Hey Guys.
Bowing to your superior knowledge of all thing Fender, I was out today working and passing a pawn shop, I see this Strat for sale.
The model number is N818899 and it is on the front of the headstock and it is an Electic Blue colour( well it looks like the blue one on Zjefris site) and it has a black Kahler locking trem on it.
The neck feels different to my Am Dlx HSS 2011 and it feels heavier too.
Any ideas? . I couldn't take any pictures as I was cameraless at the time so that is all I can give you for now..
BTW talking of serial numbers, how come the serial number of my Strat is US11016095?
I thought Am strats began with an N....
Keith

Another thing, the pick guard was a very reddish tortioshell too and it looks like the bridge pickup is a bladed type humbucker.

First let me address the serial number of your current American Deluxe Strat - US11016095 is a 2011 serial number. Since about March/April 2010 USA-built non-reissue Fenders have used a serial number system that starts with the letters "US" followed by the two digits that signify the year - so a 2010 USA Fender would start with "US10" followed by the six unique digits of the serial number. Your 2011 therefore starts with a "US11" followed by the unique digits "016095".

From sometime in 1976 through 2009 Fender used a differen system where a letter indicated the decade and the first digit following the letter indicated the year - this started shortly after Fender moved the serial numbers to the headstocks. The very first Fender headstock serial number decals actually started with a "76" followed by 5 numbers ("76xxxxx"), but that pretty quickly gave way to the letter format, so by mid-year the 1976 Fenders had "S6xxxxx" numbers. Fender was pretty sloppy about changing things back in the CBS days - for example they used 1979 numbers (S9xxxxx) through 1981. There are always exceptions (particularly in the 1980s) but the nomenclature would follow this system:

"S" = 1970s
"E" = 1980s
"N" = 1990s
"Z" = 2000s

This only works for USA guitars. So your question about "American Strats serial numbers beginning with N" is only true for Fenders made in the 1990s.

Fender never changes the serial numbers over exactly on January 1; there is always some overlap (particularly since the serial number is applied to the neck during finishing, and finished necks are stockpiled for a brief period of time). There are also some well-known anomalies:

1. "S9xxxxx" numbers on Strats and "S8xxxxx" numbers on Teles were used into the 1980s.
2. 1983/84 models (the 2-knob "Standard" and the Elite models) mostly used "E3xxxxx" numbers; very few ever got "E4xxxxx" numbers.
3. Fender's new owners, FMIC, wound up using those unused "E4xxxxx" (and any remaining "E3xxxxx") numbers on the initial American Standard instruments that were produced from late 1986 through as late as mid-1988; then they switched to "E8xxxxx" numbers; there were no USA Fenders with "E5", "E6", or "E7" serial numbers.
4. In 1990 there was a mix-up and some guitars went out with "N9xxxxx" numbers (which would have been used in 1999) instead of "N0xxxxx" numbers; this was quickly corrected. It is easy to tell if you have a 1990 from a 1999 by other cosmetics - a "real" 1999 would have the vintage-style "Fender" logo and the serial number on the back of the headstock; a 1990 with a 1999 number would have the silver modern "Fender" logo and the serial number on the front.
5. For a brief time (approximately January 2010 into March 2010) Fender used numbers that only started with a "10" - the font of the "10" was pretty close to the font of the other 6 numbers so they made the change to the "US10" format.

Regarding the guitar you saw in the pawn shop - in 1995 Fenders had moved the serial number on the USA (again non-reissue) models to the back of the headstock; the "N818899" would track to a 1998 Fender so the serial number should not be on the front of the headstock. We really need photos to figure out what that one is.

Wow , nice reply..
The serial number is on the front with words "serial number" next to it and the logo looked white to me. I did not have my glasses and had to get someone to write it down for me. lol
I have a few hours away from work tomorrow, I shall fly in and take a few photos of it.
They are asking $1000 AU for it?

here are some mobile photos I took today.. best pics I could take with out a proper camera.







And this lot said "Hi"....


Keith

It looks Japanese.

Hey Keith: unless my eyes deceive me the s/n is E818899 isn't it, not N8...?

With John C on the thread we'll know for certain what that means very shortly.

Though I'm going to stick my neck out about a quarter inch and speculate that the guitar did not come with that bridge pickup.

1000 Australian dollars equals US$1040, for anyone as wants to discuss the asking price...

Cheers - C

PS. Oh, by the way; do you know the girl fourth from right? And the one fifth from right? And the one sixth from right? And... If so - why are you wasting your time on guitar forums?

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hi Ceri,
It is defo a N, if it an E my eye sight must be worse then I thought.
LOL with the girls, I don,t even know who they where, I just got chatting with them one night and they volunteered for the photo.
I have an even better one of the Red Bull girls, they where doing a photo shoot in Liverpool, one day, and lucky old me got a quick 10 minute session with them for free. The wifes face was a picture in itself when I got the film developed and she seen all the pictures I had of blonde,buxom bikini clad near naked ladies
Keith

It really looks like an "E" to me too.

Crikey - then it's my eyesight that's bad. That looks mightly like an E to me, in the photo. Luckily, I happen to be having an eye test next week, so...



OK, that must be Liverpool in Australia? The Liverpool here in the UK looks a little different, far as the tropical background is concerned.

...Though that's pretty much how the office girls in our Liverpool dress as well, especially on a rainy winter's day.

Cheers - C

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Hi - sorry, I was offline all last night and didn't get a chance to get back to this thread.

Like Ceri and David I'm reading that as an "E" serial number, but in this case the "E8" really doesn't mean anything. Although it does not say "Made in Japan" that one is one of those oddball guitars from circa 1989-1991 where every part of it just screams "Fender Japan". For some reason these never had a country of origin decal under the finish. There are a couple of schools of thought on these:

1. They had a "Made in Japan" foil sticker applied over the finish that most people peeled off (or fell off with age) - Jackson/Charvel did this when they first moved Charvel production to Japan (and rebranded all their USA models "Jackson") circa 1986.

2. These were shipped to the USA from Japan unassembled and assembled here.

I've always ascribed to theory #1 - for whatever reason (wrong headstock decals used, not intended to be sold outside of Japan, etc.) these wound up with a "Made in Japan" sticker over the finish that was peeled off.

Regarding the serial number - for Fender's MIJ models only the letter meant anything regarding dating; the first digit after the letter was simply the first digit of the serial number, not a year code. Per Fender's info the "E" serial numbers were only used from 1984-1986. This is yet another really oddball part of these guitars - it still uses the "E" serial number when, based on the hardware, it is clearly no older than about 1988 when the Kalher Spyder trem first came out. Looking at the nut that is definitely a factory install, not an aftermarket replacement.

In terms of the model it looks like a modded "Contemporary Standard" - with the modification being the rail pickup. These would have had 3 Fender single coils originally; it's likely that the other two pickups are original. Fender first brought this model out circa 1985 - the first of them had Fender's System 1 tremolo. Fender had issues with these trems (which were made by Schaller) and at some point switched over to Kahler's fulcrum-style trem (a 2-post trem with roller saddles and fine tuners), and then after the HM Strats came out (circa 1989) they switched this model over the the Kahler Spyder (a double locking trem of their own design based on Floyd Rose patents) which is what is on this guitar.

Some of the earmarks of the MIJ Strats of that era - the serial number is in that gray typeface (USA Fenders used a black typeface for the serial number), the tuners appear to be Gotohs (USA Fenders used Schallers), and the truss rod plug is black and appears to be plastic (USA Fenders use walnut).

Hope that helps.

Edited twice to add some more serial number info.

Damn .... my eyes are really bad....
THis guy and I need to wear glasses!
The wife and my son reckon it is an E too.

Regarding Liverpool, it in the one in the UK, but these girls where on the beach front here in Perth.

+1
However I'm distracted by bikinis
Kahler trem, ans SN# looks like Japanese strat. Give my regards to miss maroon towel!!!

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