The Dark Lord Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Is it possible to identify the actual model of a Fender bass from its serial number? I know there are plenty of resources which identify the model year of a bass from the serial number, but can you actually tell precisely what it is? For example, I contacted Warwick a while back and they asked for a picture of the headstock and serial number, a picture of the opened cavity and general pictures of the front and back of the body ........ then they sent me quite a detailed description of what it was. Can you do that with Fenders or do we have to rely on our collective knowledge on places like here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 The short answer is no. It will give you the year and possibly the factory it was made but nothing else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 You'd have to ask Fender Serial numbers, neck pocket & neck markings, pot codes, pick up numbers, part numbers/bar code labels, paint code stamps, notes/scribbles in the pick up cavity or controls routing, sometimes date etc. underside of pick guard, it all helps. The more info you can find the better, unfortunately not much can be seen without a complete strip down. Cheerz, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamPodmore Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I'm sure i've seen one where there's a lot of detail about Fender serial numbers, but i haven't been able to find it again. Liam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 [quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1341320056' post='1716911'] Is it possible to identify the actual model of a Fender bass from its serial number? [/quote] No Fender serials were issued by builders picking neckplates out of a parts bin. No record (AFAIK) was maintained of which models those were fitted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dark Lord Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Bummer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin_lindsay Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Generic Fender models, as mentioned above, have a "pick the serial number out of the bag" method of allocation. Therefore, you can't identify the details from the serial number. However, if you have a Fender Custom Shop instrument, you can email the Custom Shop with the serial number and they will supply you with the exact build specification sheet for that specific instrument. It's a very cool feature which I've been able to utilise a few times with my own instruments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Shame they weren't a bit more rigorous with record keeping but probably understandable, they must have churned out thousands of instruments per year. Unfortunately Fender parts are often easily interchangeable so after sales questionnaires to establish a database isn't going to be vastly useful either, eg must be hundreds of necks that are no longer attached to the same body they came out of the factory on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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