Okay, your suspicions are correct. The “set neck strat” was not the 16th ever produced in the custom shop. At that time, the custom shop was really cranking up, and they were producing not only custom instruments, but also very limited edition instruments, such as your set-neck strat. I believe the serial number corresponds to 1991 and guitar #16 of that year, since ’91 is about the right time for the set-neck Stratocaster. If I recall properly, I bought one in ’92 from a Fender dealer–it was a new instrument at the time, and the retail was about $2,300.

Around that same time, there was a Stevie Ray Vaughn model with a big SRV routed into the pick guard. Shortly after that series, they produced the Harley Davidson Commemorative Strat, with an engraved aluminum body. As I remember it, you could design your own guitar, working through a retail store and a sales representative who would communicate between you and the luthier. But the limited production models were a little different, in that the guys in the custom shop would decide what they wanted to build, and then would produce a limited number. It stands to reason that they would produce more of the models that sold well.

The set neck Stratocaster probably didn’t sell that well, as it was a significant departure for Fender from their typical “don’t like this neck, bolt on another” philosophy. However, it appealed to acoustic guitar players who were going electric and Gibson players who wanted to get the Fender sound with the tone and sustain benefits of a set neck guitar.

That’s about all I can tell you, off the top of my head. I’m far from a Fender or Strat expert, but I did own one of the guitars (actually, still do) and was around when they were being made.

Tim