Dating Yamaha Acoustic Guitars With Seven Digit Serial Numbers. 1) Many of the guitar models, for example FG110,FG140,FG150 FG180 that were made in the 1969 thru 1975 time frame; were assigned a sequential serial number as they came off the assembly line. This number was not tied to the production date so the guitar cannot be accurately dated. The basis of all Yamaha serial numbers is the following alphabetic legend which i have excerpted from the document, with H thru P being 1 to 9 and Q being zero. X, Y and Z are just 10,11 and 12 (?) Anyway, all you need to do is find your pattern somewhere in the larger list of serial number formats and then try and match it up with some information that you already know about your guitar. The 7 digit serial numbers are sequential, they have nothing to do with when the guitar is made. Inside the guitar, on one of the sides, is a date code in the format xx.xx.xx, the first 2 digits being the year of the SHOWA period, in your case it should be 46, which would be 1971. Seagull Guitar Serial Numbers: When Was Your Seagull Guitar Built. Between 1993 and 2007 Godin used an 8 digit serial number. This serial number is broken up into 4 different parts. So in our example we have a 4 so the guitar with this serial number was built on a Thursday. 05034148; The last 3 digits.
WANTED – Data from your vintage Yamaha FG guitars. See later in the post.
See Yamaha FG Serial Numbers, Interior Markings, and Labels – 1966 to 1981for the results of this search. My search expanded to also include the Taiwan FG’s.
My latest interest is decoding the mystery of the 6 & 7 digit serial numbers. It’s widely known that the 8 digit serial numbers start with the year as the first number. But the 6 & 7 digit numbers (located on the neck block) are just sequential numbers used by all the guitars they built, not just the FG’s. I’ve also found there are internal date codes that will reveal when the guitar was made.
Serial Number located on the neck block.
Date Code located on one of the interior sides of the guitar.
I’ve started a list of guitars I’ve found (including 3 of mine) with the model number, the serial number, and the date code, which will allow the 6 & 7 digit serial numbers to be grouped into a range for each year, allowing any 6 or 7 digit serial number to be cross referenced to the year it was made.
On YouTube I found a guy in Japan who’s posted short videos of many vintage FG guitars, with the year, model number, partial serial numbers, and in a most cases the internal date code. He’s obviously used the internal date codes to determine the years. Ballad Maker on Youtube
With this, and other data I’ve been finding, I’ve discovered even though Yamaha says the first Red Label models imported in the US where in 1968, I’ve found many Red Label FG guitars made in 1967. I’m also tracking the Green Label FG’s, the earliest models (1966-67) only made in Japan, that share the same pool of serial numbers. I’m looking for the transition between the Green and Red labels. I’ve also found the Green Label FG’s have a different truss rod cover, with “Reinforced Neck” on it, very different than the one you normally see. That cover made it onto the earliest FG’s imported into the US, before changing to the familiar one.
Truss Rod Cover on Green Label and very early Red Label FG’s.
Regular Truss rod Cover used on Red Label FG’s.
Yamaha Guitar 7 Digit Serial Number Generator
WANTED – Could you please email me at YamahaVintageFG@gmail.com with the following data from your vintage Green and Red label Nippon Gakki FG guitars that have serial numbers less than 8 digits, located on the neck block? I have over 350 serial numbers so far, but only 38 of those have the internal date code. I’m also collecting data on Taiwan made FG’s, up to 1981.
7 Digit Phone Number
Model number.
Label color and type. See Yamaha FG Serial Numbers, Interior Markings, and Labels – 1966 to 1981for more information.
Serial number on brace and neck block.
Internal date code (I use flashlight and a cheap USB endoscope with my cell phone, or my cell phone camera if the strings are off.) This is very important to establish the date range of the serial numbers.
If it has the old style “Reinforced Neck” truss rod cover.
Any other information you’d like to share about the guitar.