Fender Serial Number Decoder Telecaster

The V.C. Squier Company manufactured strings for violins, banjos, and guitars. It was established in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan. In 1965, the company was acquired by Fender. By 1975, Squier became defunct as a manufacturer and a brand name for strings, as Fender opted to market its strings under the Fender brand name.

In 1982, the Squier brand was reactivated by Fender to become its brand for lower priced versions of Fender guitars. Squier guitars have been manufactured in Japan, Korea, Mexico, India, Indonesia, China, and the United States.

• 1History

History[edit]

Learn how to read Mexican Fender serial numbers and tell how old your Fender guitar is. Made in Mexico Fender Stratocaster Serial Number.

V.C. Squier Company (1890–1975)[edit]

Jerome Bonaparte Squier, a young English immigrant who arrived in Battle Creek, Michigan, in the latter part of the 19th century, was a farmer and shoemaker who had learned the fine European art of violin making. He moved to Boston in 1881, where he built and repaired violins with his son, Victor Carroll Squier. To this day, their violins are noted for their exceptional varnishes, and they command high prices as fine examples of early U.S. instrument craftsmanship. Indeed, J.B. Squier ranks among the best-known U.S.-trained violin makers and is often referred to as 'the American Stradivarius.'

Victor returned to Battle Creek, where he opened his own shop in 1890. As his business grew, Squier moved the company to 429 Lake Ave. and eventually to 427 Capitol Ave, S.W.—the famous 'fiddle factory' of Battle Creek. With a limited market for violins in Battle Creek, however, Squier astutely sought relationships with national music schools and famous violinists.

Up to 1900, the best violin strings were made in Europe. Victor Squier started making his own hand-wound violin strings, and the business grew so quickly that he and his employees improvised a dramatic production increase by converting a treadle sewing machine into a string winder capable of producing 1,000 uniformly high-quality strings per day. Squier violin strings, banjo strings and guitar strings became well known nationwide and were especially popular among students because of their reasonable price.

In the 1930s, Squier began making strings for the era's new electric instruments; the company also sold pianos, radios and phonograph records until divesting itself of all string-related products in 1961. Fender Electric Instruments entered the picture in the 1950s, when the V.C. Squier Company began supplying Southern California inventor and businessman Leo Fender with strings for his unusual new electric guitars. The V.C. Squier Company became an official original equipment manufacturer for Fender in 1963. Fender acquired the V.C. Squier Company in early 1965, shortly before Fender itself was acquired by CBS in May of the same year. By the mid-1970s, the Squier name was retired as the strings had taken the Fender name.^[1]

Squier Guitars (1982–present)[edit]

Before the Fender Squier line of guitars was introduced in 1982, Fender was making lower priced guitars such as the Fender Lead series at its Fullerton, California plant. Until the introduction of the Fender Squier series, Fender had never produced lower priced guitars based on its main Stratocaster and Telecaster models and had always used different model designs for its lower priced guitars.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s Fender was facing competition from lower priced Japanese made guitars. The higher priced Fender guitars were made in the United States and could not compete with the lower prices of Japanese made Fender copies. In the early 1980s, Japanese labor and production costs were much lower than in America and to compete with the Japanese made guitars, Fender moved the lower priced Fender guitar production from America to Japan.

Fender was also losing sales in Japan to Japanese guitar brands such as Tōkai, Greco and Fernandes and the establishment of Fender Japan would benefit Fender sales in Japan, as well as overseas. Fender began negotiations with several Japanese musical instrument distributors and reached an agreement with Yamano Gakki and Kanda Shokai to establish Fender Japan. Yamano Gakki was known for once being part of Epiphone Japan. Kanda Shokai owned the Greco brand name and one of the conditions of the Fender Japan agreement was that Kanda Shokai cease production of its own Greco Fender copies. This arrangement benefited Fender because it removed the Greco Fender copies from the Japanese market, which were selling in Japan at much lower prices than the American made Fenders and it also benefited Kanda Shokai because Kanda Shokai could then distribute Japanese made Fender branded guitars in Japan. Further negotiations between Fender and Japanese guitar factories took place. Tokai was seriously considered to start building the first Japanese made Fenders, but after a breakdown in negotiations, FujiGen Gakki was chosen instead.^[2]

The initial Squier models were launched on July/August 1982. Over time, the Squier series slowly evolved to include original model designs and production has moved from Japan to various other Asian countries such as Korea, China and Indonesia.

When you close your eyes the music simply takes you into the other, more spiritual world. Here and there you can hear ('of course' once again) that authors of this artwork were influenced by others. Wardruna yggdrasil blogspot music. Of course a label 'ambient' is not just an empty word - there are many silent whispers and other 'disturbing' sounds hidden in the background. Here you are - some parts of two last songs sounds a bit like a creativeness of Mari Boine. Every track is of course different - there are more 'shamanistic' songs (like 'IngwaR'), or more folkish ('Rotlaust tre fell').

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Fender Squier HistoryArchived July 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
2. ^'Fender Japan History'. Daeschler.com. Retrieved 2013-12-14.

External links[edit]

Superior Music - Fender American Guitar Dates DATING YOUR U S A MADE FENDER ELECTRIC STRINGED Guitar for your Japanese or Mexican Fender Guitar serial number For most of Fender's U. Instrument production history, production dates have been applied to various components. Production dates have been penciled or stamped on the butt end of the heel of the neck of most guitars and basses. There were periods of time when this was not consistently done, (between 1973 and 1981), and there are certainly other examples of short periods of time, and individual pieces, where the dating was simply omitted. Neck dating is useful in determining the age of a guitar, but is not definite. The neck date simply refers to the date that the neck was produced. Given the modular nature of Fender's production techniques, a neck may have been produced in one year, placed in a warehouse and remained in stock for a period of time, and then subsequently paired with a body to create a complete guitar in the following year.

So, obviously a neck date, while being helpful in providing a date range of production, cannot be a definitive reference. While there have been periods where dramatic changes have occurred, for example: the transition periods between Leo's Fender and the CBS years, as well as the transition between CBS' Fender and the current ownership, generally speaking, most models are feature specific and do not change from year to year. Serial numbers are also helpful in determining the year of production of a given instrument.

Serial numbers have been used in various locations on Fender instruments through the years. They have been placed at the top of the neck plate, on the front of the headstock, on the back of the headstock, and on the back of the neck near where the neck bolts onto the body. They were stamped on the back vibrato cover plate (early '50s Strats), and on the bridge plate between the pickup and the saddles on some Telecasters.

But due to the modular nature of Fender's production methods, and the fact that most serial numbers schemes are not sequential and usually overlap from between 2 to 4 years, (from the early days of Fender, through to the mid 1980s), dating by the serial number is not an exact science. DATING YOUR GUITAR The following chart details the Fender serial number schemes used from 1950 to 1964. There is quite a bit of overlap of numbers and years. The only way to try to narrow the date range of your specific instrument would be to remove the neck and check the butt end of the heel of the neck for a production date, which may be stamped or written there. (If you are not comfortable performing this operation, please use an experienced professional guitar tech in your area or bring it to Superior Music). SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES Up to 6000 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 In January of 1965, Fender was sold to the CBS Corporation.

The serial numbers do not immediately reflect the change, as CBS continued to make instruments using existing, tooling, parts, and serial number schemes. The following chart details the Fender serial number schemes used from 1965 to 1976. There is quite a bit of overlap of both numbers and years. L50,000s up to L90,000s 1965 100,000s 1965 100,000s to 200,000s 1966 to 1967 200,000s 1968 200,000s to 300,000s 1969 to 1970 300,000s 1971 to 1972 300,000s to 500,000s 1973 400,000s to 500,000s 1974 to 1975 500,000s to 700,000s 1976 The following charts detail the most common Fender serial number schemes used from 1976 to the present. There is quite a bit of overlap of both numbers and years. How to install microsoft sql server 2008 r2.

The only way to try to narrow the date range of your specific instrument would be to remove the neck and check the butt end of the heel of the neck for a production date, which may be stamped or written there. (If you are not comfortable performing this operation, please use an experienced professional guitar tech in your area or bring it to Superior Music). Please note the introduction of the 'S' prefix serial numbers.

The 'S', stood for decade of the 1970s, and began CBS' attempt to use serial numbers to identify the year of production for the piece. The 'E', stood for the decade of the 1980s and was, as shown below, introduced in 1979. As you can see by the overlaps of numbers and years, the reference to the actual production date is rather loose. 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 - U.S.

Vintage Series instruments introduced, and 'V' prefix serial numbers used. The only way to definitively date the U.S. 'V' prefix serial numbered instruments, is to remove the neck and check the butt end of the heel of the neck for a production date, which may be stamped or written there. EI + 5 DIGITS E2 + 5 DIGITS E3 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1982 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E2 + 5 DIGITS E3 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1983 (For U.S.

Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E3 + 5 DIGITS E4 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1984 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) In March of 1985, the CBS Corporation sold Fender to a group of private investors.

The serial numbers do not reflect the change, as Fender continued to make instruments using existing tooling, parts, and serial number schemes. E3 + 5 DIGITS E4 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S.

Vintage Series) 1985 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S.

Vintage Series) 1986 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E4 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1987 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E4 + 5 DIGITS E8 + 5 DIGITS V + 4, 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S.

Vintage Series) 1988 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) E8 + 5 DIGITS E9 + 5 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1989 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) 1990 introduced the 'N' prefix serial numbers, which stood for the 1990s. The numbers and decals are produced far in advance, and apparently, some N9 decals, (which were supposed to be used in 1999), were affixed to some instruments in 1990. As a result, you will see some 1990 guitars bearing N9 serial numbers E9 + 5 DIGITS N9 + 5 DIGITS N0 + 5 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S.

Vintage Series) 1990 (For U.S. Vintage Series, check neck date for specific year) N0 + 5 DIGITS N1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1991 N1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N2 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1992 N2 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1993 N3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S.

Vintage Series) 1994 N4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N5 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1995 N5 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N6 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S.

Vintage Series) 1996 N6 + 6 or 6 DIGITS N7 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1997 N7 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N8 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S. Vintage Series) 1998 N8 + 5 or 6 DIGITS N9 + 5 or 6 DIGITS V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (U.S.

Vintage Series, except '52 Tele) 1999 Year 2000 introduced the 'Z' prefix serial numbers on US made guitars, which stood for the 0 of the new millennium. A Z0 prefix dates to 2000, a Z1 prefix dates to 2001 etcetera. The American Deluxe Series use the same dating code but add a 'D' in front of the 'Z', i.e. DZ1, DZ2 etcetera. N9 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z0 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ0 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 2000 Z0 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 2001 Z1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z2 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ2 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am.

Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 2002 Z1 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Deluxe Series) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) 2003 Z3 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) XN4 + 4 Digits 2004 Z4 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z5 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ5 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) XN5 + 4 Digits 2005 Z5 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z6 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ6 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) XN6 + 4 Digits 2006 Z6 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z7 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ7 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am.

Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) XN7 + 4 Digits 2007 Z7 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z8 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ8 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) XN8 + 4 Digits 2008 Z8 + 5 or 6 DIGITS Z9 + 5 or 6 DIGITS DZ9 + 5 or 6 DIGITS (Am. Deluxe) V + 5 or 6 DIGITS (American Vintage Series except '52 Telecaster) XN9 + 4 Digits 2009 US10 + 6 DIGITS 2010 US11 + 6 DIGITS 2011 US12 + 6 DIGITS 2012 US13 + 6 DIGITS 2013 US14 + 6 DIGITS 2014 US15 + 6 DIGITS 2015 US16 + 6 DIGITS 2016 The following serial numbers are somewhat outside the more, well known Fender serial number schemes. If you have what you consider to be a somewhat 'odd' serial number, please check the following chart to see if you find your serial number configuration here.

This chart contains ODD SERIAL NUMBERS NUMBER DESCRIPTION AMXN + 6 DIGITS California Series electric guitars and basses, '97 and '98 DN + 6 DIGITS American Deluxe series instruments, '98 and '99 NC(XXXXXX) Squier Strat Bullets (dating unclear) FN(XXXXXX) US made guitars and basses destined for the export market. Some may have stayed in the U.S or found their way back (Made to Standard Strat specs, dating unclear) I(XXXXXXX) A limited number of these 'I' series guitars were made in '89 and '90. They were made for the export market and have Made in USA stamped on the heel of the neck. LE(XXXXXX) Blonde Jazzmasters and Jaguars with Gold hardware made in 1994.