- #FERNANDES GUITARS SERIAL NUMBERS FX02080086 SERIAL NUMBER#
- #FERNANDES GUITARS SERIAL NUMBERS FX02080086 PLUS#
The cheapest I’ve seen a MIJ Fernandes go for recently was $111 plus shipping. and ebays Fernandes buyers guide will actually show you the headstocks to look for if your in the market for a relatively inexpensive high quality Japanese axe. Some people use the ceramic pups but most toss them. If the neck is true and frets are level the only needed upgrades would be a wiring harness and pups if you’d like a more vintage tone. They have been replaced by the Chinese made retro Rocket series. Your guitar was in production from around ’96 to 2006.
Other differences include neck finish, tuners, pots, pups, and switches.
#FERNANDES GUITARS SERIAL NUMBERS FX02080086 SERIAL NUMBER#
The only different being the Japanese model has the serial number to the left of the logo. It’s kind of easy to get confused ’cause the logos are almost identical. MIJ Fernades from 2001-2003 (the last ones made in Japan) have a Fender style dark wood insert inside a larger truss adjust hole. The easiest clue to look for is the truss rod adjustment hole on the neck.
Not to burst your bubble or anything, but that Fernades is made in China. A few years ago, I met an older gentleman and acoustic guitarist who SCORED a 1940’s Martin for a couple of hundred bucks at an estate sale, and had it appraised at around forty-grand! Amazing! Talk about a steal! Oh wait! Another place you could look is at estate sales. So if you have a chance, take a peak into a pawn shop sometime. Don’t know if I’m going to keep it, but no matter. In any case, I got this guitar for a steal!!! I’m going to fix it up, swap out pickups, give it a good cleaning and setup. This was confirmed by a former Fernandes endorser that I hooked up with on The Gear Page. Almost all the pictures I saw today of late-80’s Fernandes Strat-copies were either tobacco burst or a solid that was other than white. What’s ultra-cool about this one is that it’s pure white. From what I could glean, this Strat-copy is a late-80’s (’86 and later) model of this guitar. But that was a good thing because it gave me some time to do some research. Unfortunately, they didn’t take plastic in any form, so I had to decline on the guitar. The tag on the guitar said it was for sale for $115 (sorry… if you came from the gear page, I mistakenly listed it at $125), and I asked if she’d take $100 including tax, and she agreed. And even though this guitar was well-used, I could tell it was taken care of because of only minor scratches and dings on the body.
I had heard of Fernandes guitars being very high-quality for a great price, but upon seeing the workmanship up close for the first time, I was very impressed. I was really impressed by the workmanship. The shop owner walked up, and I asked to inspect the guitar. It had a nice, white finish with a maple neck (I LOVE maple necks), and it was obviously well-used from where I could see it. But tucked in behind some guitars was a Fernandes Strat-copy that caught my eye. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the selection of gear mostly no-name brands that I had never heard of, and as far amps were concerned, cheapo solid-state practice amps. This was a little pawn shop that mostly specialized in jewelry, but they had a number of amps and guitars as well. But today, I happened to park in front of a pawn shop (I work about 20 miles from where I live), and after lunch, on a whim, decided to go in. I kind of stored that tidbit away for future reference, mainly because there aren’t any pawn shops really close to where I live. About a week ago, my friend Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps mentioned people finding great vintage gear in pawn shops. There are some things in life that you just can’t pass up.