Fender & Squier Serial Number Decoder Guide
Our summary of the maker official system - not a replacement for it. Serials can be inconsistent, reused, or faked; for valuable instruments confirm with the maker.
Use Fender official Serial Number Lookup first - it returns model and date for many modern instruments. Fender support dating guides summarise the systems: US instruments - early serials overlap years and are only a guide (neck-heel dates help); Mexico - MN prefix = 1990s Ensenada, later MX + first two digits = year (MX10 = 2010); Japan - JV/SQ/E letter prefixes for 1980s instruments, JD + first two digits = year from 2012; modern US/MX - the two digits after US/MX give the year (US10 = 2010).