I happened to see this guitar, a late 70s Telecaster, listed on craigslist for what seemed to be an excellent price. I jumped at the chance to pick it up but given the nature of Fender guitars and the used guitar market, I wanted to make sure it was completely legit. There are a few things to look for and I figured it would be useful to document them here.
The Serial Number
The most obvious way to check the age of a guitar is by inspecting the serial number. Unfortunately, this is also one of the least reliable as Fender used numbers that span years and can at best give you a general idea of the date. Also, depending on the guitar style the serial number may be stamped on the metal neck plate, which can be easily counterfeited.
For a mid to late 70s Telecaster, the serial is going to be stamped on the headstock. You can use this to narrow down the date range using any number of serial number lookup sites online. Oddly the official Fender lookup site is usually the least useful, especially when dealing with older guitars. For this guitar one of the main sites returned the following:
This narrows it down to three possibilities. Based on the decal design and the Made in USA marking, it’s likely that this guitar was produced in 1978 at the Fullerton plant. But we can get more specific – and rule out a reproduction decal or fake serial number.
Further Inspection
At this point you need to start taking the guitar apart. Fender guitars usually have date markings and sometimes assembly notation in the body cavities and the end of the neck. The guitar was set up pretty well to begin with, so I didn’t want to pull the neck unless I needed to. Ultimately I didn’t, but you can still see the markings on the neck that give you a pretty good idea of the date on the neck by looking at the route above the neck pickup.
You can also see pretty typical wear in the finish that would be indicative of how a guitar like this would age. Most of the instrument is in great shape but when the pickguard comes off you can see a few spots where finish chipped and you can see the difference in the fading of the finish where it was not covered by the guard below.
The next thing to check are the date codes on the potentiometers in the control panel. Fender guitars generally used CTS pots and they all carry date codes that tell you the month that the pot was manufactured. As the guitar was built, the neck, body, bridge, pickups and electronics were all pulled from stock at the factory. You can use the dates on individual parts to get a better idea of when the guitar would have come off the line or at least an idea of a date before which it couldn’t have.
You can see the code on the side of the pot here. A 137-7842. This decodes as follows:
- A = Analog Taper
- 137 = The company code for CTS
- 7842 = Manufactured in 1978, during the 42nd week of the year
A quick check of a calendar means that this pot was part of a batch produced between October 16 and 22. This means the guitar can be no older than late October/early November of 1978. Because we’re already up against the serial number date range, we can say with high confidence that this guitar came from the factory just in time for the holidays in 1978.
Additional things to note are the correct wiring style and switch for the period along with a correct capacitor in the tone circuit.
Also of note, was that the pickguard is likely to be original as it still has a matching serial number sticker on it. These stickers weren’t something Fender used all the time and it’s rare that you’d see someone try to counterfeit one, especially on a relatively unassuming model and year.
With the evidence mounting that this was a legit Fender and the providence fairly clear I opted to not pull the neck, or bridge. The corrosion on the bridge pickup was correct for the era and overall condition of the guitar and even the screws on the pickups look like they had never been touched since it left the factory outside of minor height adjustments. Also, I bought this guitar to play and keep so it was a case of “good enough for me.”
If you found this interesting let me know. If you have any questions about validating your vintage Fender drop me a line and I’d be happy to help (though I’d probably recommend taking it to a local luthier shop as they’ll do a better job with the guitar in front of them).