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Post subject: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 4:53 pm
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Hello All, I just found a 62 AVRI Strat while on a road trip. She is Sherwood Green and I just could not resist the tone and feel so I snatched her up. Since I was on a road trip with limited space I am having her shipped to my house.
I pulled the neck to adjust the truss rod a little for shipping and found the date stamp etc. Now here is my question?
What do you use to date the guitar?
The paper label?
The Ink Stamp?
Or the Pencil Markings?
I have pictures of all three and to me they all seem to show different dates.
Thanks
Mike

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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:41 pm
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Unless you have the build sheet, you really only date it to the year by the serial#.

The various date stamps on the components don't relate to the build date as necks and bodies are stockpiled for later use. These dates are the date the component is produced, not the date the guitar is built. People reference these for corroboration only.

All the parts are usually dated within a 12-18mo. period coinciding with the Serial # date.

I have actual build dates on 5 of my guitars. 3 because I wrote Fender and they sent it to me as part of the build sheet. The other 2 (non-Fender) incorporate the build date into the serial#.

cheers!

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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 6:14 pm
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Lightnin...Thanks for the info.
I actually emailed Fender after I posted (didn't think of it before I posted) anyway I got a response back in less than an hour must be a record.

Her build date is 12/1999 according to Fender

Thanks again
Mike


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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 6:23 pm
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Lightnin MN wrote:
Unless you have the build sheet, you really only date it to the year by the serial#.

The various date stamps on the components don't relate to the build date as necks and bodies are stockpiled for later use. These dates are the date the component is produced, not the date the guitar is built. People reference these for corroboration only.

All the parts are usually dated within a 12-18mo. period coinciding with the Serial # date.

I have actual build dates on 5 of my guitars. 3 because I wrote Fender and they sent it to me as part of the build sheet. The other 2 (non-Fender) incorporate the build date into the serial#.


+1

Its like trying to determine the exact date that an old Chevy rolled out of the assembly plant. The Fisher Body tag will have a completion date, the cylinder block and tranny housing will each have a date, and the rear axle will have a date, and none of these four major components may necessarily jive with one another, or even the model year that the title documentation might specify for the car.

For a Fender guitar, the serial number is a good place to start but only on the assumption that the instrument is intact (body and neck left the Fender plant mated to one another). It grows murky when an instrument has been modded or upgraded and the date may be nigh impossible to determine in the case of a parts-caster, even if the guitar contains all Fender components.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 6:40 pm
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mbbreen wrote:
Lightnin...Thanks for the info.
I actually emailed Fender after I posted (didn't think of it before I posted) anyway I got a response back in less than an hour must be a record.

Her build date is 12/1999 according to Fender

Thanks again
Mike


Nice !

So when we gonna see some pics...??

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele


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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 8:14 pm
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So far I only got a couple of pics with my phone but here she is. The back plate/cover is white so I am pretty sure it is a replacement but otherwise she looks original. I checked pots and parts that I could see easily and those with dates on them all are from 1998/99 so I am thinking original parts. At least that's my story.

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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:16 pm
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Really nice !

Congrats !

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele


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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:09 pm
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Mighty fine looking axe!

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 1:59 am
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Very nice!

I am not usually a fan of Sherwood Green, but that looks fantastic. Nice score! 8)

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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:50 am
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mbbreen wrote:
So far I only got a couple of pics with my phone but here she is. The back plate/cover is white so I am pretty sure it is a replacement but otherwise she looks original. I checked pots and parts that I could see easily and those with dates on them all are from 1998/99 so I am thinking original parts. At least that's my story.



You've got the one Strat I wish I had back! Well, not the exact one as I got it in June 1999 (and the hang tag on mine was from May 1999) but it was a Sherwood green AV '62 Strat. Of all the guitars that have come through my hands over the years that 1999 AV '62 is one of only 3 guitars I wish I had kept.

The back plate is original - mine had a one-ply white back plate even though it had the 3-ply mint green pickguard and aged pickup covers. I don't know when Fender really went to a 3-ply white back plate in the early 1960s, but at least for the reissues CBS and FMIC both used the same 1-ply white plate on both the '62 and the '57.

As far as a date on yours I would go with the stamp on the white sticker - that was probably the date it was assembled even though the parts were produced a bit earlier in the year (plus it is the latest date of all of them). She's a pretty one; enjoy!!!


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Post subject: Re: On a Start what date do you use to date the guitar?
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 12:38 pm
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Thanks JohnC. I actually have confirmation from Fender that the serial number on it shows production of 12/1999 so that confirms the dates I have found through the guitar when I was inspecting it.

Thank You for the info on the back plate surprising they didn't match the pick guard, I really thought it was a replacement not that it mattered to me. The whole guitar is spectacular in my opinion.

Mike


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