Serial number reference
Identify and date your guitar
Enter a serial number to find its likely production year, factory and country, with clear sources and confidence.
Supported manufacturers
More manufacturers are added only once their formats can be sourced and tested. See the methodology.
Example result
What a result looks like
This is a real decode of the serial MN5123456, produced by the same engine that runs your lookup.
Fender · 1995–1996
Mexico- 1MN5 — Prefix. Prefix used for Mexico production, 1995–1996
- 2123456 — Sequence. Production sequence number. It does not encode a date.
Serial M N 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 breaks down as follows. Prefix: M N 5. Prefix used for Mexico production, 1995–1996. Sequence: 1 2 3 4 5 6. Production sequence number. It does not encode a date..
This serial format is consistent with a Fender instrument built in Ensenada, Baja California during 1995–1996. It does not establish the model, the originality of the parts, or that the instrument is authentic.
How this works
Built to be checked, not believed
Every rule cites a source
Each serial format links to the documentation it came from, labelled by type, with the date a human last checked it. Manufacturer documentation is separated from community references so you can weigh them differently.
Ambiguity is shown, not hidden
Where a numbering system was reused — and several were — you get every plausible reading with its own confidence, rather than one answer chosen for you.
Confidence in words
Results are labelled high, moderate or low, with the reasons listed. You will never see a fabricated percentage attached to a pattern match.
Your serial stays on your device
The decoder runs in your browser. Serials are not sent to us, not written to logs, not placed in the page address and not passed to analytics.
Limitations
What a serial number cannot tell you
A serial number records when an instrument was numbered. That is a narrower fact than most people want it to be, and the gap between the two is where bad purchases happen.
Serial numbers can be copied, reused across production systems, applied inconsistently, re-stamped during a repair, or simply faked. A serial that decodes cleanly is consistent with a genuine instrument; it is not evidence that one is. Neither does it establish the model, whether the finish and electronics are original, whether the neck and body left the factory together, or what the instrument is worth.
Where a result is uncertain, this tool says so and shows you what would settle it. Read the methodology for how that judgement is made, and the disclaimer for what this reference is and is not.