marcusnieman said:
stratman323 said:
marcusnieman said:
not a popular guitar because Fender went to CBS later that year but the 65's with the small headstock and transitional logo are still pre CBS.
CBS took over Fender from January 1965. Obviously the early CBS guitars were likely to be made up of old parts in stock, but anything dated 1965 onwards is CBS.
So if you don't want it any more Marcus - just ship it over here!
Right you are. I guess I should have said "went to CBS style production later that year". The early 65's were still considered pre CBS because they were made from old stock and before the CBS cost cutting measures for production were implemented.
I believe that Fender was utilizing a stamped dating mark at this time ........... have you ever checked the butt of the neck for a (month) date stamp? ........
like on my old 1966 Fender Electric XII, it was stamped 12 MAR 66, which designated March 1966; the 12 was a reference for model, I believe ...........
EDIT: From 'Vintage Guitar Info'
March 1962 to 1965: Ink stamp in dark blue or red ink below the truss rod adjustment at the butt end of the neck in "XX MMM-YY W" format. The "XX" is not the day of stamping. Instead it is a code for the type of neck (for example, "02"=Stratocaster, "3/4"=3/4 scale Musicmaster). The "W" is the neck width where "A" is the narrowest, "B" is normal, and "C" is the widest.
1966: the model number (the number stamped on the neck before the month) change (for example, "13"=Stratocaster).
For most collectors, pre-CBS (pre-1966) Fender vintage guitars and amps are the desirable ones. Although CBS purchased Fender (officially) on January 3rd 1965, it took some time till the guitars changed (though by mid 1964, six months before CBS bought Fender, things were already "on the way down"). By the end of 1965, the general look and feel of the Fender guitars had changed significantly. All collectors feel the quality of their instruments and amps suffered as CBS employed more "mass production" manufacturing processes to the Fender guitars. The "large peghead" (starting in late 1965) as used on the Fender Stratocaster was one example of the (bad) changes to come.