender Date Codes
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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 saw the introduction of the U. Vintage Series excluded '52 Telecasters 1984 For U.
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. Some caution is advised since it is likely that not all chassis were used due to defects or that duplicate serial numbers may have been stamped. So how many of these chasses were made?
Fender Date Codes - Information about serial numbers and year Fender guitars, encoder.
There are some easy ways to find out when your vintage Fender was manufactured. Up until the end of the blackface era 1967 , all amps left the factory with a tube chart that had a two letter date code stamped on it. TUBE CHARTS: The tube chart date code works like this: the first letter indicates the year and the second letter indicates the month. A — 1951 A — January B — 1952 B — February C — 1953 C — March D — 1954 D — April E — 1955 E — May F — 1956 F — June G — 1957 G — July H — 1958 H — August I — 1959 I — September J — 1960 J — October K — 1961 K — November L — 1962 L — December M — 1963 N — 1964 O — 1965 P — 1966 Q — 1967 TRANSFORMER DATE CODES: Another way to get a close estimate of when your amp was made is to read the codes on the transformers. Most post tweed Fenders had trannys manufactured by Schumacher. They used a code like this: 606 — 645 The date is in the last three digits, after the 606 —. The first of the three digits tells us the last digit of the year unfortunately not decade specific and the last two numbers tell us the week. In the above example, the transformer was made in either 1966 or 1976, week 45. This code can be found on the power transformer, output transformer, choke, and reverb transformer. They are all usually within a few months of each other. Use the latest one to give you a good idea of when it was made. For example, if your silverface super reverb has transformer codes all from 1974, it was made in 1974! Many silverface and some blackface amps have the exact week, month and year stamped insie the chassis.
There will be amps with serial numbers that lie outside of the listed ranges. The following charts are the revised dating tables for Fender tube amps. SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES Up to 6,000 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 Fender was sold to CBS in January 1965. Paul Linden has volunteered to fill in for Greg. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year V + 4, 5 or 6 digits U. Thanks to everyone who sent fender serial number dater about their amp s. Deluxe V + 5 or 6 digits American Vintage Series excluded '52 Telecaster 2001 Z1 + 5 or 6 digits Z2 + 5 or 6 digits DZ2 + 5 or 6 digits Am. Fender Dating — Written in Stone Fender Serial Number Lookup for Guitar and Bass Guitar Dating Leo Fender started building electric guitars back in 1950 and produced his first bass guitar a year later. Serial numbers have been used in various locations on Fender instruments. Serial numbers are on the front of the headstock. Vintage Series excluded '52 Telecasters 1989 For U. They are detailed reference resources with a wealth of information on determining the production years of various instruments and on Fender history in general.
