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Check My Guitar

Fender guide

Fender American serial numbers

S for the 1970s, E for the 1980s, N for the 1990s, Z for the 2000s — and from 2010, the year printed plainly.

The prefix table

Fender US serial number prefixes and their production periods
PrefixYearsPlant
S61976–1977Fullerton, California
S71977–1978Fullerton, California
S81978–1979Fullerton, California
S91979–1981Fullerton, California
E01980–1981Fullerton, California
E11981–1982Fullerton, California
E21982–1983Fullerton, California
E31983–1984Fullerton, California
E41984–1985Fullerton, California
E81988–1989Corona, California
E91989–1990Corona, California
N01990–1991Corona, California
N11991–1992Corona, California
N21992–1993Corona, California
N31993–1994Corona, California
N41994–1995Corona, California
N51995–1996Corona, California
N61996–1997Corona, California
N71997–1998Corona, California
N81998–1999Corona, California
N91999–2000Corona, California
Z02000–2001Corona, California
Z12001–2002Corona, California
Z22002–2003Corona, California
Z32003–2004Corona, California
Z42004–2005Corona, California
Z52005–2006Corona, California
Z62006–2007Corona, California
Z72007–2008Corona, California
Z82008–2009Corona, California
Z92009–2010Corona, California

American Deluxe instruments of the 2000s used DZ prefixes on the same year cycle as the Z series.

Why every range covers two years

This is not caution on our part. Fender publishes these as two-year ranges because that is what the underlying process produced.

Necks, bodies and finished instruments were dated at different points. Necks were made in batches and drawn from stock; a guitar assembled in February routinely carries a neck stamped the previous September, and the decal was applied at yet another point. There is no single date to recover.

Anyone quoting a single exact year from a Fender serial alone is asserting more than the number supports. If you need a tighter date, the neck heel stamp and the pot codes will get you closer than the serial will.

Getting a tighter date

Remove the neck and read the date pencilled or stamped on the heel. Check the date codes on the potentiometers through the control cavity. Where those two agree with each other and sit inside the serial's range, you have a well-supported date.

The missing E5, E6 and E7

Fender's published table runs E0 to E4, then jumps to E8. The gap is real, and it records one of the more turbulent periods in the company's history.

CBS sold Fender to a group of employees and investors in 1985. The Fullerton plant closed, and for a period American production essentially stopped while a new factory was established at Corona. Instruments sold in those years were largely Japanese-built, which is why the Made in Japan instruments of the mid-1980s exist in the numbers they do.

A serial beginning E5, E6 or E7 is therefore not a rare find. It is a reason to check the number again.

The 2010 change

From 2010 the guesswork was removed. US instruments carry a US prefix, then the two-digit year, then a six-digit sequence: US12123456 is 2012. Mexican production follows the same pattern with an MX prefix.

These are the most readable Fender serials there have ever been, and they date instruments to a single year rather than a range.

Examples

  • S9123456 — USA, 1979–1981
  • E2123456 — USA, 1982–1983
  • N4123456 — USA, 1994–1995
  • Z1123456 — USA, 2001–2002
  • US12123456 — USA, 2012

V-prefix American Vintage instruments

American Vintage reissues carry a V prefix, and Fender has never published a year mapping for them. The series ran from 1982 onwards and the number identifies the series without encoding a date.

Our decoder reports this rather than inventing a year. To date a V-prefix instrument you need the neck heel date or the pot codes.

Common questions

Why does my Fender serial give a two-year range instead of one year?
Because Fender's own tables do. Necks, bodies and complete instruments were dated at different points in production, so a serial identifies a period rather than a single year. The neck heel stamp and potentiometer codes will narrow it.
What does an E5 prefix mean on a Fender?
E5, E6 and E7 do not appear in Fender's published table. US production was heavily disrupted during the 1985 transition out of CBS ownership and the move from Fullerton to Corona. A serial reading E5 is most likely a mis-read.
How do I date a V-prefix American Vintage Fender?
Not from the serial. Fender has never published a year mapping for V-prefix numbers. Read the date on the neck heel or the potentiometer codes instead.

Last reviewed 29 July 2026. Spotted something wrong? Report a correction.