How to Date a Fender Japan Guitar by Serial Number (and Find the Factory That Built It)

You can roughly date a Fender Japan guitar from the serial number prefix stamped on the neck plate or headstock. Finding out which factory actually built it, useful for Fender and plenty of other Japanese-made brands, comes down to the model's construction details and era instead. Serial numbers give you a year range, not an exact date, factory details fill in the rest.

Fender Japan serial number prefixes

Fender Japan has used several different serial formats since 1982, and letters get reused across different periods, so the prefix alone isn't always conclusive on its own.

Made in Japan, 1982 to 1997

Prefix	Approximate years
JV	1982-1984
SQ	1983-1984
E	1984-1987
A, B, C	1985-1986
F	1986-1987
G	1987-1988
H	1988-1989
I, J	1989-1990
K	1990-1991
L	1991-1992
M	1992-1993
N, O, P, Q	1993-1994
S, T	1994-1995
U	1995-1996
V	1996-1997

Crafted in Japan, 1997 to 2008

Prefix	Approximate years
A	1997-1998
O	1997-2000
P	1999-2002
Q	2002-2004
R	2004-2005
S	2006-2008
T	2007-2008

Made in Japan returns, 2007 to 2012

Prefix	Approximate years
T	2007-2010
U	2010-2012

Modern era, 2012 onward

Serials start with JD followed by eight digits. The two digits right after JD give the year, JD18 means 2012.

The prefixes A, O, S, and T each turn up more than once across these eras, so if your guitar has one of those, check the body and hardware details too before locking in a year.

Which factory actually built it

Fender Japan guitars, and most other Japanese brands of the era, weren't built in a single factory. A handful of OEM plants built for multiple brands at once, often at different quality tiers for the same brand.

Factory	Location	Built for
Fuji-Gen Gakki	Matsumoto	Fender, Gibson (early), Ibanez, Greco, Yamaha
Dyna Gakki	Nagano	Fender, Greco, Gretsch, Fernandes, Ibanez Blazer
Matsumoku	Matsumoto	Greco, Ibanez, Yamaha, Aria, Vox, Norlin/Gibson
Terada	Nagoya	Epiphone, Gretsch, Ibanez, Morris, Orville by Gibson
Tokai Gakki	Hamamatsu	Its own Tokai-branded guitars, plus some Fender and Martin
Kasuga	Nagoya	Burny, Washburn, Guild (Madeira), ESP Navigator

If you've got a guitar with a brand name you recognise but specs that don't quite match what you'd expect, the factory is usually the answer. The same Greco model name, for instance, could come off a Fuji-Gen Gakki line in one year and a Matsumoku line in another, with real differences in build.

Why this matters when you're buying

A Fender Japan serial number tells you roughly when a guitar was made. The factory tells you more about how it was actually built, and that's often the bigger factor in quality and value for Japanese-made instruments from this period. Two guitars with the same model name and a similar serial date can be genuinely different instruments if they came off different production lines.

FAQ

My Fender Japan guitar's serial doesn't match any of these ranges exactly, what do I do? Serial ranges overlap and aren't exact. Check the neck heel stamp, pickup codes, and hardware for a more precise date, or bring it into the shop and we're happy to take a look.

Does a higher Fender Japan serial number always mean a newer guitar?

Within the same prefix and era, generally yes, but once you cross into a new prefix or era the numbering resets, so you can't compare serials across different prefixes directly.

Can I tell the factory just from the serial number?

Not directly. The serial gives you the era, the factory is identified from construction details, the model line, and sometimes stamps inside the neck pocket or control cavity, not the serial itself.