Information gathered from the web: Serial numbers on Yamaha guitars repeat every ten years due to the way they are formed. The first letter indicates the last digit of the year of production.
(Their numbering system began with “H” for 1.) The second letter indicates the month. The first two numbers indicate the day of the month. The last three numbers represent order of production on the day the guitar was made. Example: hm02316 = the 316th unit made on June 2 of 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, or 2001. First Letter Years H 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 I 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, 2002 J 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993, 2003 K 1964, 1974, 1984, 1994, 2004 L 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005 M 1966, 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 N 1967, 1977, 1987, 1997, 2007 O 1968, 1978, 1988, 1998 P 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999 Q 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 Second Letter Month H January I February J March K April L May M June N July O August P September X October Y November Z December A lot of people have written in to say, “Hey! My Yamaha serial number looks nothing like this!” To you folks, we offer the following: Several other serial number configurations used by Yamaha over the years. If you still can’t figure it out, please see Yamaha contact info at the bottom of this page.
This serial checker supports Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez and Yamaha however not all serials will produce a result but it s a good place to start if you are trying to find out. Yamaha Guitar, Ibanez Guitar and Santa Cruz Acoustic Guitar top view. Yamaha Guitars, Bass Guitars, Bass Amps, Musical Instruments, Planks, Musicals,.