[Cort Guitar Serial Number Checker
Joao Charlesbois
A. This is a common question we see quite regularly on the forums. Cort model serial numbers are usually found on the headstock of the guitar and can often be used to identify the date of manufacture. The most common current dating system has been in place since around 2000 and is YYMMXXXX. Thus, a serial number reading 02046572 means the guitar most likely manufactured in April 2002. In early 2005 Cort serial numbers gained an extra identification digit, and so some models manufactured after this date are in the style of YYMMXXXXX. The older known dating system was implemented in the early 90
If it's a genuine Cort Source (their most recent 335 style semi-hollowbody that I'm aware of) the serial number is usually on the back of the headstock. If it's an earlier model, I'm not sure where you might find it if it's not located there - maybe there's a label inside one of the f-holes? That's where the serial number is located on my 2001 Epiphone Casino. It's also possible Cort did something similar, but the label may have come off at some point in time. I really don't know for certain. You might want to use the link Daddymack posted earlier in the thread and contact Cort and see if they can provide you any additional info.
The first serial numbers on Ibanez acoustic guitars appeared in October 1974[1] Serial numbers on solid body guitars came a bit later with the first appearing on the neck plate of bolt-on neck models around August 1975. The practice wasn't fully adopted on set-neck guitars until sometime in 1976.
The serial numbers are generally a character string containing letters and numbers, although some are purely numeric. Serial numbers can be useful in determining the age of a guitar as well as in which country and by which builder it was produced.
Unfortunately, there is no single unified format used for Ibanez serial numbers. Ibanez guitar production is outsourced to several companies and facilities through the world and the numbering schemes are different in each region and/or factory. The information on this page is culled from several sources both on-line and off-line and represents a distillation of the available information. It applies primarily to electric guitars, but some information may also be applicable to acoustics.
The first step in deciphering the serial number is determining the country or facility in which the guitar was produced. In most cases the country of origin is provided in the same location as the serial number. In cases where you have a serial numbe r but not a country of origin, the origin can sometimes be deduced from the serial number, although in this case it's very helpful if you have at least a rough idea of the date of manufacture.
It's unclear whether this numbering convention is rigidly enforced, that is, each month actually starts out with the number prescribed above, or if this is just a way to estimate the production month. What is known is that this rubric is used by Ibanez to set the production date for warranty claims.
Note: as of November 2004, the serial number represents not necessarily the year the instrument was produced but rather the model year to which the instrument belongs. It has long been Ibanez's practice to begin production for the subsequent model year in November (or even late October), but the serial numbering change that was implemented in November 2004 acknowledged and formalized this practice.
Note that there is opportunity for confusion with some of the other schemes listed here with regards to the initial letters F and I, however, this format is the only one which has just six characters. It is believed that all Japanese-made models with this serial number format are produced by Sugi Musical Instruments Ltd.
It's unclear precisely by whom these guitars were produced by or what the "H" in the serial number represents. "H" was previously used to represent Terada production (see next entry), but as far as we know Terada specialized in acoustic and semi-acoustic instruments, so they would seem an unlikely choice to be tapped to build the high-priced, solid-body "80's Custom Legends" models which bear this serial format. It's possible that the "H" simply stands for Historic, or something, and that these models were, in fact, made by FujiGen. If anyone has any definitive information on this topic, please reach out.
Models produced through 1988 (and perhaps into 1989) have serial numbers starting with "F7" which would normally indicate production in 1987. It seems that FujiGen or Ibanez produced an overstock of these "F7" serial number stickers and so just continued to use them through 1988.
One can perhaps make a reasonable guess as to whether a model with an F7 serial number was actually produced in 1987 or 1988 based on the production sequence (the last five digits of the serial number). Any production sequences above 43,200 may be assumed to be 1988 models, although this rule of thumb doesn't appear to always hold true.
In some cases a determination as to whether a guitar was actually produced as an 1987 or 1988 model can be inferred based on the finish (color) of the guitar, as some finishes are limited to certain years.
Most Ibanez models with this serial number format were made by FujiGen Gakki. Exceptions are the Ibanez Blazer models which were made by Dyna Gakki and the Axstar by Ibanez models AX40, AX45, AX48, AXB50, AXB60, AXB65, AX70, AX75 which were made by Chushin Gakki (the flagship Axstar AXB1000 bass was made by FujiGen Gakki).
It is also believed that 'Terada Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. of Japan also made some guitars for Ibanez during this period.' It's thought that 'these would be mostly hollow-body guitars, but may also included some solid-body Artist series models.' There is no proof whatsoever for either of these assumptions. It's most likely that this is a big misunderstanding caused by an over generalization in the database of the "Guitar Dater Project" website, which is not able to assign the right factory to a vintage Ibanez guitar based on its serial number. The false information this website generates has been propogated in numerous advertisements of sellers of vintage Ibanez guitars. There is no proof whatsoever of any solid body Ibanez guitar produced by Terada. On the contrary: the fact that the production of solid body Ibanez Artist guitars shifted to Iida Gakki 1987, while hollow-body and semi-hollow Artist guitars became Artstar labels with H serial numbers, shows that the original production before 1987 came all from the FujiGen Gakki factory, which was experiencing capacity problems during that time period caused by their commitment to produce guitars for Fender Japan. If Terada had produced AR models already, they would have continued doing so. The AR and AS models shared the same necks under the Artist flag. Splitting the production up from a situation in which they were already both made in the Terada factory wouldn't be efficient, so it is highly unlikely that pre-1987 AR and AS models were ever made there.
Cort took over production of some models (e.g. the AS80 and AS120) from Samick sometime in 1995. This early Cort production was given 6-digit serial numbers which were hand-written on the label attached to the inside of the guitar.
Some Korean Ibanez serial numbers are purely numeric with no alphabetic characters. According to Jim Donahue these guitars were manufactured in the Cort factory, in which he had the supervision. Because they had no date stamps available when they started, the serials numbers of Artstar models in this factory were written by hand. These handwritten serial numbers are hard to decipher. The production of these Artstar models at the Cort factory was discontinued in 2003.
Some Korean Ibanez serial numbers are purely numeric with no alphabetic characters. It's unclear which supplier or factory manufactured these models. These 10-digit serial numbers likely apply to acoustic models.
This category includes several lower end guitar models in the RX and RG series as well as a number of ATK series bass models. It is believed that the necks of these instruments were produced in Japan by FujiGen while the bodies were made by Cort in South Korea. In addition to the serial number stamp, the back of the headstock often has a sticker proclaiming "Made in Japan".
This format overlaps with the standard FujiGen format, leading many to use the FujiGen format to try to parse these serial numbers. All of the LR10 serials start with either "L80" or "L81" which leads many to the incorrect assumption that their guitars were made in December of 1980 or 1981.[6]
This format overlaps with the standard FujiGen format, leading many to use the FujiGen format to try to parse these serial numbers. All of the JP20 serials during 1982 through 1986 start with "J80" which leads many to believe these guitars were produced in October 1980.[7] Starting sometime in mid-1986 production of the JP20 moved to Terada. The serial numbers of these later JP20s fit the standard format used for Ibanez guitars produced by Terada.
Steve Vai signature models (known as the JEM and Universe series) produced in Japan have neck plates stamped with a 7 digit serial number with an "F" followed by 6 numeric digits. The first two digits represent the year of production and the final four digits are the production sequence of JEM or UV models within that year.[2]
Other JEM neck plates have a six digit number starting with a 9 (e.g. 907255). With these the final five digits represent the sequential production number of all MIJ JEMs. Similarly Universe models have plates stamped with a six digit number starting with a 0. Similarly this number represents the sequential Universe MIJ production number.[4]
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