Ok looking at an 1984 strat with a E4xxxx "neck" serial number. Asked the seller to show me a picture of the neck pocket on the body and it has a stamp "1987" with scribble and other stamp markings. Question...can this be? Was there this much variance in dates b/tween neck and body. He said he bought it from GC used 20+ years back . Seems to be a good dude but........ Anyone shed some light on this one?

i just saw an Ebay add where a 1987 Strat (body neck stamp) had an 1984 neck serial number. The add states that Fender was in the midst of the factory changeover from Fullerton to Corona and this was too uncommon. Left over Fullerton necks being put on corona bodies. ,,,,, The picture unfolds?

Hi, You can read about some history of the E4 serial numbers on my website ( http://xhefriguitars.com/page2.html ) But in short CBS sold Fender in 1985, there was no production of Fender guitars in the U.S. from February, 1985 to October, 1985 (almost 8 months!). When the Corona plant was started up, only the Vintage Reissue Stratocaster models were produced between late 1985 through 1986 and those had the serial numbers stamped on the neck plates. In 86 Fender introduced the American Standard Strat and many of those carried the E4 Serial numbers. Then in late 1987 Fender introduced the Strat Plus and they too carried the E4 serial numbers. You take the guitar apart and the neck or neck socket could be dated between 87 to as late as early 89! Here is a sample of an American Standard Strat I recently restored and featured here on the Forum. Note the dates in the neck socket and the neck and the serial number:

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Thanks for your post....now. When I took off the pickgaurd....it had a boat cavity like the plus series. And tbx for the tone. But....no roller nut or locking tuners. So its basic layout was a strat plus but ended up being a standard? all solder joints are original. Thanks.....your site is great info.

If it came with Lace Sensors it was most likely a American Deluxe Standard Strat. Here is some info from my website regarding these. Oh, by the way, I think the source where I picked up this info was wrong and that Fender made way more than 400 of these. I have seen a lot of them on eBay and have owned several myself:

Fender introduced an Deluxe American Standard Strat in 1989 and discontinued them in 1990—so they had a short production life of about one year. It is estimated that only 400 instruments were produced. They came with all the features of a Strat Plus, such as Gold Lace Sensors but no locking tuners or roller nut. They are some-what collectible and are sometimes sold, mistakenly, as a Strat Plus. (They will often have the E4 or E9 serial number too and many of the parts will be leftovers from the pre-CBS buyout). Over time, these may very well be quite collectible.

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Also don't forget that American Standards had the swimming pool route and the TBX tone control for much of their run:

The TBX was changed to the Delta Tone sometime circa mid-1996/early 1997.

The swimming pool route was phased out during 1998 after the American Deluxes replaced the Strat Plus/Plus Deluxe/Ultra line. From what I've read it was phased in - you might find in say June 1998 that one color would still have the pool route while another color built on the same day might have the current HSH route.

Mine does not have the lace sensors....staggered pole single coil, 5 way, etc.... Looks to be all original, case and all. I plugged this monster in and sreamin neemies'. Nothiong like aged alder perfection. Like wine.....there's no way to hurry the process of cured, mature wood. The neck p/up is quite a bit hotter than the bridge p/up. Its a beautiful three tone with a darker patina of course and all the hardware is near mint as its spent a majority of time in the case. If I ever figure how to post a pic on this site...I will. Thanks again, Cj

Then you do have the American Standard Strat with production that started in mid 1986. That is the same kind of Strat those picts I posted above is. Earlier models had screw in stud type Bridge pole where the later 87-88 models moved over to the brass inserts for the screw in bridge studs. And as John C stated it has a swimming pool route. Check out this thread:

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?t=45579

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Yes 2 everything....Screw in bridge bolts directly to the wood w/out brass inserts....nonpainted tremolo block..but the neck pocket does say 1987. Cant read any of the numbers (only a #2)before the 1987 but there is a large 66 in black hand writing on both the neck and the neck pocket (quality control signature?) other than the headstock serial # there is no date stamp on the neck itself nor any written pencel markings under the finish. I just bought this guitar for shhhhhh($500.00) with the original case & like I said has been living in the case for 20+ years. As for the real only blunder is one screw hole per tuner that are hidden under the now restored original tuners (where the previous owner put after market locking sperzels). But everything is hidden and I suppose I can have them filled. I really dig it.

You said staggered polepieces on the pickups? Those are likely replacements then - American Standards had flat polepiece pickups for their entire run. Fender didn't change back to staggered polepieces until the American Series came out in 2000. However everything else would be correct (5-way, TBX for the middle and bridge pickup, all the listed hardware, etc.).

Howerver, nothing with Fender is absolute; they could have easily installed reissue pickups that day at the factory by accident. I've even seen photos of a brand new 2008 American Standard straight from the factory with Highway 1 electronics installed because someone grabbed the wrong pickguard.

If you go to this thread: http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?t=45579 I show you how I fixed the same problem on this 87 Strat that I have where someone put on aftermarket tuners. After they were filled and it was finished you could only see the holes in bright light and look really close. Check it out!

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I was wrong. When I looked closer, they are indeed all level/flat to each other. Thanks for the pointer!

Yep - those would be the original pickups then; sounds like the electronics were untouched factory stock.