Buying second hand Ibanez is great most of the time. For a small price you can find plently of great gear. Sometimes unfortunately ripp offs happen. What can we do about that? Be informed. Many of you think you have to be some kind of master Ibanez dominator to know if something is really or not. That is absolutely not true. There’s a simple way to know what kind of Ibanez the seller puts in your hands. The serial number tells everything. Let’s find out how you can become an expert in Ibanez authenticity in just a few minutes!
Serial number
Serial numbers are unique identifiers on instruments. Ibanez has used serial numbers since the mid 1970s. Earliest serial numbers indicate production in October 1974. The serial numbers are mostly character strings of letters and numbers, although some are purely numeric. Serial numbers can be useful in determining the age of a guitar as well as in which country and by which builder it was produced.
Unfortunately, there is no single unified format used for Ibanez serial numbers. Ibanez production outsourced to several companies and the numbering schemes are different in each region and/or factory.
Where can I find my serial number?
Serial numbers on Ibanez guitars can be found on several locations:
- On the back of the headstock either on a sticker or painted/printed on the headstock itself.
- Stamped on the neck plate (the metal plate at the joint between the neck and the body).
- Printed, written or stamped on the label inside a hollow body or acoustic guitar.
- Stamped on the fretboard past the last fret, or
- Stamped on the neck block inside an acoustic guitar.
The first step in decoding is determining the country or facility in which your guitar was made. Often, the country of origin is provided in the same location as the serial number. In cases where you have a serial number but not a country of origin, the origin can sometimes be deduced from the serial number, although in this case it’s very helpful if you have at least a rough idea of the date of manufacture. Once you found your Ibanez serial number, just insert it in the decoder on this website: https://www.guitarinsite.nl/serienummers-ibanez_eng.php
This can also help: https://www.guitardaterproject.org/ibanez.aspx
Explaining the serial number
Serial number by country of origin
Now you know the origin of the country, we can move on to the next step! Look at your serial number in detail in accordance to the info you have. Look at what you have and then you can look what it means in detail.
How this works you can find here: https://www.guitarinsite.nl/serienummers-ibanez_eng.php
or here:
https://ibanez.fandom.com/wiki/Ibanez_serial_numbers
I hope this was helpfull!
Ibanez Guitar World 