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  #1  
Old 07-19-2008, 08:16 PM
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Default How can you date a Yamaha from the serial number

Anyone know?
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Old 07-19-2008, 08:28 PM
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Kitchen Guitars Kitchen Guitars is offline
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Here you go. It is fussy how you type in the model,
http://www.yamaha.com/apps/guitararc...mberwizard.asp
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Old 07-19-2008, 09:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yamaha Junkie View Post
Here you go. It is fussy how you type in the model,
http://www.yamaha.com/apps/guitararc...mberwizard.asp
Thanks. I kept getting "invalid serial number" caps on and off. Oh well. It's no big deal, I like the guitar. It looks brand new, so either its a guitar that was given as a gift and returned or someone bought it and almost never played it.
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Old 07-19-2008, 09:45 PM
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I just checked and that wizard doesn't like the serial number on my LS6, either.
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Old 07-19-2008, 09:49 PM
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Originally Posted by neiby View Post
I just checked and that wizard doesn't like the serial number on my LS6, either.
Maybe we don't really exist then. There's the proof.
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Old 07-20-2008, 10:44 AM
dahuzi dahuzi is offline
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The serial number wizard on Yamaha's website only works for FG series and is not very helpful. It's based on a very simple formula -- the first digit of the serial number signifies the last digit of the year it was manufactured (9 can be 1999, 1989, 1979, depending on the model number). The next four digits are the month and day. The last three are the number of your guitar produced in that day. However, the L series guitars cannot apply to the formula. And I have yet to have a clue how Yamaha dates its L series guitars. Anyway, congratulations on your LJ6. It is a nice one!
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Old 08-01-2008, 01:26 PM
GuitarVlog GuitarVlog is offline
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This blog has the number codes for guitars built since 2001.

http://chiyostrings.blogspot.com/200...er-system.html
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Old 08-01-2008, 03:19 PM
jedistar jedistar is offline
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TRY THIS FIRST http://www.guitardaterproject.org/Yamaha.aspx

Vintage Yamaha - text Japanese but dates readable. http://www.yamaha.co.jp/product/guit...ase/index.html

Note serial numbers recycle every 10 years.

https://store.bluebookinc.com/Info/P...ialization.pdf
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Old 08-02-2008, 11:01 AM
dahuzi dahuzi is offline
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Thanks for the information, this is very helpful. It's hard for me to understand why Yamaha adopts such a riddle-like serial number system.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jedistar View Post
TRY THIS FIRST http://www.guitardaterproject.org/Yamaha.aspx

Vintage Yamaha - text Japanese but dates readable. http://www.yamaha.co.jp/product/guit...ase/index.html

Note serial numbers recycle every 10 years.

https://store.bluebookinc.com/Info/P...ialization.pdf
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  #10  
Old 08-05-2008, 06:20 PM
GuitarVlog GuitarVlog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dahuzi View Post
Thanks for the information, this is very helpful. It's hard for me to understand why Yamaha adopts such a riddle-like serial number system.
From what I read, their serial number system just evolved because:
  • They didn't expect guitars to become such a big item (they were into pianos) in the 60s and 70s. This is my speculation after reading about their guitars.
  • They didn't account for Y2K. The old serial number system doesn't work after the year 2000. So they came up with a new one.
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Old 05-23-2012, 12:02 PM
IFlyEm IFlyEm is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dahuzi View Post
The serial number wizard on Yamaha's website only works for FG series and is not very helpful. It's based on a very simple formula -- the first digit of the serial number signifies the last digit of the year it was manufactured (9 can be 1999, 1989, 1979, depending on the model number). The next four digits are the month and day. The last three are the number of your guitar produced in that day. However, the L series guitars cannot apply to the formula. And I have yet to have a clue how Yamaha dates its L series guitars. Anyway, congratulations on your LJ6. It is a nice one!
My FG-75 doesn't work either. I have a Red Label, with a serial number that starts with "T". There is no guidance for anything starting with a "T" so I am outta luck.
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Old 05-24-2012, 06:51 AM
bananas bananas is offline
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yeah join the club...I haven`t found a site that works for any of my old Yamahas. Don`t even look any more, just the way it is.
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  #13  
Old 05-24-2012, 07:16 AM
naolslager naolslager is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TBman View Post
Thanks. I kept getting "invalid serial number" caps on and off. Oh well. It's no big deal, I like the guitar. It looks brand new, so either its a guitar that was given as a gift and returned or someone bought it and almost never played it.
Try variations, for example:

FG331
FG-331
FG 331

or

FG-365
FG-365s
FG365s

It's a little quirky.

This "Yamaha Archive" will give you a year range of production such as 1977-1981. Then look at the first number in the serial number, and for this example it should be a "7", "8", "9", "0", or "1", indicating the years: 1977, 1978, etc.
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Old 05-24-2012, 08:54 AM
robj144 robj144 is offline
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If you have her digits, give her a call. Wine and dine her and she might let you fool around with her and make some beautiful music.
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  #15  
Old 11-06-2014, 12:53 PM
DanPanther DanPanther is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dahuzi View Post
The serial number wizard on Yamaha's website only works for FG series and is not very helpful. It's based on a very simple formula -- the first digit of the serial number signifies the last digit of the year it was manufactured (9 can be 1999, 1989, 1979, depending on the model number). The next four digits are the month and day. The last three are the number of your guitar produced in that day. However, the L series guitars cannot apply to the formula. And I have yet to have a clue how Yamaha dates its L series guitars. Anyway, congratulations on your LJ6. It is a nice one!
So According to this, My FG-140 is as follows. 1162423

1971, 81, or 91

The 24th of

16th month

23 build.

Dan
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