Dating Vintage Fender Guitar Amplifiers
While this may not be news to some of our more experienced readers we wanted to include this basic information so that those in need would have a quick resource.
Dating Blackface, Brownface, Brown Tolex, White Tolex, Or Tweed Fender Amps From 1951 - 1969 with the Tube Sticker.
Look on the inside of the amp's cabinet for a sticker that shows the location of the tubes. This sticker should be stamped with a two letter date code where the 1st letter equals the year and the 2nd letter equals the month of production.
To illustrate:
a "HF" date code from the table below indicates a production date of June 1958.
| Date Codes | |||
| Letter Code | Vintage Year | Reissue Year | Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | - | 1990 | January |
| B | - | 1991 | February |
| C | 1953 | 1992 | March |
| D | 1954 | 1993 | April |
| E | 1955 | 1994 | May |
| F | 1956 | 1995 | June |
| G | 1957 | 1996 | July |
| H | 1958 | 1997 | August |
| I | 1959 | 1998 | September |
| J | 1960 | 1999 | October |
| K | 1961 | - | November |
| L | 1962 | - | December |
| M | 1963 | - | - |
| N | 1964 | - | - |
| O | 1965 | - | - |
| P | 1966 | - | - |
| Q | 1967 | - | - |
For Amps that do not have the tube sticker there are other ways to find the date of the amp. Here are some further resources:
http://www.tcguitar.com/articles/gagliano_pt5.html
http://www.ampwares.com/ampguide_dating_info.asp
http://www.fender.com/support/amplifiers.php
Fender Amps the First 50 Years
John Teagle and John Sprung
Available through your local Authorized Fender Dealer
pn# 099-5011-000
U.S. MSRP $34.95
The Fender Amp Book
John Morrish
GPI Books, Miller Freeman Inc. Publishing
ISBN 0-87930-345-X
The Tube Amp Book
Aspen Pitman
Distributed by Groove Tubes
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What is a vintage Fender MA6 mixer worth and what is the dating for them?
Comment by Richard Cameron — December 15, 2008 @ 2:33 pm
Hi. My amp has a production code
15 HH Will that tell me the year and date? It is a Fender Deluxe.
Thank You.
Comment by David — June 1, 2009 @ 1:10 pm