I'm looking at this guitar on e-bay. I've asked the seller to send me the serial number. Can I find out with the serial number if it's a genuine USA '57 Reissue Strat. The guitar is really sharp. White with maple neck and he claims its brand new, never been played.

If you email the serial number to:

consumerrelations@fender.com

They should email you all the relevant information.

Contacting Consumer Relations is the best way to verify; however, if the serial number does not start with a "V" it probably isn't an AV '57.

I guess it is possible that some of the "Thin Skins" could have an "SE" or an "LE" serial number, but I believe those were of other years (like '54, '63, etc.). I think even that run of '57 Thin Skins from 3-4 years ago had a "V" serial number.