Fender Serial Dating. First, narrow it down by the country of origin. Serial dating is easiest for instruments made in the USA or Mexico, but is also possible for those made in Japan, Korea, China, and Indonesia. For US instruments, the serial number will start with a letter. That letter indicates the decade. S for 1970s; E for 1980s; N for. Fernandes electric guitars line in the early 1970’s. Probably, both Mr. Shiino conducted early time Fernandes Guitar. They made 2 brands such as Fernandes and Burny. Fernandes line is replica of Fender, Burny was replica of Gibson line. These were a very good replica. The price was 1/3-1/4 of original guitars. But, I dare to say with honesty that old Burny Les Pauls around 1980 are really nice, and there are no overestimation about it. Gibson type truss rod cover, lacquer finish, no serial number and high position of 'Super Grade' script indicate this one to be RLG-90 the early 80’s. Burny is a range of Gibson replica guitars produced by Fernandes Guitars. The Fernandes company was established in 1969 in Japan. Its Burny brand was used for the Gibson replica guitars while the Fernandes brand was used for the Fender replica guitars. Fernandes initially made acoustic guitars and started making electric guitars around 1971.
WANTED – Data from your vintage Yamaha FG guitars. See later in the post.
See Yamaha FG Serial Numbers, Interior Markings, and Labels – 1966 to 1981for the results of this search. My search expanded to also include the Taiwan FG’s.
My latest interest is decoding the mystery of the 6 & 7 digit serial numbers. It’s widely known that the 8 digit serial numbers start with the year as the first number. But the 6 & 7 digit numbers (located on the neck block) are just sequential numbers used by all the guitars they built, not just the FG’s. I’ve also found there are internal date codes that will reveal when the guitar was made.
Serial Number located on the neck block.
Burny Guitar Serial Number Fg Number
Date Code located on one of the interior sides of the guitar.
Burny Guitars Website
I’ve started a list of guitars I’ve found with the model number, the serial number, and the date code, which will allow the 6 & 7 digit serial numbers to be grouped into a range for each year, allowing any 6 or 7 digit serial number to be cross referenced to the year it was made.
On YouTube I found a guy in Japan who’s posted short videos of many vintage FG guitars, with the year, model number, partial serial numbers, and in a most cases the internal date code. He’s obviously used the internal date codes to determine the years. Ballad Maker on Youtube
With this, and other data I’ve been finding, I’ve discovered even though Yamaha says the first Red Label models imported in the US where in 1968, I’ve found many Red Label FG guitars made in 1967. I’m also tracking the Green Label FG’s, the earliest models (1966-67) only made in Japan, that share the same pool of serial numbers. I’m looking for the transition between the Green and Red labels. I’ve also found the Green Label FG’s have a different truss rod cover, with “Reinforced Neck” on it, very different than the one you normally see. That cover made it onto the earliest FG’s imported into the US, before changing to the familiar one.
Truss Rod Cover on Green Label and very early Red Label FG’s.
Regular Truss rod Cover used on Red Label FG’s.
Burny Guitars Japan
WANTED – Could you please email me at YamahaVintageFG@gmail.com with the following data from your vintage Green and Red label Nippon Gakki FG guitars that have serial numbers less than 8 digits, located on the neck block? II have 1729 serial numbers so far, and 267 of those had the internal date codes. I’m also collecting data on Taiwan made FG’s, up to 1981.
Model number.
Label color and type. See Yamaha FG Serial Numbers, Interior Markings, and Labels – 1966 to 1981for more information.
Serial number on brace and neck block.
Internal date code (I use flashlight and a cheap USB endoscope with my cell phone, or my cell phone camera if the strings are off.) This is very important to establish the date range of the serial numbers.
If it has the old style “Reinforced Neck” truss rod cover.
Any other information you’d like to share about the guitar.
Fernandes is the parent company that made most of the company's Fender replica guitars under its own Fernandes name.
Burny is the brand name or division that focused on the making of Gibson replica guitars. Fernandes/Burny first started
cloning Fender and Gibson guitars in the 1970s and continued thorugh the mid-1980’s, up until Fender and Gibson
threatened to sue them for copyright/trademark infringement. At that point, Burny/Fernandes changed their truss rod
cover shape and other small details to appease both Fender and Gibson. For their Fender copies, they were forced
to change their headstock shape completely.
The rare old Fender and Gibson 'lawsuit' replicas that can be found are extremely accurate in their attention to detail that
the original Fender and Gibsons had. The guitars were called the “Revival” series, as they were essentially reviving the old
classic Fenders and Gibsons. The headstock logos were dead ringers from 15 feet away. On the Revival Stratocaster,
the saddles were stamped like Fenders, except bore the F.S.R.G. stamp (Fernandes Sound and Research Group) instead
of the FENDER stamp. Other details were uncanny, too, in their replication of the Fender Strat. The Tele was just as
collectible. Prices even in Japan are triple what they were 5 years ago due to collector interest not only from abroad,
but also from within Japan.
Currently, Burny/Fernandes is still making high-end Gibson and Fender replica guitars in Japan, but has also opened up a
Japanese just have higher standards of work and materials while the same standards are not always upheld elsewhere, even
How can you tell the difference between a modern Japanese-made Burny and a Chinese-made or Korean-made Burny?
You really need to trust a seller and ask lots of questions about the craftsmanship (ask to see a photo of the neck pickup
well and also ask what the model number of the guitar is)... all Burny/Fernandes guitars have model numbers, but sellers
often intentionally or unknowingly misrepresent the model numbers to get higher prices. Most guitars look good from the
outside... have a look under the hood before you buy one. I am still gathering information about how to determine
Japanese-made vs. Chinese-made & Korean-made and will update my site as soon as more accurate information is located.
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