Condition : Very good for age, some small dings and marks.
Description :
A Fender guitar with the serial number E 466718 (commonly referred to as an "E4" serial number) was manufactured in the United States (Corona, California factory) most likely between 1987 and 1988.
The History Behind the "E4" Serial Number
While Fender's standard dating system uses the letter prefix for the decade ("E" for Eighties) and the first digit for the specific year ("4" for 1984), this specific number series is a famous historical exception:
The Factory Shutdown: CBS sold Fender to a group of employees in 1985. During this transition, the old Fullerton factory was shut down, and production stopped in the US for months while a new factory was built in Corona, California.
Leftover Decals: Fender ordered a massive batch of "E4" serial number headstock decals in 1984. Because of the production halt, these unused decals sat in storage.
The American Standard Era: When the factory reopened and introduced the new American Standard Stratocaster and Telecaster models in late 1986 and 1987, builders used up those leftover "E4" decals. Consequently, the vast majority of "E4" guitars are actually from 1987 or 1988.
The guitar is a highly collectible first-generation Fender American Standard Stratocaster (Left-Handed) from the late 1987 to 1988 era.
Left-handed models from this specific "E4" transition window are highly sought after by players and collectors because American production was incredibly limited during the factory reboot, making left-handed runs exceptionally rare.
Factory Specifications of the Guitar
The guitar is completely original, it features the groundbreaking modern specs that Fender introduced to save the company in 1987: The Bridge: It features a 2-point synchronized tremolo with block-style stainless steel saddles. This replaced the traditional vintage 6-screw tremolo to provide much better tuning stability.
The Body: Built with an Alder body. If you were to remove the pickguard, you would likely find a "swimming pool" router cavity (a large, singular open block routed out for the pickups), which allowed Fender to use the same body shells for multiple pickup configurations.
The Neck & Frets: A maple neck featuring a modern 9.5-inch fretboard radius and 22 medium jumbo frets. Prior to this era, standard Stratocasters only had 21 frets.
The Electronics: It originally came with three American Standard Alnico V single-coil pickups. It also features Fender’s TBX (Treble Bass Expander) tone control system on the bottom knob, which has a distinct "click" detent in the middle position to cut or boost treble/bass frequencies