Your last chance to own a vintage Fender Stratocaster is with the guitars of the late 1970's.
You spot a '79 in a local shop, or online, but how can you be certain it is a '79?
Some dealers simply go by the serial number, which you will discover can be far from accurate.
A00100 to A02000 – 1964 A01200 to A08100 – 1965 A08100 to A17000 – 1966 A16000 to A21000 – 1967 A20000 to A26000 – 1968 A25000 to A28000 – 1969 A28000 to A29000 – 1970 A29000 to A32000 – 1971 A32000 to A35000 – 1972 A33000 to A39000 – 1973 A39000 to A42000 – 1974 A42000 to A51000 – 1975 A51000 to A53000 – 1976 Export models had serial numbers that started with a “B” rather than with an “A”.
Transformer / Speaker / Pot Codes American-made electronic components of that era usually have codes to indicate manufacturer and date of production.
My intent with this site is to educate those who are on the hunt for that last affordable vintage Fender Stratocaster.
Have a read through and hopefully you will pickup a few things to better assert yourself in the late 70's Stratocasters buyer's market. M = Model or Manufacturer O = Operator N = Neck configuration W = Week Y = Year D = Day Neck Stamps: MMNN*WWYD Example: 0900*3893 - Found on the very end of the neck heel, if at all, in green or dark red ink.
We combined all of our information into a computerized database for this project and for the past 18 months have been slowly (sadly, very slowly) gathering information that we collect ourselves as well as from other people. What we need is the following: 1) Model name 2) Model number on the tube chart 3) Date code letters on the tube chart 4) Speaker codes (if speaker is original) 5) Transformer codes (if the amp doesn't have date codes on the tube chart) 6) Cosmetic features (flat/raised logo, tweed/tolex, blackface/silverface, rough/ smooth blond tolex, white/skirted knobs, TV-front/wide-panel, etc.) One very interesting and very important factoid has surfaced regarding the date code letters on the tube chart.
In the fall of 1965, Fender switched from stamping these numbers in black ink, to dark green ink.
So a pot stamped 1377833 is a CTS pot made in the 33rd week of 1978.
Note that this does not mean a Muff with a 1978 pot was actually made in 1978, it just means it was not made much earlier than 1978.