Fender is the measuring stick for amp code dating: the tube chart pasted inside its cabinets between 1951 and 1969 gives the year and the month, and the same alphabet returned on the reissues from 1990. Fender kept no amp serial archive before 1994, so a vintage chassis number is a community table reading rather than a factory lookup. Everything else on the amp — transformer, speaker, pot and chassis stamps — dates a part.
The first amps were wooden-cabinet models such as the Model 26 (1946–48), followed by tweed-covered boxes with the grille cloth on the front (TV front, 1951–52). Cabinets changed often in these years, so cosmetics plus component codes carry the dating load. Some of these amps have serial numbers written by hand on the tube chart, numbered in one sequence across models.
The wide-panel tweed box (1952–54) gave way to the narrow-panel shape most players picture (from 1954). Tube charts were pasted inside these cabinets from 1951, and by the late 1950s the EIA codes on Schumacher transformers and Jensen speakers agree closely enough to bracket a build.
Brown and blonde cabinets with brown or wheat grille cloth mark the early 1960s, a period when the circuits changed every year or two (the 5G and 6G series). Model windows are tight here, so a correct model identification plus one component code is usually enough.
Black Tolex, a black control panel and silver-blue grille cloth; circuit codes such as AA763 and AB763 belong to this era. Tube charts from these years are the strongest single witness a Fender amp carries, and the cosmetics are the most imitated.
Aluminium-trimmed panels and the CBS years. The tube chart was dropped, but chassis ink stamps and (from 1990) QA stickers keep dating possible, and from 1975 the serial format itself encodes a year.
The Rivera-era two-channel amps (1982–87) are dated from batch tables that give a season rather than a month. Reissues from 1990 reuse the vintage tube-chart alphabet, and Fender's own serial lookup takes over from 1994.
| Series | Years | Rows | Era note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bandmaster 5C7, 5D7 (tweed) | 1953–1954 | 2 | |
| Bandmaster 5E7 (tweed) | 1955–1959 | 5 | |
| Bandmaster 5G7, 6G7 (brown) | 1960 | 1 | |
| Bandmaster 6G7, 6G7-A (blonde) | 1960–1963 | 4 | |
| Bandmaster AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1967 | 5 | |
| Bandmaster AB763, AC568 (silverface) | 1967–1972 | 4 | |
| Bandmaster Reverb AA768, AA1069, AA270, TFL5005 (silverface) | 1968–1976 | 9 | |
| Bassman 5B6 (tweed) | 1951–1953 | 3 | |
| Bassman 5D6, 5D6-A (tweed) | 1954–1955 | 2 | |
| Bassman 5E6, 5E6-A (tweed) | 1955–1957 | 3 | |
| Bassman 5F6, 5F6-A (tweed) | 1957–1960 | 4 | |
| Bassman 6G6, 6G6-A, 6G6-B (blonde) | 1961–1964 | 4 | |
| Bassman AA864, AA165, AB165 (blackface) | 1964–1967 | 4 | |
| Bassman AB165, AC568, AA270, AA371 (silverface) | 1967–1971 | 5 | |
| Bassman 50 (silverface) | 1972–1973 | 2 | |
| Bronco AB764 (silverface) | 1967–1975 | 9 | |
| Champion 800 (tweed) | 1948–1949 | 1 | |
| Champion 600 5B1 (tweed) | 1948–1952 | 3 | |
| Champ 5C1, 5D1 (tweed) | 1953–1955 | 3 | |
| Champ 5E1, 5F1 (tweed) | 1955–1964 | 10 | |
| Champ AA764 (blackface) | 1964–1967 | 4 | |
| Champ AA764 (silverface) | 1968–1976 | 9 | |
| Concert 5G12, 6G12, 6G12-A (brown) | 1960–1963 | 4 | |
| Concert AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1965 | 3 | |
| Model 26 Deluxe (woodie) | 1946–1948 | 1 | |
| Deluxe 5A3, 5B3 (tweed) | 1948–1953 | 6 | |
| Deluxe 5C3, 5D3 (tweed) | 1953–1955 | 3 | |
| Deluxe 5E3 (tweed) | 1955–1961 | 7 | |
| Deluxe 6G3, 6G3-A (brown) | 1961–1963 | 3 | |
| Deluxe AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1967 | 5 | |
| Deluxe Reverb AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1967 | 5 | |
| Deluxe Reverb AB763, AB868 (silverface) | 1967–1976 | 10 | |
| Dual Showman AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1967 | 5 | |
| Dual Showman AB763, AC568 (silverface) | 1967–1968 | 2 | |
| Dual Showman Reverb AA768, AA769, AA270, TFL5000 (silverface) | 1968–1976 | 10 | |
| Harvard 5F10 (tweed) | 1956–1961 | 6 | |
| Musicmaster Bass CFA-7010 (silverface) | 1970–1976 | 7 | |
| Princeton 5B2, 5C2, 5D2 (tweed) | 1953–1955 | 3 | |
| Princeton 5E2 (tweed) | 1955 | 1 | |
| Princeton 5F2, 5F2-A (tweed) | 1956–1961 | 6 | |
| Princeton 6G2, 6G2-A (brown) | 1961–1964 | 4 | |
| Princeton AA964 (blackface) | 1964–1966 | 3 | |
| Princeton AA964 (silverface) | 1967–1970 | 2 | |
| Princeton Reverb AA1164 (blackface) | 1964–1967 | 4 | |
| Princeton Reverb AA1164, B1270 (silverface) | 1967–1976 | 10 | |
| Pro 5A5, 5B5, 5C5, 5D5 (tweed) | 1948–1955 | 8 | |
| Pro 5E5, 5E5-A, 5E5-B (tweed) | 1955–1959 | 5 | |
| Pro 5G5, 6G5, 6G5-A (brown) | 1960–1963 | 4 | |
| Pro AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1964 | 2 | |
| Pro Reverb AA165 (blackface) | 1965–1967 | 3 | |
| Pro Reverb AA1265, AB668, AA1069, AA270 (silverface) | 1968–1976 | 9 | |
| Quad Reverb CFA7104 (silverface) | 1971–1976 | 7 | |
| Reverb Unit 6G15 (brown, blonde, blackface) | 1961–1966 | 6 | |
| Showman 6G14, 6G14-A (blonde) | 1960–1963 | 4 | |
| Showman AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1967 | 5 | |
| Showman AB763 (silverface) | 1967–1968 | 2 | |
| Super incl. Dual Professional (tweed) | 1946–1955 | 5 | |
| Super 5E4, 5F4 (tweed) | 1955–1959 | 5 | |
| Super 5G4, 6G4, 6G4-A (brown) | 1960–1963 | 5 | |
| Super Reverb AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1967 | 5 | |
| Super Reverb AB763, AB568, AA1069, AA270 (silverface) | 1967–1976 | 11 | |
| Super Six Reverb CFA7106 (silverface) | 1971–1976 | 7 | |
| Tremolux 5E9, 5E9-A (tweed) | 1955–1960 | 6 | |
| Tremolux 6G9, 6G9-A, 6G9-B (blonde) | 1961–1963 | 3 | |
| Tremolux AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1966 | 4 | |
| Twin 5C8, 5D8, 5D8-A, 5E8, 5E8-A (tweed) | 1953–1957 | 2 | |
| Twin 5F8, 5F8-A (tweed) | 1957–1960 | 1 | |
| Twin 6G8, 6G8-A (blonde) | 1960–1963 | 4 | |
| Twin Reverb AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1964–1967 | 4 | |
| Twin Reverb AB763, AC568, AA769, AA270 (silverface) | 1967–1976 | 11 | |
| Vibrasonic 5G13, 6G13, 6G13-A (brown) | 1960–1963 | 4 | |
| Vibro Champ AA764 (blackface) | 1964–1967 | 4 | |
| Vibro Champ AA764 (silverface) | 1967–1976 | 11 | |
| Vibrolux 5F11 (tweed) | 1956–1961 | 6 | |
| Vibrolux 6G11, 6G11-A (brown) | 1961–1963 | 3 | |
| Vibrolux AA763 (blackface) | 1964 | 1 | |
| Vibrolux Reverb AA864 (blackface) | 1964–1967 | 4 | |
| Vibrolux Reverb AA864, AA964, AB568, AA270 (silverface) | 1967–1976 | 10 | |
| Vibrosonic Reverb (silverface) | 1972–1976 | 6 | |
| Vibroverb 6G16 (brown) | 1963 | 1 | |
| Vibroverb AA763, AB763 (blackface) | 1963–1964 | 2 | |
| Universal A6/A7/A8/A9/B/F9/F0–F4 (silverface 1975–1984) | 1975–1984 | 11 | |
| Silverface without the "A" prefix | 1970–1971 | 1 | 1970–1971 |
| Bassman 20 & Champ II (Rivera era) | 1982–1983 | 9 | 1982–1983 |
| Concert (Rivera, 1982–87) | 1982–1987 | 12 | |
| Deluxe Reverb II (Rivera, 1982–86) | 1982–1986 | 7 | |
| Princeton Reverb II (Rivera, 1982–87) | 1982–1987 | 11 | |
| Super Champ (Rivera, 1982–86) | 1982–1986 | 17 | |
| Twin Reverb II (Rivera, 1982–86) | 1982–1983 | 2 |
38 Fender models are catalogued with their production years, specs and safety notes.
Browse the models →Stamped into the metal chassis at the rear edge rather than on a plate, and sometimes repeated on a foil sticker. Before 1976 it cannot be converted to a year from factory records, because none exist.
The first letter is the year and the second the month: FG is July 1956 in the vintage cycle, and July 1995 in the reissue cycle.
Check the code against both cycles, then the hardware and construction. The decoder returns both candidate years rather than choosing one for you.
Fender publishes a serial lookup that covers modern amps and instruments. For pre-1994 amps its own guidance is to read the date codes on the amp.
Compiled from 150 published sources — the source library.