Ok New Member Here long time fender player. I have been parting together some strats lately and just picked up an American candy apple red body inside the first pup route is the letter COL stamped/routed anyone know anything about this? I have heard it means "color" but then why isnt it on every body that has paint? Thanks in advance for the input

Shawn

This is not my guitar or the color mine is but it is exactly what the stamp looks like.

I didn't read this and thought I was color blind for 10 mins.

Hi shawnsbox,

Is that mark used when a body has been refinished? Just guessing. I have seen a three letter code engraved under the pick guard of some older guitars, it was a code for the color. Example, LPB would mean Lake Placid Blue. But COL, ???

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that is 'candy cola' color code. I guess that body has been refinished.

Well, He said his guitar was candy apple red, so maybe it's really candy cola and they're just so close it's easy to mistake one for the other. The picture isn't his guitar, but if that's what COL really means, then I guess the one in the pic would of had to be refinished.

It's my understanding that recently Fender sorts its bodies and stamps some of them according to the paint finish they should receive.

My Amber finished 2005 Highway One Strat has NAT stamped in its cavity; meaning the body was good enough looking (in terms of grain and wood matching) to take a transparent finish.

COL means the wood isn't good enough looking and should get a solid color.

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My other guitar is a Strat.

Ok So here is the amazing update from contacting Fender directly....you ready for this????? "We really don't know what all those production marks mean, hard to say" Yep thats it thats all he had to say. Didnt even try to guess at it. Just said well anything else I can asist you with? WOW ok so ... well does anybody else have any knowledge or ideas about this?

That's sad......

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Orville's answer makes sense, NAT for Natural finish and COL for color. First time I've seen that mark though.

Consider yourself slightly unlucky if yours says BIN.

BIN ? do tell ...

i'm just curious but what does 'BIN' mean...

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... and why are there two extra holes in the neck pocket?

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

The extra holes are used as part of the jig that holds the body while being manufactured. Fender has changed this over the years, and for a while was using big round holes to hold the body in the jig.

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Quality!

Andy

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