Hi everybody!

First of all, let me introduce myself to the forum, as this is my first post.

My name is Ricky, I´m from Almeria, SPAIN.I´m 31 and I´m a guitar lover/player/collector.

I own like 40 guitars, and big part of them are Fenders ( Blackie Tribute,Andy Summers Tribute, Relic 60, Strat Ultra, Clapton Signature, Sambora Signature....).

I used to own a 1996 Fender Stratocaster Richie Sambora in Cherry Sunburst with the Mid Boost and the Floyd Rose, but last month I had to sell her to get the Blackie Tribute Stratocaster....was a once in a lifetime chance of getting a Blackie Tribute and I had to sell FAST some pieces from my collection.

As soon as I´ve been able too, I´ve managed myself to get another identically Sambora in Cherry Sunburst.

Well, this one seems to be one of the firsts Samboras ever produced by Fender.....

I got it from a serious collector, wich just sold me her as a regular Richie Sambora Stratocaster in Cherry Sunburst, Mid Boost, Floyd Rose, and all the usual specs expected on this model.

First of all, when I´ve opened the case, the finish looks AWESOME, the mother in pearl stars are just amazing and the wood and Cherry Sunburst finish is just VERY SUPERIOR comparing to my beloved 1996 Sambora

As I said finish/construction is superB, is a lot better than my 1996 Sambora that I used to own for years....and the sound is amazing too, you know, is "ONE" of these guitars that you plug and know that she has something special.....

And there´s something RARE with the serial number....

The serial number in the back of the headstock, it reads:

SERIAL SE 921993
NUMBER

The SE prefix is a little bigger than the numbers, and there´s a little space between the SE and the 921993.

here you can see a pic:
http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/1817 ... serial.jpg

So, accordding to the book Guitar Identification A Reference for Dating Guitars Made by Fender, there´s some first production Signatures with the SE9 prefix, that can only be dated by the neck stamp.

Of course, this is not a 89 Signature as could be expected from the serial(SE9), as long as Samboras were produced from 1993 to 2002.So the SE9 prefix is not the usual "production prefix".

The Samboras were introduced in 1993, right?

The neck stamp in this Sambora is 16 June 1993...so this confirms is one of the firsts Samboras ever produced in 1993.

So, the serial is ending in 1993 (SE921993), with would match with a first production signature series (SE9) and manufactured in 1993 (SE9 2 1993).

Might this one be the 2nd Sambora ever made???? (SE9=firsts signature production prefix, 2=second one made, 1993=in 1993)= SE921993

I´d like to know if you can give me some information/help identifyin this guitar...seems to be a "rara avis", and maybe is one of that first production/prototypes Fender did for Richie.

Another "strange" thing in this guitar is that the Richie Sambora signature decals wich usually appears in the front of the headstock has been wipped off....wich makes me think that maybe a Fender endorser got it from Fender or whatever and wanted to remove Richie´s Signature from the front of the headstock.....or maybe never was there...

I know that the original protoype,first Sambora ever produced and given to Richie, the same guitar he has played for YEARS, doesn´t have the Richie Sambora signature decal in the headstock

I´m really curious about this guitar...as I say, I own and I´ve owned a lot of Fender, and I can recognize an amazing instrument when I see it...and this Sambora is awesome, waaay better than my 1996 one...the finish, the wood, the inlays...everything is far superior than expected form a regular production signature series...is more of a Custom Shop line maybe...I can´t explain it with words....

I really think this one is a special Sambora, maybe a proto, maybe one of the firsts made and given to an endorser or dealer or whatever....I dont know, hope you guys can help me to solve this mistery.

Regards from Spain,

Rick

Steel, I'm no expert on samboras, but there is a user floating around here with a custom built double neck sambora who has a couple of stock ones. If anyone would know, I recon it would be him (I'll go dig up the thread for you).

Just before I go, can we get some more pics of the guitar, it sounds fantastic.

Dan

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My Rig: Guitar into Pedals then into Amps and out into Speakers.

Just letting you know that would be sambostrat, and the that thread you speak of is a few scrolls down below this one. Hope that helps! =)

Found it (with a little help from rdfnd :p)

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=41188

He may be able to help you

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My Rig: Guitar into Pedals then into Amps and out into Speakers.

Thanks!

I´ll try to contact him.

I had never heard that Fender used the "SE" prefix for anything but signature edition...and that serial number would indicate an 89..SE8 = 88, SE9=89..the rest is the sequential number.

Are you sure you have your facts straight? Sure it would be nice if Fender had used a serial number system so simple...but I have never heard of that being the case. It may be a nice guitar don't get me wrong..but the serial number may not mean what you think, at least not according to any Fender research I can find or any Fender books. It does not add up sorry to say.

Or check here from Fender themselves...

http://www.fender.com/support/usa_instruments.php

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Funny I found a pic of my 1996 Sambora in this forum : http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... 728#520728

She actually is not the one made by Todd Krause for Richie on 1993 NAMM, she is a 1996 regular production Sambora.

Sold her a month ago, and now I´ve got this "misterious" one of the firsts ever Sambora made...I think she could even be a proto....

Hi Ebaysux!

Fender used the SE9 prefix for Signatures, not meaning anything about the date but about being one of the firsts signatures made.

Here you can see a Sambora Stratocaster owned by Richie wich has the same Prefix: http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Stratocaster ... 500wt_1154

As you can see, is SE921474...and was owned by Richie...maybe one of the firsts Samboras ever made and given to Richie???

Here´s another original neck, dated May 1994, serial SE927268: http://cgi.ebay.com/Richie-Sambora-Fend ... 500wt_1154

Anyway, accordding to the book Guitar Identification A Reference for Dating Guitars Made by Fender, there´s some first production Signatures with the SE9 prefix, that can only be dated by the neck stamp.

The misterious thing is that 1993 that appears at the end of my serial (SE921993), matches the 1993 June 16th date on the neck stamp...and is a very "rare" number..1993...and by the date is, for sure, one of the first Samboras ever made.

I´m waiting official answer from Fender....or maybe you can add some info to this.

I know the Sambora where introduced in the 1993 NAMM, that was January, and some moths after, Fender created the Signature Sambora Stratocaster, wich appears in the Summer 1993 Catalog
(I think for first time, the Sambora wasn´t yet in the 1992 Fall Catalog), so, knowinf this one is dated by the neck stamp in June 16 1993, as I said, is for sure one of the early production Sambora, but...how early??? why that rare serial number with the 1993???

Can´t contact Sambostrat....Private Messages seems to be disabed on this forum....

Well, what we got clear is that this is one of the first ever samboras made due to the neck date stamp, but....

Is this really a special one???

The serial number doesn´t seems to be a "regular" one, with the 1993 at the end....

Thanks for the info, learn something new every day here. Hopefully Fender can shed some light if your serial number means it was the 2nd one made or just happens to end in 1993.

Good Luck.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Well.....I´ve found new info that put things a little more clear:

- There wasn´t any "series of guitar with the SE9 prefix" as long as the SE9 prefix has been used for a lot of differents artists signatures before 1994 (SRVs, Claptons) and wasn´t correlative.There are for example SRVs from 1992 and 1993 wich has the SE9.And a couple of Samboras....As it seems, the SE9 prefix was used for a lot of signature series guitars, so the numbers after the SE92 means nothing, bigger or smaller, and the only way of knowing the manufacturing date was to go to the date in the neck stamp.Having an SE prefix in your signature just means that it is a pre-1994 (in 1994, the Signaturwes began to use the SN4 prefix, then SN5 for 1995, etc...).So, my Sambora is a pre-1994, wich we already knew because of the nweck stamp (June 16th 1993).

- Sambora manufacturing began after the registering of the patent of the Sambora Model with the Electronics, TBX, Booster, etc was done.The patent of the Richie Sambora is dated March 15th 1993, (patent Nº 0041639-000).This comes with the documentation of the guitar and can be easily checked, so, Sambora production began after the patent was registered.

- Knowing that, my guitar was dated June 16th 1993 by the neck stamp date.....very very shortly after the patent date, so, this is for sure one of the first Samboras ever made.

- Here is a Fender Sambora owned by Richie wich has the SE9 prefix : http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Stratocaster ... 154.Serial is SE921474.As long as the owner says (having a COA and a letter from Richie) this is one of the protos given to Richie himself.Would be great to know the neck stamp date, probably will be near to mine.Is for sure a 1993 one too.

Well, I´m waiting answer from Fender, but what I know for sure is that:

- SE92 was a prefix used in Signatures models pre-1994 (Claptons, SRVs, Samboras, Malmsteens..)

- Sambora manufacturing was after the patent, dated March 15th 1993, so, the only Samboras with SE9 prefix were all made in 1993 AND after March 1993.

- Mine is from June 16th 1993.Very very little after the patent was registered.

Now we got the 1993 mistery....could be just a coincidence, or maybe not.I noticed about the "rare" serial number because, when I first got the guitar yesterday, the look and quality of the instrument, as well as the sound and playability is waaaaay better than my beloved and owned for years 1996 Sambora.The mother of pearl used in the inlays, the woof after the wonderful Cherry Sunburst finish....owning and having played soooo many Fenders, I know when a Fender is something special, differenced of the other guitars.....

That´s what made me search about if my Sambora was a special model, maybe from the Custom Shop or whatever, and that´s why I began to search info with the serial number.Then I found out it was a "rare" serial number, wich added curiosity to know why a so rare serial in such awesome guitar...¿¿maybe Custom Made or maybe a proto???

What is for sure is that, at least, this is one of the first production Samboras ever, due to the date in the neck stamp.

I haven´t found evidence of a Sambora dated before mine, June 16th 1993.

Sure Fender can say something about this guitar, I wrote to them asking, let´s see what they say....

Pretty cool if it indeed is a prototype or if its one of the first made. On another note steeljaw, do you know of anyone with one for sale? Preferably a beater one or someone with just the neck for sale?

Either way enjoy it..sounds like a rare jem.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Hi!

I know a guy wich is selling a Sambora here for 2500€.Pretty good price here in Europe, but is not a beater one...

There´s another one in London for like 1800€ wich is more a beater, but the guy just accepts local pick-up, so....

What is for sure is that, at least, is one of the firsts Samboras ever made...

And that is an AWESOME instrument....light years away from my 1996 same model/finish Sambora, wich BTW you can see pics of here : https://sites.google.com/site/steeledge ... rasignatur

Funny I found a picture of this Sambora in this forum( http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=39350 ), thu actually IS NOT a Todd Krause made for the 1993 NAMM, hehehee