Dean Guitar Serial Number Decoder

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And on the back of the neck near the Top it says Made in China and has a Serial Number. Best Answer: there is not a specific website for Dean serial numbers. If it is an import (Korean, Japanese or Chinese) guitar that was built before 07 -08, your serial number will mean essentially nothing. Guild Guitar Serial # lookup: 10% complete It should be noted that many manufactures don't have complete records themselves so any progress given here are based on what we know we still have to complete for a given manufacturer and may still be missing serial numbers after '100% complete'. Try making a post on the Dean board - lots of knowledgeable folks. For the most part - the USA models will have 'Made in the USA' with YY - SERIAL on the back of the headstock. In the late 90's (1996 I believe) the serial #'s for the USA models were stamped on the fret board after the last fret.

Dean Acoustic Guitars History

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. Traktor pro 2 manual. 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

Dean Guitars Serial Number Lookup