Sire

Sire's modern serials come in two generations: an 8-digit plain numeric (Gen 1) and a 2N-prefixed 10-digit format (Gen 2). Both encode the year in the first two significant digits.

Sources 1 Community view all

Decode a Sire serial

Quick pick

Find your shape, jump to the format

8 digits Gen 1 — 8-digit primary e.g. 20123456 Varies
2N21123456 Gen 2 — 2N + 8 digits primary e.g. 2N21123456 Current
2N25H70217 Gen 2 letter-month — 2N + YY + M + 5 digits primary e.g. 2N25H70217 2025+

Supported formats

Gen 1 — 8-digit

Varies

Example 20123456 Try it →

Eight plain digits. The first two are the 2-digit year, the remaining six are sequential.

Gen 2 — 2N + 8 digits

Current

Example 2N21123456 Try it →

The 2N prefix, then 8 digits. The first two post-prefix digits are the 2-digit year, the remaining six are sequential.

Gen 2 letter-month — 2N + YY + M + 5 digits

2025+

Example 2N25H70217 Try it →

2N + 2-digit year + month letter (A=Jan, B=Feb, …, L=Dec) + 5-digit sequence. Encodes both year and month. Observed on 2025+ Larry Carlton X6 batches (e.g. 2N25H70217 = August 2025, #70217).

Where to find your serial

Sire serials are printed or stamped on the back of the headstock on current production.

Back of headstock

Standard location for all current Sire instruments; the serial is printed or lightly impressed.

Sources

Note on source quality: Sire does not publish an official serial-number decoder. The YYWW convention below is consistently reported by community resellers and dealer references; we have not sighted a canonical Sire-authored specification. If you have a manufacturer-authored source, please open an issue.

Still Kickin Music — Lakland and Sire Serial Number Database Community

Dealer-maintained serial-number database; documents the YYWW-prefix convention used by Sire across Gen 1 and Gen 2 serials.

Every format rule on this page traces back to at least one of the sources above. If you spot an error or have an additional authoritative source, see the methodology.