How to Date a Fender Acoustic Guitar

Fender is one of the most renowned and respected guitar manufacturers in the world. Fender specializes in electric guitars, specifically the Stratocaster for which they first became famous. However, Fender now has product lines in all types of musical instruments and accessories, including acoustic guitars. Fender has one of the most organized and easy to find dating systems for their acoustic guitars. If you'd like to find out when your Fender acoustic guitar was manufactured, there is a simple process to follow.

Locate the model of guitar you have by looking inside the center circle of the acoustic guitar. All Fender acoustic guitars have a label placed on the inside of the guitar that give the specifications of the guitar.

Identify where the acoustic guitar was made. Fender makes guitars in the United States, Mexico, Japan and China, knowing where your guitar was made will make it easier to find the production date. If the label inside the guitar does not say where the guitar was manufactured, look on the back of the guitar's headstock for the printed "Made In" location.

Visit the Fender website (see "Resources") and check their resource list for product dating. Go to the acoustic guitar section of the product dating website and look up the model of acoustic guitar you have. The website is sub-categorized by where the guitar was manufactured.

Look inside the acoustic gutiar to find the guitar's serial number. The serial number will also either be located inside the guitar or on the back of the headstock. For newer model guitars, most are listed based on their serial number rather than the model type.

Visit the section of the Fender website that has the product dates of their guitar categorized by serial number. Again, you will need to know where your guitar was made first so you can choose the correct list to look through.