Taylor serial numbers
What year is your Taylor? The date is written into the digits themselves, so a matching serial lands on a single definitive year. Nine, ten and eleven digits, 1993 through the current numbers, on acoustics and electrics.
Enter the serial as it appears on the instrument.
Where to find the serial number
Where the number sits depends on the instrument more than on the year. On an acoustic it is inside the body: the older ones carry it stamped into the heel block, deep toward the neck joint, and the newer ones on the paper label you can read straight through the soundhole. The electrics, wherever the body already opens up: the bass-side f-hole on a T5 or a T3, the bridge access panel on the back of a SolidBody. One thing to check on the label, though. The model designation is printed there too, and it is easy to arrive holding that one instead. Count the digits: our charts read serials of nine, ten or eleven digits, 1993 onward, with nothing but digits in them, so a shorter code or one with letters in it is most likely the model, which says what the guitar is without dating it.
Acoustics from 1999 onward: Printed on the paper label inside the body, read by looking through the soundhole.
Acoustics from 1998 and earlier: Stamped on the heel block, visible by looking deep into the soundhole toward the neck joint.
T5, T5z and T3 electrics: Usually visible through the bass-side f-hole.
SolidBody electrics: On the bridge adjustment access panel on the back of the instrument.
Count the digits before you read them, because the length is what tells the schemes apart. Nine digits run from 1993 to the end of 1999, eleven from 2000 to October 2009, and ten from 2 November 2009 onward. The eleven-digit run is the long one because it spells the year out in full. The ten-digit numbers that followed put a factory digit in front and split the year across the second and seventh positions, so the year on a current Taylor sits in two places at once.
Coverage opens at 1993, where the earliest scheme we carry begins. A number that fits none of the three lengths comes back saying nothing in our data matches it. A number whose year runs past the records we have checked gets its own answer: newer than what we hold, with a pointer to our next refresh.
Taylor places the serial in more than one spot depending on the era. Match the row above to your instrument before you read the number.
Some Taylor serial numbers can't be dated from the number alone: Taylor instruments from before 1993.
Nine-digit serials, 1993 to 1999
| Years |
|---|
| 1993–1999 |
Eleven-digit serials, 2000 to October 2009
| Years |
|---|
| 2000–2009 |
Ten-digit serials, November 2009 onward
| Years | Factory |
|---|---|
| 2009–present | First digit: 1 = El Cajon, California; 2 = Tecate, Baja California |
Frequently asked questions
Which years does GearSerials cover for Taylor serial numbers?
We cover Taylor serial numbers from 1993–present.
How many Taylor serial-number formats does GearSerials track?
We track 3 serial-number formats across 3 eras for Taylor.
Where is the serial number on a Taylor instrument?
It depends on the era. We document 4 placements for Taylor instruments. See "Where to find the serial number" above for the exact spot for your instrument's era.
Are there Taylor serial numbers GearSerials can't date?
Yes. Some Taylor serial numbers can't be dated from the number alone: Taylor instruments from before 1993.
How do you read a Taylor serial number?
By its length first. Nine digits open with a two-digit year, eleven digits open with the year written out in full, and ten digits open with the factory: on that last scheme the year is spread across the second and seventh positions. On every scheme the month and the day sit in the middle of the number, and the date they give is the day assembly started.
Where was my Taylor built?
The current numbers say so outright. A ten-digit Taylor serial opens with 1 for El Cajon, California, or 2 for Tecate, Baja California. Taylor added that digit when the ten-digit format began on 2 November 2009, to tell its two plants apart. The nine- and eleven-digit numbers before it carry no factory digit at all, so for those the serial dates the instrument without placing it.
What is the odd digit before the last two in an older Taylor serial number?
A series code. On the nine-digit and eleven-digit numbers one digit sits between the date and the trailing pair, and it names the product line: 3 for a Baby, 5 for a T5, 1 for the 500 Series and up. The date reading is untouched by it.
Does GearSerials give the exact day a Taylor was built?
We answer with the year. The number carries a month and a day too, sitting in the middle of it, and Taylor stamps the start of assembly: the date in the number is the day work began on the guitar.
Why does my Taylor serial number come back as newer than your records?
Because the year in it runs past the newest year we have checked. The ten-digit scheme carries no end year in it: our records stop where our checking stopped. The answer says the number is newer than what we hold, and points you at our next refresh and at Taylor's support team.
Taylor and associated model names are trademarks of Taylor-Listug, Inc. GearSerials is an independent reference resource and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Taylor-Listug, Inc.