Read the instrument. Follow the evidence.
PRS Serial Number Lookup | Guitar & Bass Year Guide
Decode documented PRS production-year prefixes and approximate serial ranges, keeping the USA, S2, SE and bass systems separate.
Browse PRS (Paul Reed Smith) manuals and guides ↗Historical and current systems
What’s marked on your instrument?
PRS electric guitars, basses, USA acoustics and documented SE acoustic prefixes.
Check the source era
What the research
supports and leaves open.
- Core/set-neck serials indicate a production sequence shared by multiple models; they do not identify a Custom 22, Custom 24, McCarty, finish or specification by themselves.
- For numeric and class-code systems, choose the instrument family or the matching format. A numeric shape alone cannot distinguish Core, CE, EG or a bass.
- PRS publishes approximate ranges, not an individual-instrument registry. Range boundaries and production-year prefixes can disagree; a disagreement is not proof of a counterfeit.
- The official guide currently ends many tables at 2023 or 2024. Its 2023 Core lower bound is printed as 035906, leaving a suspicious overlap; this row is omitted from range dating rather than silently corrected. Prefix-based dating remains available.
- The official S2 table repeats sequence 043719 for both 2019 and 2020 and has gaps near 2023–2024. Both candidates are retained at the shared boundary; undocumented gaps remain undated.
- Some PRS serials place the year prefix before a class code. Class-code-only table references are available with explicit family confirmation. A code such as 7 for CE is not the year by itself.
- Factory maps show a documented country or city area. A production-year result does not establish an individual guitar’s exact building, materials, originality or authenticity.
Research reviewed October 16, 2026. This independent tool applies published conventions and ranges; it does not search a manufacturer’s private instrument registry.
Research references
- PRS Guitars: Year Identification ↗ · manufacturer
- PRS Guitars: Maryland history and factory locations ↗ · manufacturer
USA set-neck: single-digit year plus sequence, 1985–2007
Confirmed USA standard set-neck, back-of-headstock serial.
Approximate official sequence range is checked against the year prefix; this sequence is shared across standard set-neck models.
USA set-neck: two-digit year and documented sequence range
Confirmed USA standard set-neck with two-digit production year.
The official 2023 range is excluded because its printed lower bound is inconsistent. Year-prefix dating is offered separately.
USA set-neck: production-year prefix, 2008 onward
Confirmed USA standard set-neck with two-digit production-year prefix.
The year follows PRS’s stated last-two-digits convention. This interpretation does not verify that the sequence falls inside a published annual range; the published table currently ends at 2024.
USA CE (7 class code): year prefix plus class code
Confirmed USA CE (7 class code) with year digit before the class code.
The leading year digit and published approximate class-sequence range must agree.
USA CE (7 class code): class-code table reference
Confirmed USA CE (7 class code); class-code plus sequence, with the separate year digit omitted.
The PRS table shows class code and sequence without the separate year prefix. This is a table reference; include the complete serial when available.
USA CE (CE class code): year prefix plus class code
Confirmed USA CE (CE class code) with year digit before the class code.
The leading year digit and published approximate class-sequence range must agree.
USA CE (CE class code): class-code table reference
Confirmed USA CE (CE class code); class-code plus sequence, with the separate year digit omitted.
The PRS table shows class code and sequence without the separate year prefix. This is a table reference; include the complete serial when available.
USA CE: 2016-onward year prefix
Confirmed 2016-onward USA CE bolt-on.
PRS’s CE section identifies the first two digits as the production year. A CE family identification does not distinguish CE 22 from CE 24 or establish finish.
USA EG: year prefix plus class code
Confirmed USA EG with year digit before the class code.
The leading year digit and published approximate class-sequence range must agree.
USA EG: class-code table reference
Confirmed USA EG; class-code plus sequence, with the separate year digit omitted.
The PRS table shows class code and sequence without the separate year prefix. This is a table reference; include the complete serial when available.
USA Swamp Ash Special (8 class code): year prefix plus class code
Confirmed USA Swamp Ash Special (8 class code) with year digit before the class code.
The leading year digit and published approximate class-sequence range must agree.
USA Swamp Ash Special (8 class code): class-code table reference
Confirmed USA Swamp Ash Special (8 class code); class-code plus sequence, with the separate year digit omitted.
The PRS table shows class code and sequence without the separate year prefix. This is a table reference; include the complete serial when available.
USA Swamp Ash Special (SA class code): year prefix plus class code
Confirmed USA Swamp Ash Special (SA class code) with year digit before the class code.
The leading year digit and published approximate class-sequence range must agree.
USA Swamp Ash Special (SA class code): class-code table reference
Confirmed USA Swamp Ash Special (SA class code); class-code plus sequence, with the separate year digit omitted.
The PRS table shows class code and sequence without the separate year prefix. This is a table reference; include the complete serial when available.
USA bolt-on bass: year prefix plus class code
Confirmed USA bolt-on bass with year digit before the class code.
The leading year digit and published approximate class-sequence range must agree.
USA bolt-on bass: class-code table reference
Confirmed USA bolt-on bass; class-code plus sequence, with the separate year digit omitted.
The PRS table shows class code and sequence without the separate year prefix. This is a table reference; include the complete serial when available.
USA set-neck bass: year prefix plus class code
Confirmed USA set-neck bass with year digit before the class code.
The leading year digit and published approximate class-sequence range must agree.
USA set-neck bass: class-code table reference
Confirmed USA set-neck bass; class-code plus sequence, with the separate year digit omitted.
The PRS table shows class code and sequence without the separate year prefix. This is a table reference; include the complete serial when available.
USA Electric Bass (EB): year prefix plus class code
Confirmed USA Electric Bass (EB) with year digit before the class code.
The leading year digit and published approximate class-sequence range must agree.
USA Electric Bass (EB): class-code table reference
Confirmed USA Electric Bass (EB); class-code plus sequence, with the separate year digit omitted.
The PRS table shows class code and sequence without the separate year prefix. This is a table reference; include the complete serial when available.
USA S2: published sequence table
S2 class code and six-digit sequence as printed in the official table.
Sequence 043719 is shared by the official 2019 and 2020 rows, so both years are possible. Missing ranges are not interpolated.
USA S2: year prefix plus S2 sequence
S2 serial with production-year prefix before S2 class code.
The year-prefix and approximate sequence-table year must agree. A production-year prefix can resolve the published 043719 overlap.
SE electric: Korean letter-year prefix
Confirmed Korean SE electric, back of headstock.
The official Korean SE table runs from A=2000 through U=2020. This does not decode a USA acoustic A-prefix as a Korean instrument.
SE electric: Indonesian IA–IE and CTIA–CTIG prefixes
Documented Indonesian SE electric prefix.
The official table lists IA–IE for 2014–2018 and CTIA–CTIG for 2018–2024. Supplier or exact city is not inferred from the letters.
USA acoustic: A plus two-digit year
Confirmed USA acoustic, sound-hole label.
PRS states that A is followed by the two-digit production year. Confirm this is a USA acoustic because A also occurs in the separate Korean SE electric table.
SE acoustic: China CTCA–CTCG prefixes
Documented Chinese SE acoustic prefix.
Official prefix-table coverage runs from CTCA=2017 to CTCG=2023. A model name is not encoded by this prefix.
Read your result with context
PRS (Paul Reed Smith) serial questions
Can the serial identify my exact model?
Most formats provide a period, sequence or production clue. Where a published system encodes a model or model family, the result identifies that association and links to a manual search. You can also enter the separately marked model name.
Why do several years fit?
Some manufacturers reused ranges or year digits. A date range or several candidates are retained when the sources cannot narrow them. A year supplied from your records is labelled as user context.
Does the map locate the exact factory?
The map shows the supported country or geographic area at the precision stated. It does not establish that a historical instrument passed through a particular building.
Can I share this lookup?
After a lookup, use “Copy share link.” The address contains #serial= and any supplied context. Opening it runs the same lookup; POST results are not shared cached query-string pages.
Does an unmatched number mean a counterfeit?
No. Published serial guides have gaps, and replacement components or unusual runs can carry different markings. Authenticity and originality require more evidence than a serial format.