If youre not averse to removing the neck on a guitar, Fender often wrote a date on the heel of the neck, as well as a date in the neck pocket.

This is partially due to their production methods, which often involved using parts throughout different models and years, so that tracing the year of one part may not accurately indicate the production year of the instrument. Serial numbers found under a pickup may conform to an MMYNN scheme where MM month, Y last digit of year, and NN production number.īolt-on guitars may have a 5-digit code stamped on the neck plate but because of materials being used inconsistently at the ESP factories these numbers cannot be trusted. You can check the neck, neck pocket, or even pickup cavity for a written serial. They were made by Terada and usually have an Orange Epiphone label.īlue label - Early models say Union Made 1976-1979 - Tan or white Lincolnwood label with Norlin logo 1980-1987 - Brown Label with splotched pattern.įor example day 02 could be 2, and thus the serial would be only 7 digits long.

Y Year of manufacture MM Month of manufacture PPP Production number The serial number letters used by the Terada and Fuji-Gen guitar factories are: J Terada T Terada, F Fuji-Gen No Letter Fuji-Gen Example: J902123 Terada 1999 February unit 123 Example: T902123 Terada 1999 February unit 123 Example: F902123 Fuji-Gen 1999 February unit 123 Example: 902123 Fuji-Gen 1999 February unit 123 1987 - 1997 For Yamano Gakki Epiphone Japan semi acoustic models from 1987 to approximately 1997, the serial numbers are in a YCPPP format.

Dean Guitars Search Serial Numbers Are In The system uses running model numbers rather than a dedicated code for year, month, and place of manufacture. Happy hunting YYMMFFRRRRR YY year of manufacture MM month of manufature FF factory ID RRRRR ranking number Example: 08121520333 2008 December factory 15 unit 20333 Note: Models from 2008 and onwards omit the factory ID letter prefix. If you see a seven digit serial number on the back of a Dean guitar, you can be sure that it was produced in United States.ĭeans more affordable line made outside the US may require looking at features and hardware and some knowledge of the line.Īn example given was the serial US12040364 (dont let the US make you think its a USA model).

If you enjoyed this content- PLEASE take a look at our current used guitars and gear.įirst two numbers in the sequence are the last two digits of the production year. Dean Guitars Search Serial Number Decoderĭean Guitars Search Serial Number DecoderĪlso California Series serials (1997-1998) use an AMXN prefix followed by 6 digits, and were jointly made by Fender USAMexico.Dean Guitars Search Serial Numbers Are In.

Dean guitar serial number search