IC: I = Indonesia, C = Cor-Tek (Cort), the serial number prefix is followed by a 2 number year. IS: I = Indonesia, S = Samick, the serial number prefix is followed by a 2 number year. For example 'IC02' Made in 2002. In 2009-10 some Indonesian Squier's had the prefix ICS09XXXXX and ICS10XXXXX.
Subsidiary | |
Industry | Musical instruments |
---|---|
Founded | 1890 in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States 1982 (Squier by Fender) |
Founder | Victor Carroll Squier |
Defunct | 1975–1982 |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | Electric guitars Bass guitars Acoustic guitars Guitar amplifiers |
Parent | Fender |
Website | squierguitars.com |
The V.C. Squier Company manufactured strings for violins, banjos, and guitars. It was established in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan. In 1965, the company was acquired by Fender. By 1975, Squier became defunct as a manufacturer and a brand name for strings, as Fender opted to market its strings under the Fender brand name.
In 1982, the Squier brand was reactivated by Fender to become its brand for lower priced versions of Fender guitars. Squier guitars have been manufactured in Japan, Korea, Mexico, India, Indonesia, China, and the United States.
- 1History
History[edit]
V.C. Squier Company (1890–1975)[edit]
Jerome Bonaparte Squier, a young English immigrant who arrived in Battle Creek, Michigan, in the latter part of the 19th century, was a farmer and shoemaker who had learned the fine European art of violin making. He moved to Boston in 1881, where he built and repaired violins with his son, Victor Carroll Squier. To this day, their violins are noted for their exceptional varnishes, and they command high prices as fine examples of early U.S. instrument craftsmanship. Indeed, J.B. Squier ranks among the best-known U.S.-trained violin makers and is often referred to as 'the American Stradivarius.'
Victor returned to Battle Creek, where he opened his own shop in 1890. As his business grew, Squier moved the company to 429 Lake Ave. and eventually to 427 Capitol Ave, S.W.—the famous 'fiddle factory' of Battle Creek. With a limited market for violins in Battle Creek, however, Squier astutely sought relationships with national music schools and famous violinists.
Up to 1900, the best violin strings were made in Europe. Victor Squier started making his own hand-wound violin strings, and the business grew so quickly that he and his employees improvised a dramatic production increase by converting a treadle sewing machine into a string winder capable of producing 1,000 uniformly high-quality strings per day. Squier violin strings, banjo strings and guitar strings became well known nationwide and were especially popular among students because of their reasonable price.
In the 1930s, Squier began making strings for the era's new electric instruments; the company also sold pianos, radios and phonograph records until divesting itself of all string-related products in 1961. Fender Electric Instruments entered the picture in the 1950s, when the V.C. Squier Company began supplying Southern California inventor and businessman Leo Fender with strings for his unusual new electric guitars. The V.C. Squier Company became an official original equipment manufacturer for Fender in 1963. Fender acquired the V.C. Squier Company in early 1965, shortly before Fender itself was acquired by CBS in May of the same year. By the mid-1970s, the Squier name was retired as the strings had taken the Fender name.[1]
Squier Guitars (1982–present)[edit]
Before the Fender Squier line of guitars was introduced in 1982, Fender was making lower priced guitars such as the Fender Lead series at its Fullerton, California plant. Until the introduction of the Fender Squier series, Fender had never produced lower priced guitars based on its main Stratocaster and Telecaster models and had always used different model designs for its lower priced guitars.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s Fender was facing competition from lower priced Japanese made guitars. The higher priced Fender guitars were made in the United States and could not compete with the lower prices of Japanese made Fender copies. In the early 1980s, Japanese labor and production costs were much lower than in America and to compete with the Japanese made guitars, Fender moved the lower priced Fender guitar production from America to Japan.
Fender was also losing sales in Japan to Japanese guitar brands such as Tōkai, Greco and Fernandes and the establishment of Fender Japan would benefit Fender sales in Japan, as well as overseas. Fender began negotiations with several Japanese musical instrument distributors and reached an agreement with Yamano Gakki and Kanda Shokai to establish Fender Japan. Yamano Gakki was known for once being part of Epiphone Japan. Kanda Shokai owned the Greco brand name and one of the conditions of the Fender Japan agreement was that Kanda Shokai cease production of its own Greco Fender copies. This arrangement benefited Fender because it removed the Greco Fender copies from the Japanese market, which were selling in Japan at much lower prices than the American made Fenders and it also benefited Kanda Shokai because Kanda Shokai could then distribute Japanese made Fender branded guitars in Japan. Further negotiations between Fender and Japanese guitar factories took place. Tokai was seriously considered to start building the first Japanese made Fenders, but after a breakdown in negotiations, FujiGen Gakki was chosen instead.[2]
The initial Squier models were launched on July/August 1982. Over time, the Squier series slowly evolved to include original model designs and production has moved from Japan to various other Asian countries such as Korea, China and Indonesia.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Fender Squier HistoryArchived July 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Fender Japan History'. Daeschler.com. Retrieved 2013-12-14.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Squier. |
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Squier&oldid=912028656'
i have a squier stratocastor fender. it has an s/n ic 031225422 written on the back. made in indonesia. i am having a hell of a time dating it and finding its value. if anyone has any info that would be really great.
#2
8 years ago
Dear Guest:
The identification is in the serial number; IC = Indonasia and the first two numbers = the year '03' or '2003'.
The identification is in the serial number; IC = Indonasia and the first two numbers = the year '03' or '2003'.
Your Squire Stratocaster is valued at;
Mint: $180.00 USD
Exc : $150.00 USD
Exc: $125.00 USD
VG : $100.00 USD
VG: $90.00 USD
Good: $75.00 USD
Mint: $180.00 USD
Exc : $150.00 USD
Exc: $125.00 USD
VG : $100.00 USD
VG: $90.00 USD
Good: $75.00 USD
Hope this helps you out,
kcbuck
kcbuck
#3
3 years ago
#4
3 years ago
Cole,
That's a curious serial number for a Squier.
Is there any little sticker on the headstock that indicates where the guitar was made? (India, Japan, etc)
☹️
#5
3 years ago
Does it have any letter prefixes to that serial number?
#6
3 years ago
I have one that has IC0306
I see the started adding IC around 2008/9 when they moved to Indonesia, but '03' was 5 yrs earlier. Mine is stamped 'designed and backed by fender crafted in Indonesia'
I see the started adding IC around 2008/9 when they moved to Indonesia, but '03' was 5 yrs earlier. Mine is stamped 'designed and backed by fender crafted in Indonesia'
#7
3 years ago
Jeff,
Plug the full serial number into this decoder, after checking the 'Indonesia' block on the bottom left, and see what it tells you sir.
#8
2 years ago
#9
2 years ago
#10
2 years ago
Wayne,
Is there a sticker or marker on the guitar to determine whether it was made in Korea, Japan, Indonesia, China, or India?
?
#11
2 years ago
I have a tele with SN at the start of the serial.
Can anyone tell me what it means?
Can anyone tell me what it means?
Mark
#12
2 years ago
2003. MZ3 is made in Mexico 2003. FZ3 is made in U.S. N is nineties, E is eighties etc. Then the following number is the year
#13
2 years ago
Mark,
Is your Telecaster a Squier or a straight-up Fender?
?
#14
2 years ago
#15
2 years ago
Mine is very similar with serial number S/N 1C 050438639 stamped made in Indonesia. Could you tell me about it at all? T.I.A.
#16
2 years ago
#17
2 years ago
#18
2 years ago
Mary,
She was crafted in the Cort factory in Indonesia, in 2005.
Alder body, bolt-on maple neck, with either a bare maple fretboard or a rosewood fretboard.
Alnico/ceramic magnet pickups, usually in the 3x single-coil configuration with a five-way switch.
Worth $150 in really nice condition.
Can you post a photo of her?
?
#19
2 years ago
Same but my squire has the s/n IC050314247 and can't put a value on it
#20
2 years ago
Tj juul wrote:
Same but my squire has the s/n IC050314247 and can't put a value on it
Same as Mary K's Squier, Tj juul.
Can you post a photo of yours?
We would love to see both of them, actually.
?
#21
2 years ago
Those may interest you:
#22
2 years ago
Nice.
That's a finish known as Metallic Blue, which was offered first in 2004, and has been produced for many years since.
The guitar had an MSRP (back in the day) of $280, and would be worth $180 in absolutely brand new condition.
Yours, judging by that photo alone, is in good shape.
It just needs a good clean-up, and some metal polish on the bits that have succumbed to rust and corrosion.
It just needs a good clean-up, and some metal polish on the bits that have succumbed to rust and corrosion.
As is, in the Seattle area, you could easily get $110 for it, without cleaning it up.
?
#23
2 years ago
#24
2 years ago
#25
2 years ago
Ah, now things get interesting.
Mary K, yours is not a Squier Stratocaster.
It is one of the only original Squier design guitars.
It's known as the Squier 51.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squier_%2751
It's known as the Squier 51.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squier_%2751
She was only made from 2004 to 2006, and yours is a rare sunburst model.
Still only worth $150, and yours is worth every penny.
Still only worth $150, and yours is worth every penny.
I covet that guitar, and really want one some day.
?
#26
2 years ago
Thank you so much for all your help and information! It is greatly appreciated!?
#27
1 year ago
SN IC010510317 crafted in Indonesia. Can you tell me what the exact wood did they use here. Thanks. ?
#28
1 year ago
Made in 2001, Juluis.
The neck is made of maple, and may or may not have a rosewood fingerboard.
The body may be made of any number of woods. It depends upon what blocks of wood that the manufacturer could get ahold of at the time.
Typically, the body would have been made of either agathis, basswood, and/or alder.
I hope this helps!
?
#29
1 year ago
Sparky! I just bought my first guitar today, a Squier Strat, and can't find any information on it! Any help?!
s/n IC080442418
Thanks!
#30
1 year ago
She is a Squier Strat, made at the Cort factory in Indonesia in 2008.
Maple neck with a really pretty rosewood fingerboard, and an alder or similar hardwood body.
Humbucker/Single Coil/Single Coil (HSS) pickup configuration, and the finish is Ebony Black.
Large '70's style headstock.
Worth $120 in the condition I see there.
Worth $120 in the condition I see there.
Nice!
?
1