Fender Highway One Strat Serial Numbers
It's legit; the 2010 serial numbers no longer have a letter prefix. They do start with a '10' so it would be something like '10XXXXXX'. You have to look closely but you can see that the first two digits (the '10') are a slightly different font than the other 6 digits. I also believe that Fender made a change in May and that from that point on the serial numbers will now read 'US10XXXXXX'.
Here is an American Special Strat with the '10XXXXXX' serial number: Here is an 'Ivory' limited run American Standard with the 'US10' serial number: Edit: You can see why they made the change; it's much easier to see that the 'US10' is a prefix than you could on the earlier ones with just the '10'.
'Stratocaster' redirects here. For other uses, see. Fender Stratocaster Manufacturer Period 1954–present Construction Body type Neck joint Scale 25.5 in (648 mm) Woods Body Neck Fretboard Hardware Bridge Usually proprietary 6-screw locking system Usually 3 (SSS) or 2 Single-coils with Hot Bridge (HSS) on certain models. Other pickup configurations (H/HH/HSH/HHH) are also available Colors available Various 2- or 3-color sunbursts Black Other standard or custom colors, blue, pink, red, yellow. The Fender Stratocaster is a model of designed in 1954 by, and. The has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster from 1954 to the present. It is a double- guitar, with an extended top 'horn' shape for balance.
Along with the, it is one of the most-often emulated electric guitar shapes. 'Stratocaster' and 'Strat' are terms belonging to Fender.
The Stratocaster is a versatile guitar, usable for all styles of complete music and has been used in many genres, including, and. Contents. Design developments The Fender Stratocaster was the first guitar to feature three pickups and a spring tension vibrato system, as well as being the first Fender with a contoured body. The Stratocaster's sleek, contoured body shape (officially referred to by Fender as the 'Comfort Contour Body' ) differed from the flat, slab-like design of the.
The Stratocaster's double cutaways allowed players easier access to higher positions on the neck. Starting in 1954, the Stratocaster was offered with a solid, deeply contoured body, a 21-fret one-piece maple neck with black dot inlays, and Kluson tuning machines. The color was originally a two color sunburst pattern, although custom color guitars were produced (most famously 's gold Stratocaster, dated 6/1954). In 1956, Fender began using for sunburst and most custom color Stratocaster bodies; was still used on translucent blonde instruments.
In 1960, the available custom colors were standardized, many of which were automobile lacquer colors from available at an additional 5% cost. A unique single-ply, 8-screw hole white held all electronic components except the recessed jack plate—facilitating easy assembly. Original Stratocasters were manufactured with five tremolo springs, allowing the bridge set up to 'float'.
In the floating position, players can move the bridge-mounted up or down to modulate the pitch of the notes being played., and used the Strat's floating tremolo extensively in their playing. As string gauges have changed, players have experimented with the number of tremolo springs, and as the average gauge has decreased over the years, modern Stratocasters are equipped with three springs as a stock option in order to counteract the reduced string tension. While the floating bridge has unique advantages, the functionality of the 'floating' has been accepted & disputed by many musicians. As the bridge floats, the instrument has a tendency to go out of tune during double-stop string bends. Many Stratocaster players opt to tighten the tremolo springs (or even increase the number of springs used) so that the bridge is firmly anchored against the guitar body: in this configuration, the tremolo arm can still be used to slacken the strings and therefore lower the pitch, but it cannot be used to raise the pitch (a configuration sometimes referred to as 'dive-only'). Some players, such as and, feel that floating bridge has an excessive propensity to detune guitars and so inhibit the bridge's movement with a chunk of wood wedged between the bridge block and the inside cutout of the tremolo cavity and by increasing the tension on the tremolo springs; these procedures lock the bridge in a fixed position. Some Strats have a fixed bridge in place of the tremolo assembly; these are colloquially called 'hard-tails'.
There is considerable debate about the effects on tone and sustain of the material used in the tremolo system's 'inertia bar' and many aftermarket versions are available. 's Stratocaster The Stratocaster features three, with the output originally selected by a 3-way switch.
Guitarists soon discovered that by jamming the switch in between the 1st and 2nd position, both the bridge and middle pickups could be selected, and similarly, the middle and neck pickups could be selected between the 2nd and 3rd position. When two pickups are selected simultaneously, they are wired in parallel which leads to a slight drop in output as slightly more current is allowed to pass to the ground. However, since the middle pickup is almost always wired in reverse (and with its magnets having opposite polarity), this configuration creates a spaced pair, which significantly reduces 50/60 cycle hum. In 1977 Fender introduced a 5-way selector making such pickup combinations more stable. The 'quacky' tone of the middle and bridge pickups, popularized by players such as, and, can be obtained by using the pickup selector in positions 2 and 4. This setting's characteristic tone is not caused by any electronic phenomenon—early Stratocasters used identical pickups for all positions. This 'in between' tone is caused by due to the physical position of the pickups along the vibrating string.
The neck and middle pickups are each wired to a tone control that incorporates a single, shared tone capacitor, whereas the bridge pickup, which is slanted towards the high strings for a more trebly sound, has no tone control for maximum brightness. On many modern Stratocasters, the first tone affects the neck pickup; the second tone affects the middle and bridge pickups; on some Artist Series models ( and signature guitars), the first tone is a presence circuit that cuts or boosts treble and bass frequencies, affecting all the pickups; the second tone is an active midrange booster that boosts the midrange frequencies up to 25 dB (12 dB on certain models) to produce a fatter -like sound. Is a prominent Stratocaster player who also collaborated with Leo Fender in developing the. In the early 1960s, the instrument was also championed by, guitarist for, a band that originally backed and then produced instrumentals of its own. In 1965, and acquired Stratocasters and used them for, and later recording sessions; the double unison guitar solo on ' is played by Harrison and Lennon on their new Stratocasters. After the introduction of the series in 1989, ebony was officially selected as a fretboard material on some models (although several Stratocasters manufactured in 1983/84 such as the Gold and Walnut were available with a stained ebony fretboard). In December 1965 the Stratocaster was given a broader headstock with altered decals to match the size of the and the.
Fender 1985–present During the CBS era, particularly the 1970s, the perceived quality of Fender instruments fell. During this time, vintage instruments from the pre-CBS era became popular. When the Fender company was bought from CBS by a group of investors and employees headed by in 1985, manufacturing resumed its former high quality and Fender was able to regain market share and brand reputation. Dan Smith, with the help of John Page, proceeded to work on a reissue of the most popular guitars of Leo Fender's era. They decided to manufacture two Vintage reissue Stratocaster models, the one-piece maple neck 1957 and a rosewood-fretboard 1962 along with the maple-neck 1952 Telecaster, the maple-neck 1957 and rosewood-fretboard 1962 Precision Basses, as well as the rosewood-fretboard 'stacked knob' 1962 Jazz Bass. These first few years (1982–1984) of reissues, known as American Vintage Reissues, are now high-priced collector's items and considered as some of the finest to ever leave Fender's Fullerton plant, which closed its doors in late 1984.
In 1985, Fender's US production of the Vintage reissues resumed into a new 14,000 square-foot factory at Corona, California, located about 20 miles away from Fullerton. Some early reissues from 1986 were crafted with leftover parts from the Fullerton factory. As well as the vintage reissues, Fender launched an updated model in 1987: the American Standard Stratocaster. This was tailored to the demands of modern players, notably having a flatter fingerboard, a thinner neck profile and an improved tremolo system.
This model line has been continuously improved and remained in production until late 2016. The model line received upgrades in 2000, when it was renamed as the American Series Stratocaster, and again in 2008, when the American Standard name was restored. In 2017, the American Standard Stratocaster was replaced by the American Professional Stratocaster, with narrow frets, a fatter 'deep C' neck profile and V-Mod pickups. Various other modern American-made Stratocasters have been produced. As of 2017, these include the more affordable American Special Stratocaster and the more expensive American Elite Stratocaster. Fender has also manufactured guitars in the Far East, notably Japan, and in Mexico, where the affordable 'Standard' series guitars are built. Squier models (1982–today).
Several Fender Stratocaster guitars A standard Squier Stratocaster is mass-produced in factories located in. For its construction, Squier usually uses woods readily available in those countries, such as and. They also use stamped metal hardware and multiple pieces of wood in construction to reduce waste and to lower costs. In some cases, the body is laminated, much like a, rather than consisting of two or three solid pieces glued together. After Fender's decision in 1982 to switch Squier's production from strings to guitars, the Stratocaster was one of the first models put under the Squier production line in Japan. It was the most commercially successful guitar Fender had produced. Originally in 1982, the headstock had a 'Fender' name written in large script, followed by 'Squier series' in smaller script.
In 1983, this was later changed to the current 1970s large headstock featuring 'Squier' in larger script, followed by 'by Fender' in smaller script. Since then, there have been several variations of headstock size and Squier logos, typically based on what series the guitar is.
From 1996-1999, 'Made in China' Squier Stratocasters carry the 'Affinity' decal on the smaller ball end of the headstock and have serial numbers as NCXXXX with the first number the year of manufacture, e.g. NC6XXX (Made in China 1996). NCXXXX is also used for Squier Strat Bullets of the same vintage.
The Affinities are practically the same as the Japanese-made Squier Bullets of the mid-1980s; the same alder bodies, same rosewood-type fretboard and maple necks. Tuners and electronics are also very similar. Common modifications are more stable tuners, larger potentiometers, better capacitors, and pickups. They had single-ply 8-hole pickguards like the 1950s Fender Strats giving them a classic look. Colors were typically black, white and red. In 2000, for the anniversary of the Squier line of Stratocaster guitars, that year's model was offered in a limited-edition green finish.
The 'Crafted in China' Squier Affinity Strats are different from their immediate predecessors; most have alder bodies, larger headstock shapes, and somewhat inferior small parts. The pickguards generally now have 11 holes and screws, departing from the original 1950s style. In 2008 Squier released its Classic Vibe series, a series of electric guitars and basses mirroring classic Fender designs of the 1950s and 1960s—each roughly reflecting the hardware, woods, color variations, finishes, body contours, and tonal characteristics of their respective era; Squier states that they did not intend the series as completely era correct, but wanted to impart the 'vibe' of a classic Fender design—the vintage-quality feel, look, and sound of their first series of guitars in 1982. Notable Stratocaster players. D'arcy, David (November 12, 2000). The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
Ed Mitchell (Total Guitar) (2011-12-28). Retrieved 2013-12-14. Fricke, David. Rolling Stone. Archived from on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
Duchossoir, A. Hal Leonard: The Fender Stratocaster. Hal Leonard; Special 40th Anniversary Edition (1994). Pp. 8, 9, 51. Rites of Passage: A Memoir of the Sixties in Seattle by Walt Crowley, William Crowley - University of Washington Press, 1997. Balmer 23.
Carlos Eduardo Seo. Retrieved 9 September 2015. 2016-01-11 at the., LGN.com, Dec 8, 2009.
Balmer 154. Babiuk, Andy (2002). Riley, Tim (2002). ^ by Jeff Owens, 6 Oct 2014. Balmer, Paul (2007)., 29 Jun 2014. ^, 2 Feb 2016., 17 Jun 2008 Sources. Balmer, Paul (2007).
Archived from on 2013-12-31. Bacon, Tony. The Fender Electric Guitar Book: A Complete History of Fender Instruments. Backbeat Books, 2007.
Wheeler, Tom. The Stratocaster Chronicles: Celebrating 50 Years of the Fender Strat. Hal Leonard, 2004. (Tremolo device for stringed instruments; Stratocaster Tremolo system). U.S.
Fender Highway One Strat Serial Numbers
(Utility patent for offset body styled guitars (/)). U.S.
(Design Patent for ) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to.