Where To Find Yamaha Guitar Serial Number

[Jerica Shilt]

Haveyou recently decided that you would like to learn to play the guitar? If so, you will need an instrument to play, but which type of guitar should you choose? All the terminology can be so confusing when starting out, so what is the difference between an Acoustic and Classical guitar? It's a common question!

Learning to play guitar is a rewarding experience and an exciting journey that begins with choosing your instrument. You could use any guitar when you're first starting to learn, however you will find that many budding musicians will begin with either an acoustic or classical guitar.

The two primary reasons for choosing one of these is that firstly, it's possible to find inexpensive models and secondly, these types of guitars do not require the extra investment of an amplifier; you can simply pick up the instrument and start playing.

Before you settle and make a choice, it's always beneficial to have the facts. Below you can acquaint yourself with the key differences between Acoustic and Classical guitars to help you make an informed choice, after all an informed choice is more likely to be the right choice! So here is a brief guide to the distinguishing features of these two instruments:

The sound of an instrument could be the deciding factor for you when making your choice. It is a good idea to think about the type of music that you enjoy listening to and what sort of music you think that you would like to play. If your preference is for Flamenco or Spanish guitar, then of course a Classical model would likely be your preferred option. If you are more interested in pop or country music, then an acoustic guitar might serve you better.

Whether Acoustic or Classical, guitars vary enormously in the sound that they produce. The construction and the wood used are amongst the factors that will influence the tone of the instrument and so it's a good idea to listen to a few different models before you make your choice. Doing so will give you some understanding of what is available and you may find which type of sound appeals to you most. It could be that you adore loud, rich tones but alternatively you might find that you prefer a softer sound.

Both styles of guitar are actually Acoustic guitars but Classical models have nylon strings whereas the more modern instruments, which are referred to as Acoustic guitars, have steel strings. The two types of strings feel and sound very different.

Nylon strings are thicker and sound more mellow. The steel strings of the Acoustic guitar are much brighter and resonate for longer. With nylon strings the G, B and high E strings are simply nylon and then the bass strings have nylon cores with metal coatings. Steel is actually a bit of a misnomer as steel strings can be fashioned from a variety of metals including nickel and bronze. They are sharper on your fingers but this will improve as your technique develops and you get used to playing.

Acoustic and Classical guitars are shaped differently. Acoustic guitars are usually built with a dreadnought shape which is larger than that of a Classical instrument. It is rare to have cutaways giving you access to the higher frets on Classical guitars.

Your final choice of guitar may be at least partially dictated by your budget, and that's sensible. Classical guitars can often be a little cheaper than Acoustic models, but as with anything, there's a huge variation across the range. Your first guitar won't need to be costly instrument in order to get started but an investment in a budget model may quickly lead to you looking to move on to a superior model. On the other hand of course, you might prefer to keep your costs down initially whilst you find out if you really do enjoy playing and which instrument best suit your style.

Buena Tarde.

Tengo dos guitarras Yamaha nuevas, creo que son del a?o 1961 o anteriores, una es la C40 y la otra es la C 60 los n?meros de serie que aparecen son 61029058; 71010006 respectivamente, quisiera que me ayuden para saber su valor.

Lo mismo tengo una guitarra nueva Brasilera Giannini, a?o 1956.

Good evening.

I have two new Yamaha guitars, I think they are from 1961 or earlier, one is the C40 and the other is the C 60 the serial numbers that appear are 61029058; 71010006 respectively, I would like you to help me to know its value.

The same I have a new Brazilian guitar Giannini, year 1956.

You can see how their serial number system is very confusing and how its hard to tell from a lot of the systems they used and a lot of duplicates. I think your best option is to contact Yamaha to see if they know.

Sir, I have a guitar with the numbers OLN0087S a Yamaha and I do not know how to figure what the worth is of this guitar. My husband passed and left me with two this one and a Fender plus a Japanese one also. Can you help me find out what the worth of this one is. I have a hard case to keep it in and it is in excellent shape with no scratches or anything on it. I want to sell these and do not want someone to cheat me on these items. Thanks Susan

Hello, I just got my fg-410e and i am confused about the dating, since you showed so much knowledge about it i would appreciate your help if you could maybe give me some more details about its age. Serial is 50606068 and the sticker inside is oval(like an ellipse) and it says yamaha

FG-410E

made in taiwan

Republic of china.

Thanky very much

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Perhaps at the same time, they also had SE 112, SE 211, and SE 312 models. These numbers seemed to indicate a pickguard (exception: the SE 200 also had a pickguard). And this is the first time (that I know of) that Yamaha used the numbers to indicate pickup configuration. The first number is the level of the guitar. The second is the number of humbuckers, the third is the number of single coils. They kept this numbering system in later SE lines, and then on into the Pacifica line.

The Yamaha SE-6xx guitars are monster guitars. You could do far worse than picking up an SE-6xx for approximately $200. It would probably be the best $200-ish guitar you own, beating out almost any new guitar costing hundreds more.

In my experience, your best bet is to put a search string into eBay and Reverb to notify you when someone puts an old Yamaha SE (or in the case of the RM Pro, a higher-end RGX or RGZ) and if you can get it cheap enough, cannibalize.

I do not have the guitar with me, as it was shipped to a location that I should be at now, but I am stuck elsewhere for awhile. When I am eventually reunited with the guitar, I will find a professional who will do whatever is necessary to recondition and set it up properly. The one thing that I may want to do before that, though, is consider the possibility of replacing the pickups, because once I am with the guitar, I will be in a location where finding replacements would likely be impossible. Buying them online and having them shipped would probably be difficult, and certainly incur import duty and taxes that I can avoid by buying now.

You can also take a look at our collection of guitar catalogs, where you can find a lot of valuable information about your guitar, and just have a good time enjoying the masterpieces of guitar craftsmanship.

Information on these guitars is not easy to find. They were made solely for the Japanese domestic market and Yamaha themselves did not export any of them. Therefore they only appear in the Japanese catalogues and not any of the English language ones. Some obviously made their way to the west including an SL400s which I own. In rewriting these pages I have had a lot of information from a SL LP collector called Dan. I am indebted to him for some great information

As with many things Yamaha the truth is often different to the catalogues and archives but they are the best source we have along with some information from owners. The timeline for these models is:

1976 The first SL series of 9 models launched the 380, 430, 500, 550, 650, 700, 800,1000 and 1200

1979 Further 6 SL Models added the 400s, 500s, 600s, 700s, 700c, 800s

1980 Original 9 models discontinued

1982 Old models all discontinued and replaced by 2 new models the 450s and 550s

1984 All SLs discontinued and replaced by the 5 LP Models the 400, 500, 600, 800 custom and 1000 at sometime there was also an LP1000 custom produced in quite limited numbers, see later comments.

According to the Archives all production ceased in 1985, they do appear in the 1985 catalogue

Dan has an LP 400 with a serial number of 5Y22019 which would indicate to me an earliest date of November 1986. This guitar has sealed Yamaha Chrome tuners instead of the plastic covered Kluson type. I have now seen more LP400s with these sealed tuners they all have E4 series serial numbers 5K19057 5X21010 and 5Z24002 the earliest these could be are April 1986, October 1986 and December 1986 respectively. I am now fairly certain that the archives are wrong and production of at least the LP400 continued until at least late 1986 and that the specs changed at least to the extent of there being these tuners. However I have yet to find any other LP models with this range of serial numbers so it may be just the LP400 that continued. See pictures at the bottom of the page. As often with Yamaha the number in the designation relates to the launch price in 100s of Yen. So a model designated as 800 would be released at 80,000 yen. This carries through to many other Yamaha ranges but not to all

There is a theory that these and Superaxes follow the published series for SGs and in most cases this appears to be true but some which are in the right format give you the wrong year and several have serial numbers that fit into no published format at all. The most reliable way of dating Yamahas is by the numbers on the back of the pickups however a lot of this range don't have the relevant numbers on the pickups. Here is a spreadsheet with a few example serial numbers

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