Every Dean guitar made in United States comes with a seven digit serial number that is printed on the back of the headstock. First two numbers in the sequence will tell you when your guitar was produced, while the following numbers represent the serial number of the instrument itself.
- Dean has used lots of serial number styles over the years and just cause it doesn't have a J doesn't make it fake and some of the newer ones do have a O serial number (especially newer Made in.
- .1976 Serial numbers 220 were also used. Begins using one set of serial numbers for guitars & mandolins. 1994-2002 Mandolins are custom order only.
Cached
| In 1908 Matsujiro Hoshino started a bookstore that sold books and sheet music as well musical instruments. From 1921, instruments from Europe and the USA were also imported, including classical guitars from the Spanish luthier Salvador Ibanez. In 1929 he was succeeded by his son Yoshitaro Hoshino. More and more instruments were imported such as mandolins from Italy and drum kits from Ludwig from Germany. Because the request of guitars could no longer be met, Yoshitaro decided to build guitars themselve. Meanwhile, his four sons were also part of the venture and the company Hoshino Gakki was founded. A factory was built near their headquarters for production of their own guitar line that could accommodate around 30 employees. From now on the 'Salvador Ibanez' guitar was called 'Ibanez'. The company exported many guitars to other Asian countries and in 1937 it had an output of more than 1000 guitars a month. After the World War II, during which the factory was completely destroyed, the import of musical instruments was resumed slowly around 1950. Just in 1962 was Jumpei Hoshino decided to build his own guitars again. A new factory was built where now also amplifiers and electric guitars were made. The company was named 'Tama Seisakusho' as a tribute to the wife of Yoshitaro Hoshino. Jumpei Hoshino Ibanez was now the main brand of Hoshino, but they also produced guitars for other western companies. Drum kits were also made with the brand name 'Tama'. From 1966 however, it was decided no more build guitars for other companies. This was adopted by other manufacturers, as Fujigen Gakki or Teisco. In 1967 the first Ibanez guitars were imported by Elger Company, USA. These were guitars with many buttons and switches and had no logo. In the late 1960s, the guitars were provided with in 'spaghetti-style' metal logo on the head stock. | In 1970 they focus more on producing cheaper but comparable models of the great USA brands like Gibson, Fender and Rickenbacker. This was called the 'Pre-Lawsuit era'. Despite their cheaper production, the replicas of Ibanez have a high quality and are therefore a strong competitor for the USA brands. In the 1980s own designs were introduced such as the, Performer, Musician and Iceman Models. This period is also called 'Golden Years of Ibanez'. Many of the guitars from that period are popular objects for collectors. For over 50 years the guitar building company Fujigen has been a partner of Hoshino, they built the Ibanez electric guitars. Ibanez guitars have also been produced in South Korea since the early 1990s. The EX series produced there appeared in 1991. EX = 'Experimental'. Because the quality of the Korean guitars is just as good as the Japanese, they made since 1994 also other Ibanez models here. These days Ibanez guitars also made in China. Just like 100 years ago, Hoshino Gakki still has its headquarters in Nagoya. The research and development department is also located here. From the first successful copies of their own models from the 1970s and 1980s to today, Ibanez has been a solid and indispensable big name in the music industry. Headquarter Hoshino, Nagoya |
Just like most products in the world, guitars are usually marked with a serial number of sorts.
They have been used for decades to diagnose when and where the guitar was manufactured.
This allows you to properly determine the value of a guitar and its real age. It is a similar case with Dean guitars.
Now, like most other guitar manufacturers, Dean has two categories of guitars that they offer. You have the more affordable models which are made somewhere in Asia, and then you have guitars which are made in United States. Naturally, the latter offer a higher level of quality, and hence come with a more expensive price tag.
Today we are going to take a look at Dean guitar serial number, and what you can find out using this information.
Guitar Overview
Determining the origin and value of American made Dean guitars is actually quite easy. Every Dean guitar made in United States comes with a seven digit serial number that is printed on the back of the headstock.
First two numbers in the sequence will tell you when your guitar was produced, while the following numbers represent the serial number of the instrument itself. The origin of these guitars is not marked anywhere on the instrument, but it’s pretty easy to determine which factory it came from. If you see a seven digit serial number on the back of a Dean guitar, you can be sure that it was produced in United States.
Now lets talk about Dean’s more affordable line of models that is manufactured abroad. These guitars also come with a serial number of sorts, however these serial numbers are completely different and they follow a different nomenclature. One of the main differences is the fact that these serial numbers don’t indicate the year of production.
Instead, they just tell you which batch that guitar is from while the country of origin is usually written underneath. In order to figure out the production year of an import Dean guitar, you will need to look at all of its features and elements. This requires a more extensive knowledge of their hardware, and is the only way you can figure out when it was made.
Unfortunately, this is a gray area of sorts for many models. Dean used a variety of hardware, including pickups, on numerous guitars.
Dean Guitars Forum
Sometimes the a same model would feature one set of hardware, while other times it would sport a completely different setup. This is why you need to know exactly what kind of configuration they used for a certain year in order to properly determine the year when these guitars were made.
To summarize
If you were wondering about Dean guitar serial number, and how to use that information to your advantage, hopefully this short article gave you some useful insight.
Knowing how to read the serial number on these guitars can make a big difference if you’re shopping for a used one. It will allow you to fact check the sellers claims with more certainty.