Squier serial number

stu

I have a Squier bullet strat and Ive been trying to find out when are where it was made. Just for interest sake.

Anyway its serial number is S/N 0495338. I assume thats the serial number because its on the back of the neck just above where it says a genuine fender product and all that nonsense.

I went through a guide to try figure it out but nothing adds up.

Any ideas?

nick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squier

But they all say there should be a letter before the serial saying where it was made.

Frans-B--Cocq

I suspect 2004. My Affinity was made in -00, and the serial starts with 00.

stu

I also thought it was a 2004 guitar. So then maybe S/N stands for serial number.

Is there anywhere else on the guitar I might find a serial numer? Since this number doesnt make sence

Frans-B--Cocq

Yup, S/N goes for serial number. And don't worry, serials don't make sense.

Wonder why they don't just write down the date and location of manufacture?

stu

Frans B. Cocq wrote: Wonder why they don't just write down the date and location of manufacture?

Thats such an obvious thing to do.
Although a bunch of numbers looks a bit better then 'Made in China 2004'

DonovanB

Frans B. Cocq wrote: Wonder why they don't just write down the date and location of manufacture?

Its because the software used makes it very difficult to keep track of. so a serial number give more info, ie date and place of manufactre, as well as who made it and will help track what batch of wood, paint or other parts were used.

AlanRatcliffe

Also lets wholesalers and retailers keep track of specific instruments.

stu

Okay I see.

But putting:

S/N 0495338
Made in China 2004

would be the best thing to do.

AlanRatcliffe

Ideally a serial number will usually contain all the details to those who know how to decode them - factory, year, month and what number the guitar was out of the factory in that month. I knew someone who had a Gibson Artisan LP and when he contacted Gibson looking for info in the early-90s, they came back to him, not only with the day it was finished, but the name of the guy who built it. They also told him they had checked and they still had the offcuts of the blanks his guitar was made from, so if he ever needed to send it to them for major repair, they would be able to use the same wood it was made from to fix it.

Unfortunately, it's started getting difficult to keep track of serial between all the different factories (like the famous "E" & "N" series snafus between Fender US and Fender Japan). There are just too many guitars being made and sold - especially the cheaper ones. Also, some manufacturers have never kept good records of what their own serial numbers meant through the years. Also shit sometimes happens - I know Washburn lost all their records to a fire a decade or so ago.

alteredtunings

Fender is notorious for keeping horrible records and making illogical serial changes over the years. Part of it is like what Alan said. They just make too many guitars at too many factors. The other part is, sometimes I think they want to confuse people with their foreign guitars. They don't want people to know too much. ha ha. It never really made sense to me. How difficult could it be to just keep a serial number sequence consistent?

Here is a good guide that I go to when I need to lookup a serial number. It explains more than the fender website does.

http://www.guitarrepairbench.com/guitar-dating/fender-serial-number.html

DonovanB

What I think when someone posts in a REALLY old thread...