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 FENDER |
| VISUAL IDENTIFICATION FEATURES |
| When trying to determine the date of an instrument's production, it is useful to know a few things about feature changes that have occurred over the years. The following information may help you to determine the approximate date of manufacture of a Fender instrument by visual observation, without having to handle (or disassemble) the instrument for serial number verification. This is a list indicating what features were available for different years on fingerboards: 1950 to 1959: All necks were made out of a solid piece of maple with the frets being driven right into the neck. This is the standard design for maple necks. 1959 to 1962: The maple neck was planed flat and a rosewood fingerboard with frets and inlay was glued to the top of the neck. This is known as the slab top, or slab fingerboard. 1962 to 1983: The maple necks were rounded to the neck's radius and a thinner piece of rosewood was glued to the neck area. This design is called the veneer fingerboard. 1983 to date: Fender returned to the slab top fingerboard design of the 1959 to 1962 era. This is a list indicating what features were available for different years on the neckplate: 1950 to 1971: The neck was attached to the body by means of a 4-screw neckplate. 1971 to 1981: The neckplate was changed to 3-screws, and a micro neck adjustment device was added. In 1981: A transition from the 3-screw design back to the 4-screw design began to occur. By 1983: The 4-screw neckplate was back in standard production, with the micro neck adjuster remaining. |