B.C. Rich Guitar Serial Number Lookup/Decoder

B.C. Rich serial number formats vary by era and factory. Most numbers are found on the back of the headstock, but some older instruments use a neck plate or the end of the fretboard. Use the format below that best matches your serial.

Common B.C. Rich Formats

• USA Neck-Through (1974+): Usually a 5-digit number in YYXXX format, where the first two digits are the year and the last three are the production sequence. Early/mid-1980s numbers can be out of sequence, so treat the year as an estimate. Some apparent year codes in this era read a few years ahead of actual production (for example, a 36xxx serial can date closer to 1982-1983 than 1986).
• Class Axe Era (1989–1993): Numbers like B0XXX, BXXXXX, or BCXXXXX. These typically do not encode a clear year.
• Import (1997–2000): Formats like F7XXXXX, F8XXXXX, F9XXXXX, or F0XXXXX. The second digit indicates the year (7=1997, 8=1998, 9=1999, 0=2000).
• Short I-Prefix Import (estimate-only): Some imports appear as I + 5 digits (e.g., I50311). A practical read is I + year digit + month digits + sequence (example: 2005, March), but this is not factory-verified and should be treated as a best-effort estimate.
• Numeric Date Stamp (late 2000–2009): 8-digit numbers like 121XXXXX. The first digit is the year (1=2001, 2=2002, etc.), the third digit indicates the quarter, and the last five digits are the production sequence.
• Month/Factory Code (2007+): A letter + 8 digits, such as A08140023. The letter is the month, the next two digits are the factory number, the next two digits are the year, and the last four are the production sequence.

Japan NJ Series (1980s)

• R/P Prefix: Some NJ Series guitars use R or P followed by 6 digits. The first two digits typically indicate the year (e.g., R83XXXX = 1983). These are often Japan-made.

Month Code Key (Modern)

• Month Letters: A=Jan, C=Feb, E=Mar, F=Apr, G=May, H=Jun, J=Jul, K=Aug, L=Sep, M=Oct, N=Nov, P=Dec.

If your serial does not fit any of the formats above, check for headstock labels (Made in USA, NJ Series, Class Axe, etc.) and contact B.C. Rich with photos for confirmation.