Hi,
I would like to ask two questions about my Fender guitar.
I own a second hand Standard Stratocaster made in Mexico.
On the back side of the head, there is a sticker that informs about celebration of 50 years of Fender in 1996.
I have checked guitar dating page on www.fender.com , but was unable to locate appropriate serial number.
The serial number of my guitar is : MN6228687. "MN6" would suggest 1996, but after it, there are 6 digits instead of 5 (on guitar dating page there are 5 digits after MN6).
Does it mean that my guitar is not genuine ?

My second question is about 1996 Mexican Stratocaster specifications.
Could you possibly post a link or information about wood, hardware and pickups that were used on those guitars ?

Thank you in advance,
regards

Tomek

The serial number of my guitar is : MN6228687. "MN6" would suggest 1996, but after it, there are 6 digits instead of 5 (on guitar dating page there are 5 digits after MN6).
Does it mean that my guitar is not genuine ?
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Not to worry, I'm pretty sure your guitar is genuine. An explanation for your extra serial number is probably just a goof on Fender's information page. It could also mean that the extra number was probably required after a big number of these were made.

Guitar_Hurricane - thank you for your reply.

I was not sure - everything looks genuine - sticker, Fender logos on tuners and on saddles, but I couldn't find matching serial number.

Do you know the wood from which those guitars were made ?

As far as I know, wood used for bodies in Mexican Strats now is alder, but I remember that once it was poplar (am I right ?).

Does anyone know if there were any changes connected with anniversary guitars from Mexico (1996 - 50 years of Fender) - for example other wood, better pickups, etc ?

Thank you in advance
regards

Tomek

Oh yeah, sorry about that, I totally missed your other inquiry.

I read somewhere on the internet awhile back about fender and it's wood back in the early 90's. I just can't remember the site, and almost half the facts I read.

It goes something like this. Fender has been using both alder and poplar, but in 89', or maybe it was 90' or 91', oh well, somwhere in there anyway, fender was having some kind of trouble with the availibility with their alder, I think it had something enviromentally to do with it. They were limited on the amount they could use, so naturally fender had to stop using it (just on the mexican made models, since their mass produced in very large numbers, more than american made ones), so they just substituted the alder with poplar since it is basically the closest they can come (as far as sound goes) to the alder while keeping with a tonewood that's good for guitar bodies. They had to do this for a few years until enviromentalists worked everything out, somewhere in the mid-nineties fender was given the go-ahead to start using alder again for their major mass-production guitars.

Don't hold me to this information, a few things here and there could be wrong but thats basically how the story went.

Your 96' should be free and clear from poplar, so you don't have to worry about that either. I think their limit ended in 94'.

Your guitar should be, without a doubt, alder.

Here's a site you can use for dating fender guitars and a number of other guitar makers, it's a good one www.guitardaterproject.org

As for your anniversary pickups, I'm not too sure about them, but for all I know they could be alittle more top-of-the-line, with an anniversary model they usually upgrade something, most likely it will be the pickups, since that's the number one upgrade that does a guitar justice.

According to the guitar dater project:

Your guitar was made at the
Ensenada Plant (Fender), Mexico
in the Year(s): 1996 - 1997

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Guitar_Hurricane - thanks again for your reply.

I have thought that my guitar's body was made from poplar - as far as I remember, I had browsed www.fender.com and found poplar in Mexican Strats specs.
Later, I saw alder in specs and I didn't know, which wood was used in 96.
I don't remember the time I saw "poplar" in specs on the page, but it is possible, that it was after 96 (I have broadband connection since about 1997, but have been using modem before). I also don't remember the time, when specs changed on the page.

Is it possible that bodies in Mexican Strats after 1996 were made from poplar ?

CAFeathers - thank you very much too. As I mentioned before, I was unsure because of the sixth digit in the serial number - but yours and Guitar_Hurricane's posts helped me a lot.

Thank you in advance,
regards

Tomek

Hi,
recently I was having my guitar serviced and luthier said that body is probably made from poplar.
I have also came across Mexican Strat description in Frontline 2001 and body was said to be made from poplar.
I just wanted to write this new information here, since I have started this topic.
Thank you for replies again.

I've noticed my MIM Strat does not say fender in the saddles... does that mean that the bridge has been replaced?

If you purchased the instrument as used, it's possible that a previous owner replaced the saddles with an aftermarket set.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

So it's definitely not the original bride?

I remember reading years back that Fender changed the MIMs to alder starting 1999 models..