Fender moved production of some Fender-branded instruments from Korea to Indonesia in 2008.
The serial numbering scheme for these instruments initially used the letters “IC” as a prefix
indicating that they were made in Indonesia at the Cort factory. In mid-2009, the prefix was changed
to “ICF” on some instruments, indicating that they were made in Indonesia at the Cort factory and were
Fender-branded.
Both the “IC” and “ICF” prefixes are followed by an eight-digit number, with the first two digits designating
the year of manufacture, (i.e., 09 for 2009, 10 for 2010, etc.). The remaining six digits are the unit identifier
but are not sequential and do not provide any further identification information about the instrument.
The numbers for each year typically overlap by a few months, as there is always a transitional period between
successive years and because necks and complete instruments that are made and serial numbered late in any given
year will be used on instruments assembled and sold in the early months of the subsequent year.
