Hey all, I am trying to find out some more info about a HSS I bought last year. I checked the Fender site and was unable to decipher anything about the serial number on the headstock. Serial number is 0801122149. Can anybody help me wih this? Thanks

You must have 2 letters before the number like NS.......

How about some photos? Was it sold to you as a Made in USA or Made in Mexico (MIM) model or was it made somewhere else?

Typically the USA and the MIM models have a date code in the serial number. For the USAs from mid-1976 through the end of 2009 the serial numbers started with a letter for the decade and the first digit of the number is the year of manufacture - this is what is on the Fender site (examples - S7XXXX = 1977; E9XXXX = 1989; N4XXXXX = 1994; and Z0 = 2000). Fender did stop this last year; for the first 4 months of the year they just used "10XXXXXX"; unfortunately the "10" was just about the same font as the other 6 numbers so about May Fender changed this to "US10XXXXXX" and made the "US10" part much bolder. They should start using "US11XXXXXX" numbers sometime soon.

Until the 2010 numbers came out the also used special serial numbers for certain models - most USA signature models had an "S" before the year prefix (i.e. "SZ2XXXXXX" would be on say a 2002 Clapton or Beck Strat). The American Deluxe models had a "D" before the year prefix, so a "DZ6XXXXXX" number would be on a 2006 American Deluxe.

The MIM models would have an "M" before the letter and their numbers change over mid-year - so MN6XXXXXX would be from say July 1996-June 1997; because of this there were no "10XXXXXX" MIM guitars; they jumped from "MZ9XXXXXX" to their new prefix of "MX10" last summer.

The serial number you list has more digits - the USA and MIMs are either 6 or 7 digits after the prefix. There was never a "08" prefix; 2008 models would have a "Z8" prefix.

I'd be happy to post some but it doesn't seem to let me do so. It looks like a HSS strat, plays and sounds like a strat. It has strat Headstock that says Made in U.S.A., maple fretboard, color is classic 3-tone sunburst, but it has that crazy serial number on it.

You have to have the photos on some kind of hosting service like Photobucket.

Then you have to use the "Img" button in this "Post a reply" window (it's on the line that starts with the "B" for "bold"). That button puts the image tags in place and you copy the URL of the photo. One thing I have found is that you can't just post a photo with Photobucket's own IMG tags; this board software doesn't recognize it and you have to use the "Img" button.

I hate to sound negative about it, but counterfit "Fender" and "Made in USA" decals are widely available; the serial number makes me question it without photos.