Yamaha Piano Serial Numbers – Find Your Piano’s Age & Origin

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Yamaha Pianos made in Japan

Scroll down for the serial numbers of Japanese pianos commonly found in the UK such as U1G, U1G, U1H, U1M, U1A, U3G, U3G, U3H, U3M, U3A, C110, C110A, U10BL, UX1, UX10A, UX10BL, U30A, U30BL, UX30A, UX30BL, YUX, YU1, YU3, M1J, M2, MC10, MC301, C108, P1, C1, C2, C3, C5, C7, G2, G3, G5, GC1, GC2, A1.

Quick Method to get an Approx Date

The quick rules for giving an approximate date of any Japanese Yamaha is as follows

7 digits starting with a 1: 1970-1974
7 digits starting with a 2: 1975-1979
7 digits starting with a 3: 1980-1984
7 digits starting with a 4: 1985-1989
7 digits starting with a 5: 1990+
7 digits starting with a 6: 2000+
(If the serial number has 7 digits, it’s probably Japanese)

Yamaha Piano Serial Numbers – Made in Japan

I’m missing the last few years of production. If you know them please email them to me at markgoodwinpianos@gmail.com so that I can update this list.

Yamaha Piano Serial Numbers – Made in Milton Keynes, UK

From around 1990-2009, Kemble made pianos in their Milton Keynes factory under license from Yamaha. Models include the U1N, U1SN, U3N, U3SN, P116N, P121N, PX-124NTS. Note that the models usually have the “N” suffix and the serial numbers seems to always have a prefix “E”.

Yamaha have not published a list of serial numbers for this factory so we have to piece it together from pianos spotted “in the wild”

Yamaha Piano Serial Numbers – Made in Jakarta, Indonesia

This factory made models such as GB1, GB1K, C110, JU109, B1, B2, B3, T121, T118, but has now been earmarked for closure. Apparently this factory also made a very rare U1J which you are unlikely to ever see in the UK

Yamaha Piano Serial Numbers – Made in China

Note that the “H” here is very confusing. Yamaha tell you that;

If the serial number begins with an “H”, the piano was manufactured in Hangzhou, China.

Please take my word for it that the U1H and the U3H are NOT made in China. Yamaha is only referring to pianos where the “H” is part of the serial number with no gaps.

Please don’t ask ChatGPT to prove me wrong because ChatGPT has already agreed that my knowledge is superior on this matter (see image below for proof)

See this next image to see what I mean. The “H” is separate from the serial number. The “H” is not part of the serial number, therefore U3H and U1H are NOT made in China. Thank You :)

Yamaha Piano Serial Numbers – Made In Taiwan

Almost all U1 and U3 are made in Japan but in the mid/late 1990s some were made in Taiwan with a serial number beginning with YT. You are unlikely to find any of these for sale in the UK. Other Taiwan made models include; T series: T116, T121. M series: M450, M500, M550, M560. P series: P660, P22T. LU series: LU90, LU101. Some YT/UT series: YT121, UT121.

All of those Taiwan models are rare in the UK but you may find 1 or 2 dotted about. They aren’t worth deliberately looking for as the quality is low/intermediate. You’re better just going straight for a Japanese U1 as a great starting point.

More Input!

Please send me any information that you think should be added to this page.
Thanks
Mark