How Do I know I have a 2012 American Standard

jw3571 · **Joined:** Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:03 pm **Posts:** 24

I just got my 2012(I think) American Standard. This is my first fender. How do I know that I actually have the 2012 model? The first digits of the serial number are US11 which worries me. Shouldn't it be US12? Can someone that has a 12 help me out? Thanks.

stratele52 · **Posted:** Sat May 12, 2012 2:37 am

Yes it's a 2011 not a 2012

chromeface · **Posted:** Sat May 12, 2012 2:44 am

The 2012 US Standards feature CS Fat 50's.

antitype · **Joined:** Sun Mar 28, 2010 1:59 pm **Posts:** 158

The serial number is not the best indicator of year. Fender will continue to use "old" serials as they introduce a new model. My 2010 American Deluxe starts with DZ9 . . .

The tried and true method is to send the serial to Fender and they can give you the specs.

Bluer Monkey · **Joined:** Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:49 pm **Posts:** 838

I had the same question about my ADStrat (serial US11...) which I bought brand new last month. Some good people over at Fender Customer Relations cleared things up.

Quote:

"Necks are typically made a couple months in advance. The serial number decals are applied at that time under the finish. It is not until the neck is mated with a specific color of body and assembled as a complete instrument that the serial number which identifies the guitar is entered into our system. That date is the official build date."

joemama10 · **Joined:** Sat Jul 28, 2007 5:36 am **Posts:** 42

I am pretty sure that the 2012 strats have creme colored pickup covers and volume and tone knobs. I have seen them in person and they look different than the 2011's.

paris · **Posted:** Sat May 12, 2012 9:19 am

antitype wrote:

The serial number is not the best indicator of year. Fender will continue to use "old" serials as they introduce a new model. My 2010 American Deluxe starts with DZ9 . . .

The tried and true method is to send the serial to Fender and they can give you the specs.

Totally agree. I have an '04 50th Anniversary Am. Series Strat and the number is '03.
Hell my Hwy 1 I bought brand new in August '07 had an '06 S/N.

ukraider · **Posted:** Sat May 12, 2012 11:07 am

Email the serial to consumerrelations@fender.com ask for info on your guitar they should reply after a few days with the spec of your guitar they usually also include when the guitar was shipped "born" date.

My 2012 fsr american standard tele has a US11 serial number and was shipped out "born" in february 2012 keep the reply with the guitar for future reference.

We should see the US12 serials on guitars take over from june/july this year.

jw3571 · **Joined:** Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:03 pm **Posts:** 24

THanks.

John C · **Posted:** Sat May 12, 2012 12:37 pm

ukraider wrote:

Email the serial to consumerrelations@fender.com ask for info on your guitar they should reply after a few days with the spec of your guitar they usually also include when the guitar was shipped "born" date.

My 2012 fsr american standard tele has a US11 serial number and was shipped out "born" in february 2012 keep the reply with the guitar for future reference.

We should see the US12 serials on guitars take over from june/july this year.

True that Fender typically uses up the serial numbers before switching. However, they have already transitioned to US12 serial numbers - I've seen several Fenders with them (mostly those Empress wood Telebration models and American Selects). They probably started switching to the US12 serials with guitars shipped out in mid-late March.

On the other hand the bulk of the new-spec American Standards I've seen on-line have US11 serial numbers; I've only seen a few with a US12 serial number.

jw3571 · **Joined:** Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:03 pm **Posts:** 24

It is a 2012 strat. Fender got back to me today with the specs. Manufactured 3/12.

John C · **Posted:** Wed May 16, 2012 1:26 pm

I'm just bumping this one back up to say that Fender has recently updated their product dating pages all the way through 2012 (US12xxxxxx) serial numbers (the MIM page goes through the MX11xxxxxx numbers as the MX12xxxxxx numbers won't be used for a few more months) with very detailed descriptions of the post-2010 changes. Here is the updated USA product dating page:

http://www.fender.com/support/articles/u-s-instruments-product-dating

Andorra	EN	ES	FR
Belgium	EN	DE	FR
Croatia	EN
Czech Republic	EN
Estonia	EN
France	EN	FR
Germany	EN	DE
Italy	EN	IT
Latvia	EN
Lithuania	EN
Malta	EN
Netherlands	EN
Poland	EN
Romania	EN
Slovakia	EN
Sweden	EN
United Kingdom	EN

Austria	EN	DE
Bulgaria	EN
Cyprus	EN
Denmark	EN
Finland	EN
Greece	EN
Hungary	EN
Ireland	EN
Liechtenstein	EN	DE
Luxembourg	EN	DE	FR
Monaco	EN	FR
Norway	EN
Portugal	EN
Slovenia	EN
Spain	EN	ES
Switzerland	EN	DE	FR	IT

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