Dean Guitar Serial Number Dating
How Do You Read A Dean Guitar Serial Number

First two numbers in the sequence are the last two digits of the production year. 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. Dean's more affordable line made outside the US may require looking at features and hardware and some knowledge of the line. The ML series of guitar has been in nearly constant production since 1977. Some are made in the USA, and others were made for Dean overseas. As kcbuck indicated, Dean guitars made in the USA follow a serial number pattern consisting of a 7 digit number with the first 2 numbers being the year of manufacture, followed by instrument production numbers.

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If the serial number of your Kramer starts with the following serial numbers, it is NOT a USA Made or 'American' series Kramer:

1) Two letters followed by a serial number (e.g. AA1234, AC1234, FA1234, FC1234, SA1234)

2) One letter followed by five letters (e.g. b12345) The only exception to this would be some of the 'E' series neckplates did have one letter followed by five letters (e.g. e12345).

3) Five numbers, no letters (e.g. 12345)

4) Model numbers preceding serial number (e.g. XL-1234)

5) A chrome or black neck plate with nothing on it but a Kramer headstock and a serial number stamped on them. These neck plates are smooth flat neck plates with no 'Neptune, N.J.' stamped on them

Keep in mind that just because the neckplate is imprinted with 'Kramer, Neptune, NJ' does NOT mean that the guitar was Made in the USA or an 'American' series. Kramer was very careful to not stamp 'Made In USA' anywhere on its neckplates starting in about 1985/1986.

Starting in late 1985, virtually all Kramer guitars were being made by ESP Guitars in Japan. Although the 'American' Series guitars were made by ESP in Japan, they were assembled in the US. In general, the following is a good way to determine if your Kramer is USA made or an 'American' series:

If your Kramer has a Strat or Classic headstock and has a Kramer logo with a capital 'K' followed by a lower caser 'ramer', the guitar is an early 1981-1984 USA made Kramer guitar.
If your guitar has a banana headstock and a block style Kramer logo in all caps 'KRAMER', it is a 1984-1986 USA Made/American Series Kramer Guitar.
If your guitar has a pointy headstock and a block style Kramer logo in the same sized lettering in all caps, it is a 1986/1987 American Series Kramer Guitar.
If your guitar has a pointy headstock and a diminishing sized Kramer logo with the letters diminishing in size from the K to the R and, there is a script 'American' decal after the 'KRAMER' logo, it is a 1987-1994 American Series Kramer Guitar.
If your guitar has a pointy headstock and a diminishing sized Kramer logo but does not have 'American' in script after the logo, it is NOT an American series guitar.

The following wood neck guitar models were the ONLY Made in USA or 'American' Series guitars:

Baretta Series, Pacer Series, Stagemaster Series, Vanguard Series, Voyager Series, Classic Series, ProAx Series, NightSwan Series, Ripley Series, Spector Series, Paul Dean Series, Richie Sambora Series, Triax, Enterprize, Elliot Easton Series, Sustainer Series, Liberty Series, & Condor Series.

The following wood neck guitar models were NOT Made in USA or 'American' Series guitars. These guitars were made either in Korea, Indonesia, or Japan.

Striker Series, Focus Series, Hundred Series (e.g. 410, 610), Thousand Series, XL Series, Aerostar Series, Showster Series, and Ferrington Series. Furthermore, the Gorky Park special edition model is also an overseas made guitar.

Another good way to tell if your Kramer is an overseas made model is if it is made out of plywood or composite wood. Also, if your Kramer has 'non-name' pickups or 'Designed by Seymour Duncan' pickups, it is an overseas model. Finally, if your Kramer came with a Floyd Rose II, Floyd Rose with no fine tuners, or a Floyd Rose unit that does not require the ball ends of the strings to be cut off, it is an overseas model.

Oh yeah, If you bought your Kramer from Music Yo' you can be sure it is a low cost Korean instrument. Please don't confuse any product that comes from Music Yo' with the original.

Logo circa 1976-1977

Logo circa 1979

Logo circa 1978-1984

Logo circa 1985-1986

Logo circa 1987-1990

The 'Vintage Dean Collection' includes guitars manufactured between 1977 and 1987. Look for a distinctive serial number located on the back of the headstock. Dean guitars made in the United States have a seven-digit serial number. The first two numbers indicate the year the guitar was manufactured.
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Dean Zelinsky Guitars offers a Five-Year Warranty to all guitars. The Five-Year Warranty guarantees to the first end user, under normal use, that the product will be free from defects in workmanship and in materials for a period of five (5) years from the date of purchase.

Around this time, the serial numbers became a bit unpredictable, as they were figuring out a new system. The 'S' prefix also first appeared at this time. YYMMPPPP SYYMMPPPP Example: 90080084 = 84th guitar made in August of 1990Another format found around this time (possibly only for international models): Sl YYPPPPP 1991 SAT-650 serial Semi-Hollow models (at this time) use a different format, and the serial is found on the label inside the top f-hole. YYPPPP(P) Example: 902703 = 2,703rd semi-hollow guitar made in 1990Bolt-neck models started having the serial number engraved into the neckplate in 1987. They kept the same format, so the decade is determined by the style of neck plate. (Note: The new design did not appear until May 1990) 1980's. 1994, production number 10,904 At the turn of the millennium, bolt-neck models kept the same format and neckplate style, so these guitars must be dated by their logo style and other features.

When production formally commenced in 1972, the first 350 guitars were numbered sequentially. In 1974, a serial number code was devised. The five-digit serial number was encoded YYZZZ, with the first two digits indicating the year and the last three indicating consecutive production. Reverb LP: Your Marketplace to Buy & Sell Records Explore Now Browse By Category. Inherited your instrument or bought it at a swap meet, you're probably curious about its provenance. Most gear has a serial number, either printed on a label inside it or stamped into the headstock or neck plate. Taylor Guitars. Browse Search Ask. The serial number for my dean guitar is. The serial number for my dean guitar is 0555961, a. The serial number for my dean guitar is 0555961, and it is made in China. Sponsored Links. Posted on Electric Guitar Values. And there is no serial number on the guitar for the fender. 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.

There are Czech Republic guitars that will have Hand Crafted in the Czech Republic on the back of the headstock with a serial # (nothing to denote year.) The Korean and Chinese guitar serials for the most part don't give a year or any other indication. They did start putting a year # somewhere in them, but they are imports and the year really doesn't matter for their worth. There were some bolt on USA and Czech models. EDIT - Vendetta 3.0 information (serial # will not be different between import models) * Neck Through Construction * Solid Mahogany Body * Maple Neck with Rosewood Fingerboard * Dual Humbuckers * Tune-O-Matic Bridge * String-Throught B

Dean Guitars Serial Number Lookup