Fender champion lap steel no serial how to#
Fender champion lap steel no serial serial numbers#
Fender champion lap steel no serial serial number#
Fender champion lap steel no serial code#
Fender champion lap steel no serial professional#

Information on Japanese and Mexican-made instruments is included towards the bottom. If you have a Fender in your hands, you can use this guide to precisely date your Fender instrument all the way back to 1950. When was my Fender instrument made? It's a common question we get at The Music Zoo.

Fender champion lap steel no serial serial number#

The serial number location has changed a few times of the years In order to tell how old your Fender is you will have to find the identification number or neck number. Depending on the era and model, the number can be found on either the front or back of the headstock This article is intended to help you date your Fender Stratocaster, Telecaster, and Precision Bass guitars all the way back to the early 1950s.

Fender champion lap steel no serial serial numbers#

Starting in 1976, Fender transitioned to a new serial number scheme and moved the placement of most serial numbers to the headstock of the instrument. The old Fender serial number lists didn't change immediately because CBS had to use up existing parts and use existing tooling Post 1976.

Fender champion lap steel no serial how to#

Sometimes it's good to know how to identify the age of your Fender guitar with Vintage FenderВ® Serial Number. Only a fairly small proportion of all Champions come so equipped! Overall Excellent + Condition.1950's to 1964. It remains pretty much as it left Fullerton in 1953, including the excellent original tweed-covered hard shell case which is a rarity in itself as many period buyers went with chipboard or a canvas bag instead, to save a bit of cash. Sadly the trend of stripping the pickups and wiring components out of these original Champions for Telecaster reproductions has accelerated in the last few years leaving fewer and fewer unmolested original examples like this. This steel sounds excellent, with that singing Fender treble tone but a wide range of expression available via the very effective tone control. The original Telecaster-style pickup and electronic components remain complete and unaltered, all solder joints are untouched original. The buttons on the original Kluson strip tuners have been neatly replaced with the correct style repros the originals have nearly always crumbled by now so this is almost unavoidable if the instrument is to be played. Most of the flocking is gone from underneath the body, as is nearly always the case. There is one small worn-through spot at the higher end of the fingerboard. The metal handrest, fingerboard and headstock show some light wear, while the plastic body covering shows a few minor nicks and dings. This is an especially nice original Champion, showing some very minor wear overall but no notable issues. (3.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. (19 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. It remains a truly fine-sounding steel guitar with a bright, singing tone and a genuine early 1950s Fender instrument at a relatively reasonable price!Overall length is 29 3/4 in.

Over the years many of these 1949-55 Champs have sacrificed their pickups to provide the engine for vintage Telecaster recreations - this one has fortunately avoided that fate and remains pretty much as it left Fullerton. The headstock has metal facing with integral nut stamped with lighting bolt logo and 'Fender Electric Instrument Co. A metal fingerboard pinned to the body has black paint screening to outline fret positions. The flashy plastic-covered symmetrical two-bout body has a chrome bridge and cover plate with dome-top knurled knobs. The Champion model was revamped for 1956 with a less iconic pickup and different overall design, and these earlier versions have since been widely considered superior both sonically and aesthetically. It took more than a year for this component to get wired into a guitar by Gloria, who soldered this rig together on Augleaving her masking tape signature in the cavity.

Fender champion lap steel no serial code#

The original pots and wiring are completely untouched the date code visible on the volume pot is the 21st week of 1952. This one has the serial number 6448 stamped on the bridgeplate where the strings anchor through the body.

Fender champion lap steel no serial professional#

Although designed as a student instrument, the Champion Steel was - and remains - a great-sounding guitar fully suited to professional use then or now. This is a really superb example of Fender's 'bread and butter' lap steel guitar from the first half of the 1950s, one of the still-growing company's most important cash-generating products.

Fender Champion Model Lap Steel Electric Guitar (1953), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 6448, yellow pearloid finish, hardwood body, original tweed hard shell case.