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Did you know that every guitar made by Ibanez has a manufacturing code? For most guitarists, the factory code might not mean too much.
However, it can also be really intriguing and offer some useful information. When looking for details on your instrument, this is the key.
Additionally, these codes may be crucial in assisting you in figuring out the guitar’s age. Plus, there is the instrument’s history that comes along with it. If you ever find yourself in the market for an Ibanez, this is quite helpful.
In this Killer Rig article, we’ll go over the various Ibanez serial numbers. This way, you can understand what they all mean. We’ll also demonstrate how to decode them using our tool. Keep reading if you want to learn more about Ibanez serial numbers!
Other guitar serial numbers:
What are Ibanez Factory Codes?
A code made up of both letters and digits is present on the majority of Ibanez guitars. These numbers are used to identify the production facility. But also the year the instrument was made.
A code like F0815746, for instance, combines letters and numbers. This reveals that the FujiGen Gakki factory in Nagano is where the instrument was produced.
It was made in 2008, as shown by the first two digits (08). The month it was made is April based on the last 5 numbers.
Note: The serial number can vary due to the different factories used by Ibanez. For example, The letter count can be either one or two, or none at all.
And the numbers can be 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 digits long. The early days of Ibanez guitar construction didn’t utilize a great serial numbering system.
If your serial number is all digits and no letters, there are ways to find out more about it. We touch on a few ways in the article.
Decoding Ibanez Serial Numbers
We have built a tool that covers a vast range of Ibanez serial numbers. It’s limited because Ibanez didn’t do really well with their factory codes in the early days. Some codes overlap and are a bit confusing. But it’s a great way to get started.
Input your serial number to get information like the factory and date it was made. Then, explore the information below the tool to find out more about your Ibanez guitar! If it doesn’t recognize the number, use the tables below to figure out the information manually.
Japanese Serial Numbers
If your Ibanez guitar was made in Japan, there are specific factory codes that need to be considered. There is some overlap with some of them, as the system was not unified early on.
You will need to decipher the year of manufacture in order to get an accurate production factory location.
1978 – 1986
The guitars that were made between 1978 and 1986 were primarily by FujiGen Gakki in Nagano. They consist of one letter and 6 digits.
The letter signifies the month, and the first two digits are the year it was made. The remaining digits are the build numbers for the month.
For example, let’s take the serial number B803756. This means the guitar was made in February 1980. It’s also build number 3756. The letters begin with A for January and end with L for December.
First Letter | First 2 Digits | Remaining Digits |
---|---|---|
Month of Production (A – L) | Year Made | Build Number |
A = January. L= December. | 79 = 1979 | 3756 = Production number for that month. |
1987 – 1996
Serial numbering was not that much better during this period. However, we are able to make sense of most of it.
The scheme was a bit different and the indicators are not the same as the previous decade. The codes during this time frame are one number plus 6 digits.
First Letter | First Digit | Remaining Digits |
---|---|---|
Factory Code | Year Made | Build Number |
F = FujiGen Gakki, Nagano. H= Terada Musical Instruments. I = Iida Gakki, Nagoya. | 7 = 1987. 6 = 1996. 5 = 1995. | 21546 = Production number for that month. |
You can find out the month of production by the build number. Each month during this period, Ibanez produced 3600 guitars. So builds 1 to 3600 were made in January.
And builds 39601 to 43200 were made in December. Our example serial number above, 21546, would have been made in June. Use this information to find your month.
1994 – 1998
This short period of guitars were stamped with an H. They are made by Terada Musical Instruments near Nagano. They had one letter and 6 digits for each number. Here is what it all means.
Letter | First 2 Digits | Remaining Digits |
---|---|---|
Factory | Year | Build Number |
H = Terada Musical Instruments | 94 = 1994 | 2986 = Production number for the month. |
1997 – 2004
If your serial number has 1 letter and seven digits and falls into this time frame, here is what it all means. First, the letter is for the factory, which is FujiGen Gakki in Nagano. An example serial number would look like this: F9803215. Here is how to decipher it.
Letter | First 2 Digits | Remaining Digits |
---|---|---|
Factory | Year | Build Number |
F = FujiGen Gakki | 97 = 1997. 04 = 2004. | 02986 = Production number for the month. |
The production numbers for each month were 5000 units. This means that build numbers 1 to 5000 were made in January. 5001 to 10,000 were made in February.
You can use this information to find out what month your Ibanez was made. For example, if your build number was 45821, it was made in October.
2001 – 2004
These factory codes are all digits and have no letters. They consist of 5 digits in total and were used only on Ibanez J customs.
First Digit | Second Digit | Remaining Digits |
---|---|---|
Year | Month | Build Number |
1 = 2001. 4 = 2004. | 1 = January. 9 = October. | 286 = Production number for the month. |
2005 – 2022
This era of guitars was a bit different. They are thought to be made by Sugi Musical Instruments Ltd. The serial numbering was a bit different as it also included the model. It was formatted as 1 letter and 5 digits. The table below shows how to decode it.
Letter | First 2 Digits | Third Digit | Remaining Digits |
---|---|---|---|
Month | Year | Model | Build Number |
A = January. L = December. | 05 = 2005. 20 = 2020. | 2 = PGMFRM1 | 46 = Production number for the month. |
2004 – Present
The guitars made during this period are produced by the Fujigen Gakki factory in Nagano. This serial number system consists of one letter and 7 digits. This letter will ways be an F in this case for Fujigen.
The first 2 digits are the year of production and the remaining numbers are the build lot. You can also figure out the month the guitars were made by the lot number. 1 to 2999 are builds for November. 30,000 to 32999 are for September.
Using this rubric of 3000 units produced you can figure out the month. Just make sure to remember that a new year for Ibanez starts in November.
Letter | First 2 Digits | Remaining 5 Digits |
---|---|---|
Factory | Year | Build Number |
F = FujiGen Gakki | 22 = 2022. 04 = 2004. | 02986 = Production number for the month. |
Korean Serial Numbers
Ibanez’s guitars that were made in Korea have many different factory codes. This is because there are more factories responsible for their production.
And as time went on, they changed the way they recorded them. But below you will find the information that is as accurate as possible.
1987 – 1995
This period has two different serial number schemes. The first is a one-letter and 6 digits configuration. This tells us the factories as well as the year. Here is how to read it for a serial number like C908743.
Letter | First Digit | Remaining 5 Digits |
---|---|---|
Factory | Year | Build Number |
A = Yoojin Industrial Co. C = Cort Guitars In Incheon. P = Peerless Korea Co. Y = Yoojin Industrial Co. | 7 = 1987. 9 = 1989. 5 = 1995. | 08743 = Production number for the month. |
The second type of serial numbering you will find in this period is one letter and 7 digits. The letter will always be an E in this case, as it represents Sung-Eum Music Co as the producer.
The first digit is the year, which is the same as above. The next two are the month, which is a standard scheme of 01 for January and 12 for December. The last few digits are the production number for the month.
1990 – 1995
Samick was responsible for producing these guitars. It, too, is a one-letter and 7-digit numbering system and is laid out just the same as above. Here is how to read a serial number like S0120745.
Letter | First Digit | Next 2 Digits | Remaining 4 Digits |
---|---|---|---|
Factory | Year | Month | Build Number |
S = Samick Musical Instruments | 0 = 1990. 5 = 1995. | 01 = January. 12 = December. | 0745 = Monthly Units. |
1997 – 2008
During this period, there were many guitars made by Cort Guitars in Incheon that had 7, 8, and 10 numbers. There were no letters, and some of the serial numbers were handwritten. This makes it hard to decipher them, but some information is known.
All serial codes with 7 numbers during this period consist of the first digit being the year. Starting with 7 which represents 1997. The next two digits represent the month, followed by the build number.
Numbers with 8 digits are different. The first 2 digits are for the year in which the guitar was made. 97 would mean 1997 for example.
All other digits are for the production number for the year. They didn’t get specific with months. And if they did, it was based on a numerical value per month. This is not certain.
The 10 digit serial numbers are much different. Here is how they get broken up.
First 2 Digits | Next 2 Digits | Remaining 6 Digits |
---|---|---|
Year | Month | Production Numbers |
97 – 1997. 08 = 2008. | 01 = January. 12 = December. | 001745 = Monthly Units. |
1999 – 2008
The serials numbers during this period begin with the letter W and have 6 digits. They are made by World Musical Instruments in Incheon.
This system is a bit confusing, as the first digit can also be a letter. It tells us the month it was made, but once you go over 9, they begin using numbers.
The month of September is marked as a 9. But then October is an X, November is a Y, and December is a Z. The third digit is the year. The following numbers are the production units for the month.
To decipher the year, we see that it starts in 1999. This is marked as a 9 in the serial number. We then begin with 0 for 2000 and climb up this way until 2008.
KR Plus 9 Digits
If yours starts with KR, then the serial number should also have 9 digits following. There is very little known about the factory or where in Korea it was actually made.
We do know what the digits represent, however, and so you can at least know that. Use the chart below for 2000 – 2008. Then add another digit to make the build numbers 5 instead of 4.
2000 – 2008
If your serial number consists of a letter and 8 digits, this is perhaps the period your Ibanez guitar was made. It can also have two letters at the start, followed by the 8 digits. Here is how to break it down.
Letter | First 2 Digits | Next 2 Digits | Remaining 4 Digits |
---|---|---|---|
Factory | Year | Month | Build Number |
A = Saein Musical Instrument Co. C = Cort Guitars in Incheon. S or SQ = Saehan Guitar Technology. Y = Yoojin Industrial Co. in Yangju. | 01 = 2001. 08 = 2008. | 01 = January. 12 = December. | 1157 = Monthly Units. |
Serial Numbers From China
The Ibanez guitars that were made in China have similar serial number formats. Just as what we have already seen. There will be a letter to start, this tells us the factory. The digits then break down the year, month, and production quantities.
1999 – 2006
This serial number system begins with a Z to represent Yeou Chern Enterprises Instrument Co. Ltd. in Guangdong. The next digit can also be a letter to represent the month.
Letter | First Digit | Next Digit | Remaining 4 Digits |
---|---|---|---|
Factory | Month | Year | Build Number |
Z = Yeou Chern Enterprises | 1 = January. 9 = September. X = October. Z = December. | 9 = 1999. 1 = 2001. 6 = 2006. | 0259 = Monthly Units Produced. |
2004 – 2012
The serial numbers for this time span start with a J and have 9 digits that follow. Again, no one really knows who made these instruments. But it’s thought that Sejung Musical Instrument Manufacturing in Qingdao did.
The chart above for 2002 to the present day can also be used to decipher the code. It’s the exact same format except for an extra digit for the build number.
2002 – Present
It’s assumed that Sejung Musical Instrument Manufacturing in Qingdao handles making these instruments. But the truth is, no one really knows.
The factory code is therefore an S. You will find that there are also 8 digits that follow it. Use this table to break down the serial number.
Letter | First 2 Digits | Next 2 Digits | Remaining 4 Digits |
---|---|---|---|
Factory | Year | Year | Build Number |
S = Sejung Musical Instrument? A = ?? | 02 = 2002. 23 = 2023. | 01 = January. 12 = December. | 0259 = Monthly Unit. |
There are also many guitars that have an A and 8 digits in the factory code. Again, it’s not common knowledge to whom is making them. We know that it’s a factory in China, but that’s it. Use the same chart above for these codes.
2007 – Present
There are a number of different configurations for this time span. First, we have the GS letting with 9 digits that follow.
Some people believe it stands for Gio series. But we are not certain who is making them. The next serial numbering you might find is SS plus 8 digits. Again, there is no information about the factory here either.
We do know that these numbering systems share the same date codes. Except for one digit in the monthly builds.
You can use the same table for 2002 to the present. The first 4 numbers mean the exact same thing. The remaining digits are just built numbers, as mentioned.
Indonesian Serial Numbers
There are a few different Ibanez models that are made in Indonesia. Ibanez has been using some of these factories here since 1997. These are the serial numbers used for them.
2001 – Present
These serial numbers consist of a factory code letter and 9 digits. Here is how to read them.
Letter | First 2 Digits | Next 2 Digits | Remaining 5 Digits |
---|---|---|---|
Factory | Year | Year | Build Number |
I = Cort Guitars (Cor-Tek Indonesia). K = Kwo Hsiao Co., Ltd. J = Sejung. | 01 = 2001. 23 = 2023. | 01 = January. 12 = December. | 00259 = Monthly Unit. |
Between 2004 and 2007, there were a few models released with PR and 9 digits. The factory is unknown, but the serial numbers are created as per the table above.
2007 – 2009
Cort was making some models for these years with different serial numbers. The factory letter code is I, followed by 7 digits. Here is how to read the code.
Letter | First Digit | Next 2 Digits | Remaining 4 Digits |
---|---|---|---|
Factory | Year | Month | Build Number |
I = Cort Guitars | 7 = 2007. 9 = 2009. | 01 = January. 12 = December. | 0148 = Monthly Units. |
Where Can You Find the Serial Number on Your Guitar?
Many Ibanez electric guitars can be identified by the serial code. This number is normally stamped onto the back of the headstock.
But it can also be found on a metal plate near the neck joint. In some cases, the factory code is also screen printed onto the headstock or near the first fret.
If you have an acoustic guitar, this can be found inside the sound hole. The company normally places a sticker on the inside of the guitar with all this information. If not, then check the back of the headstock.
Can I Use the Code to Order Parts from Ibanez?
Yes, you can use your Ibanez serial code to order parts. Every Ibanez guitar includes a unique serial code. It can be used to identify and order replacement parts.
Even accessories specific to your instrument. If you are struggling to find parts, contact your local Ibanez dealer. They can look at your guitar and help you find what you need!
Are There Benefits to Knowing the Factory Code?
Yes, there are many benefits to knowing your Ibanez factory code. It can be used to verify authenticity or order replacement parts.
But it can also help you identify the specific model and year of manufacture. Knowing your guitar’s factory code can even help with determining the value of a vintage instrument.