Yamaha Check Serial Number Guitar

[Assunta Gergely]

Ver. 2.0)

Yamaha serial numbers are recycled every ten years, 29 formats are supported here based on research available on the yamaha website. There is some overlap between formats and in those cases multiple results will be generated. If you encounter any inaccuracies please email the web master

Thanks a lot for that valuable info CTGull .

My wife has an FG75 that was given to her as a gift when she graduated high school. It has the Yamaha on the peghead under the tuning forks and a tan label with "Republic Of China". The serial number is 0515172. I'm assuming that puts it at 1974.

It is now the house "Nashville - High strung" guitar.

Thanks a lot for that valuable info CTGull .

My wife has an FG75 that was given to her as a gift when she went away to university. It has the Yamaha on the peghead under the tuning forks and a tan label with "Republic Of China". The serial number is 0515172. I'm assuming that puts it at 1974.

It is now the house "Nashville - High strung" guitar.

Note: You can look up saddle information on Yamaha Parts List Search for your specific model and year. However, please note that this site often lists the closest saddle size and type that Yamaha currently has available, not necessarily the saddle originally used from the factory. As such, we advise that you also follow the below steps to help determine which size is needed.

Almost all Yamaha models made in the 1960s through the 1990s came with a center line non-compensated saddle. A large number of models made after 2000, including some current models, also come from the factory with a non-compensated saddle, too. Please see our Guide to Non-Compensated Saddles for more information.

A large number of Yamahas made after 2000 have a 75 mm long B compensated with slanted bass resin saddle. The Yamaha factory part number is WT83730E, and Yamaha lists the specs for this part as 75 x 3 x 10 mm. Please note that saddle height will vary, though, even from the factory, for each guitar. However, height for models without undersaddle pickups is often around 10 mm. Models with undersaddle pickups often have saddles around 9 mm tall. Additionally, Yamaha saddle slots typically vary from 2.9 to 3.1 mm, so please measure your saddle slot thickness.

Yamaha Pacifica is the name of a series of electric guitars manufactured by Yamaha. The line was originally designed in Yamaha's California custom-shop by Rich Lasner, working with guitar builder Leo Knapp. Initially intended by Lasner and Knapp as a test project, Yamaha Japan chose to produce the instruments.

Pacificas all have one of two basic body shapes: a Stratocaster inspired double cutaway shape, or a Telecaster-like single cutaway. Apart from these similarities, the models vary in materials, hardware, and electronics. As of December 2009, there were currently 5 models in production.

The best-selling and most recognisable models are the entry-level PAC012 and PAC112. The 112 has a solid Alder body and has always been available with a clear varnish finish, showing the grain of the wood. At the time of the original launch this guitar was intended to compete with some of Fender's budget models. The entry level PAC012 has one Yamaha humbucker and two single coil pickups, an agathis body and a Strat-style vibrato bridge.

The early PAC1412 and PAC1421 models had set necks and carved tops with Floyd Rose locking vibrato bridges. These guitars were ultimately too costly to produce and hence too expensive for Yamaha's market.Other variations include the twelve-string PAC303 12, and the reversed headstock PAC721R.

The high-end PAC1511MS has a solid swamp ash body, with a Seymour Duncan humbucker neck pickup, and a Seymour Duncan "hot-rails" humbucker pickup in the bridge position, and a non-vibrato bridge with strings passing through the body. A more affordable version of the Mike Stern signature model Pacifica is the PAC311MS. Both are Telecaster-style guitars similar in shape, but in the case of the PAC311MS controls are slanted rather than on a chrome plate parallel to the strings and the M stands for Maple (neck) and the S for Singlecut as there also was a PAC311S with a rosewood neck. The 311MS and 311S were released in 1998 and production lasted only a couple of years. The 1511MS, however, remains in production. This illustrates how some Pacificas were lower or higher priced versions of conceptually similar guitars.

The 904 model featured a Warmoth produced neck with a compound radius, locking Sperzel machineheads, and a push-push tone control (like the 604W and 604V) that split the front dual single coil pickup into a single one. The Body was an ash slab top on an alder back and featured a highly engineered neck joint.

At the 2011 Frankfurt Musikmesse Yamaha announced the 611HFM, 510V and 311H models and the reintroduction of the 120H.[1]The 120H is similar to the 112V, but features a hardtail, instead of a tremolo bridge, and a pair of humbucker pickups.

For the 2024 line-up, Yamaha introduced the Professional and Standard Plus models[2] carrying a leading "P" and "S+" in the model number instead of a digit. Both feature stainless steel frets and "Reflectone" branded pick-ups. The Professional is placed as the flagship model, made in Japan with a 10" to 14" compound radius neck and additional processing of the body intended to improve resonance. The Standard Plus has a 13 3/4" single radius neck and is made in Indonesia. In a departure from the typical construction of S-type guitars, the new S+ and P models place the pickup selector and volume and tone potentiometers separate from the pick guard. The highest numbered model in the 2024 model year carries a leading 6.[3]

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

Having added a few more serial numbers to the spreadsheet it looks like:

The first series 1976 to 1979 follow the SG numbering system

The second series 1979 to 1981 in the majority of cases don't follow the SGs

The third series 1982 to 1983 the majority look like they do follow the SGs

The Lord Players follow the SGs except that I have seen several LP400s with a 6 digit number beginning with 3 perhaps as the LP400 seems to have been produced for longer than the other LPs these are some of the later ones and have been given some domestic only serial numbers.

The model within the range is designated on the truss rod cover so every so often you may spot something odd which may be just a changed cover. Within the Lord Player range all models have Standard written on them except for the 800 and 1000 custom which have custom written on. I have been unable to find any evidence to suggest that there may be variations in models such as an 800 standard, except for the 1000 but it doesn't mean that they don't exist. There are 4 sunburst colours which are red sunburst, easily spotted, then brown sunburst, tobacco sunburst, violin burst and also oil skin, which can look quite similar.

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