Japan 62 RI Tele

[overdrive]

Hi all,
I just bought a 62 RI tele from Japan on eBAY. I'm curious as to the serial number. It doesn't appear to have one. The only number on the guitar is on the bridge plate, where it says, "Fender/Pat. Pend/A013125". Is that the serial number? There are none on the Peghead decal or on the back of the neck.

Thanks!
Luis

[Poppatwang]

But don't use it to date the guitar. Even if you find a chart. They're science fiction.

[timgreene]

A013125, thats the serial number.

Here is a linky to check date, its either 86, or 97-98 depending on if its says made or crafted in japan.

http://www.fender.com/support/dating...ese_dating.php

[overdrive]

A-ha, I see. It does say "crafted in Japan", so it appears to be a late 90's model.

Thanks!
Luis

[Essex Boy]

Congrats on your buy, I love mine!

[Fatmanstratman]

overdrive,

any chance of you posting some pics?

[sneakyjapan]

I have a blue one that has no serial number on the neck and on the warranty card, the bridge plate number was written in as the serial number. Mine is from a couple of years ago and that color does not show up in catalogs.

[Poppatwang]

according to that chart, every MIJ tele I've ever seen
was made in "85-'86. Quite a coincidence. Has anyone
seen one without an "A" prefix.

[Mark Davis]

The A prefix gets a little confusing cause they used it 2 different time periods.

85-86 was the 1st time they used it. Then in 97-98 they used it again.

What happenedd in the late 90's was they released these with the A prefix and guys bought new guitars from Japan and sold them as 86 Paisley reissues.

JV+ 5 DIGITS 1982-1984
SQ + 5 DIGITS 1983-1984
E + 6 DIGITS 1984-1987
A + 6 DIGITS 1985-1986
B + 6 DIGITS 1985-1986
C + 6 DIGITS 1985-1986
F + 6 DIGITS 1986-1987
G + 6 DIGITS 1987-1988
H + 6 DIGITS 1988-1989
I + 6 DIGITS 1989-1990
J + 6 DIGITS 1989-1990
K + 6 DIGITS 1990-1991
L + 6 DIGITS 1991-1992
M + 6 DIGITS 1992-1993
N + 6 DIGITS 1993-1994
O + 6 DIGITS 1993-1994
P + 6 DIGITS 1993-1994
Q + 6 DIGITS 1993-1994
S + 6 DIGITS 1994-1995
T + 6 DIGITS 1994-1995
U + 6 DIGITS 1995-1996
N + 5 DIGITS 1995-1996
V + 6 DIGITS 1996-1997
Crafted in Japan A + 6 DIGITS 1997-1998
Crafted in Japan O + 5 DIGITS 1997-2000
Crafted in Japan P + 5 DIGITS 1999-2002
Crafted in Japan Q + 5 DIGITS 2002-2004
Crafted in Japan R + 5 DIGITS 2004-2005

[RichardL]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

The A prefix gets a little confusing cause they used it 2 different time periods.

85-86 was the 1st time they used it. Then in 97-98 they used it again.

What happenedd in the late 90's was they released these with the A prefix and guys bought new guitars from Japan and sold them as 86 Paisley reissues.

JV+ 5 DIGITS 1982-1984
SQ + 5 DIGITS 1983-1984
E + 6 DIGITS 1984-1987
A + 6 DIGITS 1985-1986
B + 6 DIGITS 1985-1986
C + 6 DIGITS 1985-1986
F + 6 DIGITS 1986-1987
G + 6 DIGITS 1987-1988
H + 6 DIGITS 1988-1989
I + 6 DIGITS 1989-1990
J + 6 DIGITS 1989-1990
K + 6 DIGITS 1990-1991
L + 6 DIGITS 1991-1992
M + 6 DIGITS 1992-1993
N + 6 DIGITS 1993-1994
O + 6 DIGITS 1993-1994
P + 6 DIGITS 1993-1994
Q + 6 DIGITS 1993-1994
S + 6 DIGITS 1994-1995
T + 6 DIGITS 1994-1995
U + 6 DIGITS 1995-1996
N + 5 DIGITS 1995-1996
V + 6 DIGITS 1996-1997
Crafted in Japan A + 6 DIGITS 1997-1998
Crafted in Japan O + 5 DIGITS 1997-2000
Crafted in Japan P + 5 DIGITS 1999-2002
Crafted in Japan Q + 5 DIGITS 2002-2004
Crafted in Japan R + 5 DIGITS 2004-2005

I believe most the of recent FJ Teles with vintage style bridges have an "A" serial number on the bridge plate and then another serial number on the back of the neck under the CIJ logo. Both my '62 RI and Paisley Teles purchased directly from Ishibashi in 2001 have "A" serial number on the bridge plate and then a second serial number beginning with P below the CIJ logo.

[overdrive]

Hey Fatman,
I'd love to post a pic, but I don't have access to a public-facing server. I can e-mail, if you like.

Cheers!
Luis

[jfp]

I have a CIJ 62 reissue Tele on its way to me from Japan. Should arrive in the next day or so. It's got numbers on the bridge plate and base of the neck. I've been told that it's the number at the base of the neck that's the serial number.

It looks sweet. I'll post a review and some pics when it arrives.

[Poppatwang]

I'm talking strictly MIJ, not CIJ. Everyone I've run across
had the A prefix.

[teledude66]

Originally Posted by Poppatwang

I'm talking strictly MIJ, not CIJ. Everyone I've run across
had the A prefix.

mine does too, and i've asked before but no one ever answered, can you go by the neck date to be sure ...here's mine 12-19-85....incidently it's a 62 RI Esquire with MIJ on the base of the neck

[Poppatwang]

I'll pop the neck off my two too.

[teledude66]

it doesn't really matter to me,i mean it's a killer guitar, and i got a killer deal, but it would be nice to know....

[yegbert]

I'd like to see pics too, what color? I love the looks of these ('62) reissues and the originals, especially in sunburst.

I'd like to hear about the pickups too. It would be real nice if we could get good parts lists for Teles made on all continents.

[mdahearn]

Guys,
This has been discussed 1,000,000 times over the years on the TDPR, but standard model production MIJ and CIJ Teles have no serial numbers that mean anything. Only the custom edition and super high end MIJs have a serial number, and its on the back of the neck or neck plate. The MIJ and CIJ production Strats however, all do have serial numbers on the on the back of the neck under the "Made In Japan" or "Crafted In Japan". Why they put them on Strats and not Teles is a mystery.

The A serial number on the bridge is ONLY for cosmetics, all FJ Teles have the A fake serial number regardless of year. Fender Japan just put them there to make them look more authentic to a vintage Tele.

I've personally talked with Ishibashi who deals Fender Japan and they did some inquiries with FJ. They said Fender Japan never thought it important to put serial numbers on the Teles at the begining because they though no one would care what year it was manufactured. The only way to date the FJ Teles are:
1. If it has a JV serial number on the neck plate, then it's an very desirable early 80's (1982-84) not for export JV model that rivals anything put out by Fender USA, including custom shop. It most likely is ash or alder (period correct wood for whatever the reissue model is), nitro finish, US pickups, the works. They also probably have a "Squier" headstock logo-this was before Squier became the low end line and has nothing to do with the Squiers you see today.
2. If its a basswood or sen Tele and no "Crafted in Japan" on the back of the neck, it's probably late 80's through to late 90's. Very few of this period FJ Teles were ash or alder, and if so, were for the Japan market only. They were usually marked Made in Japan on the back of the neck, usually no serial number under this (but some did), and sometimes had a special Fender Japan "Custom Edition" logo on the back of the headstock.
3. If it happens to say "Made in Japan" on the back of the neck, it is mid 80's until mid 1997. I don't remember seeing Made In Japan on my mid 90's basswood 62 Custom, but some do.
4. "Crafted in Japan" is certainly 1997 and on. Most of these now are alder or ash (period correct to the reissue date), with a few low cost basswood models. The 62 Customs are period correct alder (with period incorrect Texas Specials), and the 52s are period correct ash. I bought a new 62 Custom Reissue in 2001, and it only has Crafted in Japan on the back of the neck, no serial number. And the fake A serial number on the bridge.

If you take off the neck, in the neck pocket will be the model number stamped in ink, and you may be able to date it by the model number IF that model is no longer in production. The last two letters sometimes will give away the year in that it will describe the pickups or a limited edition guitar.

Somtimes you can tell by the Fender decal...mid 90's Teles just had "Fender", and some of the newer ones have "Telecaster" under the Fender logo.

Anyway, it's nearly impossible to date FJ Teles exactly, you can only get a general idea by taking the sum of its specifications (body wood, Fender decal, what pickups it has if stock, MIJ vs. CIJ decal on the back of the neck to start. I went through the same thing trying to date my other 62 Custom reissue and was only able to narrow it down to the mid 90's because of the basswood body and the Fender decal. It is rumoured that if you have the original paper hang tags, there is another manufacturing serial number that has the year of manufacture included in the number. But it isn't the serial number of that individual guitar.

To the FJ people, these are factory manufacutured guitars so it didn't make any sense to identify them individually...especially when they were kicking butt with their not for export models and JV models that did have serial numbers because they were made with such care...

[teledude66]

Originally Posted by mdahearn

3. If it happens to say "Made in Japan" on the back of the neck, it is mid 80's until mid 1997. I don't remember seeing Made In Japan on my mid 90's basswood 62 Custom, but many do.
.

If you take off the neck, in the neck pocket will be the model number stamped in ink, and you may be able to date it by the model number IF that model is no longer in production. The last two letters sometimes will give away the year in that it will describe the pickups or a limited edition guitar.

...

ok so explain a lil more for me if you can, mine is stamped on the neck "ATLC-54B"
the body joint has "TLC-54B" the A is under that and it has an S with a circle around it (see pics few posts back) can you shed any light on this model ? as i said in my other posts no one really has definitive answers and i can see why, your post was one of the most informative yet, to me anyways... here's a pic of the logo...thanks for any info

[sneakyjapan]

there is another way to ID the FJ model, some of mine have a small green sticker on the back of the headstock and thats the number that indicates price. There are the 50s... maple fretboards... and 60s models...rosewood fretboards. Some of my 80s FJs have the serial number on the front of the headstock, others on the back. Yet others with the number at the base of the neck under the MIJ decal. My latest `62 type...from the early 2000s has no serial number, like I said. I havea walnut tele and a rosewood tele. I have custom editions and an ExTrad strat. I have 2 JV strats and two with small oval stickers that read...pick-up made in USA . All my 80s FJ strats have full size pots and good electronics... the new CIJs don`t. I have a FJ 40th anniversary model one of which was on the Japanese web this week, and the model is ST54-AS-150, meaning it sold for 150,000 yen.
Then there are the order mades for chain shops that are not listed in catalogs nor were they sold abroad, so little is known by the average buyer outside Japan... and even those of us here, unknown models are constantly popping up on the Japanese web. So it`s a never ending learning process. Just when ya think you have a handle on FJ...something shows up to throw you outta whack.

[mdahearn]

Teledude66,
What you got there is one fine guitar. The model you have is an early MIJ of superior quality...do not sell at any cost! The model number you have is TLC-54B which means "Telecaster (TL) Custom (C) - 54,000yen (54) B (bound). This looks like one of the early 1960's style bound Tele Customs from Fender Japan...it looks from the pocket like it's an alder body (pinkish kind of "rare steak" hue to the wood looks like it's alder). I believe I see two pickups in the guitar from the band shots, so obviously it's not an Esquire...probably just the FJ factory putting a funky sticker on the headstock. If she's alder, then you have one of the great quality early MIJ Teles much sought after. The round string holder also hints that it is one of the great early MIJs, because the later models had the butterfly string holders. More could be told about this guitar if you knew if the pickups were US or Japanese, and if the electronics are high quality US or cheapo Japanese. Either way, nice instrument.

[sneakyjapan]

my 1989 FJ Esquire is routed for 2 p`ups but came with the bridge p`up only.

[teledude66]

mdahearn, i put the front pup in for awhile, it's back to esquire specs now, when i put the pup in i took all the wiring loose and rewired it with a whole new setup just to keep the old wiring intact.....the info was good to hear thanks a lot ...i gave 180$s for it last Christmas at a pawn shop, are you envious yet ...lol...yeah it's a member of the family now so it won't be sold....thanks again....