Guide / SELECTED VINTAGE GUITARS
Fender serial number decoder — year, country & factory
Decode Fender serial numbers from the USA, Japan, Mexico, Korea and Indonesia. MIJ, CIJ, JV, JD, US and MX dating, exceptions and manufacturer sources.
SELECTED VINTAGE GUITARS / SERIAL DECODER
Decode your Fender serial number
Enter the complete number. If you can read the country or MIJ/CIJ wording, select it below.
No account needed. The number is sent only to our website to calculate the result; we do not store it in our catalogue or page URL.
Coverage: documented Fender schemes from the USA, Japan, Mexico, Korea and Indonesia. An independent SVG decoder, not Fender’s factory database or a complete Squier decoder.
How to read a serial and verify the result ↓Fender serial number decoder: from number to production period
A serial number is a useful starting point for identifying a Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Precision Bass or Jazz Bass. It is not a complete instrument record. Our decoder compares the number with documented numbering schemes and returns possible years, country, numbering family and available factory information. Every result links to the source behind its rule.
Copy the complete number, including its prefix. Check the front and back of the headstock, neck plate, neck heel area and, where applicable, bridge plate. Note the “Made in…” or “Crafted in…” wording. A clear photograph of the markings is more useful than a seller’s transcription of the digits alone. If the wording is unknown, use automatic matching and compare every possibility.
USA: why E4 and N9 do not yield one simple date
Early American numbers without a prefix fall into overlapping ranges. Later S, E, N and Z prefixes do not always identify a single calendar year either. An illustrative E412345 can fit US production in 1984–1985 or 1987–1988, while Japanese origin wording leads to a different range. The decoder therefore does not reduce E4 automatically to 1984.
N9 is another exception: some decals were used on instruments in 1990 even though the prefix suggests the end of that decade. The later US prefix followed by eight digits is more straightforward: the first two digits indicate the year and the remaining six identify the instrument. Those six digits are not a month, day or model code.
How can I find out when my American-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
Fender Japan: MIJ, CIJ, JV, SQ and JD
On Japanese Fenders, the letter prefix and digit count must be read together with the origin wording. A plus six digits with Made in Japan indicates 1985–1986; with Crafted in Japan it indicates 1997–1998. E plus six digits covers the Japanese period 1984–1987: the first digit after E does not narrow it in the way often assumed for US instruments.
The decoder separates early and reused T and U prefixes, including the selected T models extending into 2011 and transitional U examples from 2012. JV and SQ belong to early Japanese schemes. JD followed by eight digits dates from 2012, with the first two digits indicating the year. Selecting MIJ or CIJ narrows the results but does not eliminate every overlapping range.
How can I find out when my Japanese-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
Mexico: MN, MZ, MX and the 2009–2010 transition
Fender identifies Ensenada as its Mexican production facility. MN relates to the 1990s, MZ to the 2000s and standard MX followed by eight digits to the scheme introduced in 2010. Results preserve the overlap between production years: an illustrative MN512345 is dated to 1995–1996 rather than unconditionally to one year.
The short-lived scheme beginning with 10 did not encode the country. Without the instrument’s origin wording, it should not be treated as conclusively US or Mexican. California Series instruments with AMXN have shared US/Mexican origin. Artist models using MSN, MSZ and earlier MX exceptions need their series identified; the ordinary year rule is insufficient.
How can I find out when my Mexican-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
Korea and Indonesia: when a prefix identifies Cort
For the Korean KC scheme with eight digits, Fender identifies the Cort factory. The two digits after the prefix indicate the year, with possible carryover into the next year. Earlier CN and VN records are less complete, particularly before mid-1993. For Korean numbers without letters, the decoder explains the uncertainty instead of inventing a precise date from an ambiguous table.
How can I find out when my Korean-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
Indonesian IC and ICF numbers
The official guide for Fender-branded instruments describes Indonesian production from 2008 and the change from IC to ICF on some instruments in 2009. Both eight-digit schemes are associated with Cort. We do not automatically apply that rule to every Squier guitar. Chinese and other prefixes not documented here require separate verification; a missing result is not an authenticity judgment.
How can I find out when my Indonesian-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
Factory: distinguish an encoded maker from historical context
For KC and IC/ICF, the Cort attribution comes directly from the manufacturer’s explanation. For early Fender Japan instruments, FujiGen is a historically likely attribution: the company records its Fender partnership starting in 1982, and a first-hand factory report describes in-house production until 1997. That context is not individual confirmation of the maker of every instrument.
CIJ and later MIJ wording alone is insufficient to assign an individual instrument to Dyna Gakki or Tokai. Nor does JD turn the official dating chart into a set of factory records. Where the source does not identify the maker, the result says so explicitly. For US instruments, Fullerton and Corona are shown as period context, with the factory transition identified where relevant.
Audio-Technica — visit to the FujiGen factory ↗
Reissues, Custom Shop and acoustic guitars
An American Vintage V number does not provide a simple date. A short bridge-plate number on a ’52 Telecaster reissue may also resemble a much older instrument. The decoder shows these alternatives instead of promising a 1950s discovery. For Custom Shop instruments, the certificate, exact specifications and component markings matter.
Selecting an acoustic guitar stops automatic matching against electric-guitar tables. Fender has no complete serial archive for many older acoustics. In practice, the full model name, internal label, construction and period catalogue comparison are more useful than forcing a year out of a few digits.
How can I find out when my acoustic instrument was manufactured? ↗
How to check a result before buying a guitar
Compare the photographed number with the result, then establish the complete model designation. Check the bridge, fret count, headstock shape, tuners, pickups and electronics against period specifications. Replacement parts do not necessarily make a guitar unsuitable, but should be disclosed and reflected in the price. A number on the neck may date the neck; it does not prove that the body and all other parts share its year.
For a more expensive purchase, request clear photographs of relevant markings and service documentation. Ask a guitar technician to inspect hidden neck dates if you are not experienced in removing a neck. Neck geometry, frets, truss-rod operation and electronics answer different questions from a serial number, but they matter just as much to a player.
Unable to establish the year, or unsure about the result? Contact Selected Vintage Guitars — we can help identify your instrument from the available markings. Email shop@selectedvintageguitars.com with clear photographs of both sides of the headstock, the whole instrument, the serial number and the country-of-origin marking. Tell us where the serial is located and what you know about the guitar’s history and replacement parts. This lets us compare the number with the instrument’s features and suggest what to check next.
Contact Selected Vintage Guitars ↗
Must Fender’s official lookup find my number?
No. Fender explains that not every serial is in its lookup and that an absent entry does not establish inauthenticity. Our decoder performs a different task: it interprets the number’s format using published rules. It can identify an approximate period without an individual instrument record. It does not invent a model, colour or pickup specification that the number itself does not contain.
Fender — Serial Number Lookup ↗
Does a valid serial number prove authenticity?
No. Matching a scheme only means the number fits that numbering family. A number can be copied and a guitar assembled from mixed parts. Use the result to guide an inspection and discussion with the seller, not as a certificate.
Why are there several years or “cannot be established”?
Multiple ranges are the appropriate result for reused prefixes, transition periods and formats shared between countries. A recognised prefix does not always encode a year. Select the instrument’s wording and check the listed exceptions. Example numbers on this page illustrate the rules; they do not confirm the existence of those individual instruments.
Serial number decoder — Tokai ↗
Serial number decoder — Greco ↗
Further reading
How can I find out when my American-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
How can I find out when my Japanese-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
How can I find out when my Mexican-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
How can I find out when my Korean-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
How can I find out when my Indonesian-made instrument was manufactured? ↗
How can I find out when my acoustic instrument was manufactured? ↗
Audio-Technica — visit to the FujiGen factory ↗
