Trying hard to decided if this is a funky T or I in my guitar’s serial number. It’s Japanese.
It has a wider slash on the top. Normally I’d say it was a T. But that’s not a valid serial number. Could it be a I? Look close there is a slash at the bottom. T’s should be a vertical line with a slash across the top. Geez this is confusing.
There’s also a number up on the block near the strings. But usually the number on the guitar’s neck block is the one that’s needed.
What do you see? Do the Japanese write funky and weird T’s and I’s?
I guess it is a T. darn it. I know from the Yamaha archive the FG-160 and FG-160E was only manufactured 1972-74. It’s a knock off copy of a Gibson J-160E that John Lennon played. Some really excellent copies of Gibson and Martin guitars were made in Japan in the 70’s. At least until the lawsuit.
Yes, it is a T, and the “slash” across the bottom is a serif, consistent with the little downward bits on the crossbar at the top, which are also serifs. See the second example below, in Times New Roman.
Looks like “0330145”, although the focus is off on the photo. Still, that first letter is so obviously a “T”, and in a standard English font, that I don’t understand where the Japanese part of the question is coming from.
I was being stubborn and trying to cram a square peg into a round hole. That way I’d have a valid serial number to look up. The serial is valid with an I. But the faq makes it clear what is going on. The T indicates a Taiwan manufacture. Yamaha must of contracted with them to build some of their guitars. Most of the 1970’s Yamaha acoustics were built in Japan but not all.
Ok, thanks. I have seen these submarine photos before, and I thought of that symbol while reading the OP. But the OP’s photo seems to me to definately be a capital T.
[offtopic]Wikipedia lists those “I” series boats as the B-class. Is that (B-class) an American/Allied designation for these boats? What does that Katakana character actually mean?
Edit: I can’t read Japanese of any kind. I couldn’t make sense of the content in scr4’s link.
Katakana characters don’t mean anything. They’re phonetic.
As far as I could find out, the イ9 series submarines were also referred to as type 甲, and the イ15 series (including the イ45) were also referred to as type 乙. These are the first two “numbers” or symbols in the Chinese celestial stem, so that’s probably why they got translated as A and B.
That way I’d have a valid serial number to look up. The serial is valid with an I. But the faq makes it clear what is going on. The T indicates a Taiwan manufacture. Yamaha must of contracted with them to build some of their guitars. Most of the 1970’s Yamaha acoustics were built in Japan but not all.