I've been shopping for my first guitar and have noticed the differences in the Fender logo. I've seen black, silver and variations on the font. What is the significance of these variations?

There are many different Fender logos....they use different ones for different models. To better familiarize yourself with them you could look at Fenders home page and explore their current offerings. You'll be able to see which logos correspond with which models. Hope this helps...

Origenally the different logos were different models and different time periods of Fender.

I read some books on the bubject and it turns out that when they built guitars, Fender would grab whatever was on the shelf at the time.

For instance you might have a body date 6/58, but the neck says 2/59. Neck plate dates are same way. Fender made them and then through them in a bin. You got whatever the builder grabbed.

Now Fender is a little more careful. My Hwy 1 has the big fat fender headstock and logo. My 2004 50th Anniverary Strat has the Spegatti logo.

Here is a pretty good web site to go to.

http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html#specs

Also read 50 years of the Fender Stratocaster or the Fender Book.

Thanx for the info, guys. I appreciate it.

That's a good reference site that paris provided you..

Thank you for the link - very informative.

My fave is the slanty CBS Telecaster logo. Hate the curved Strat logo though=\

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