If you are wondering "How do I find out what year my Gibson guitar was made? Gibson has produced many types of instruments, and used many different versions of guitar serialization over the years. Determining the year of manufacture correctly for your instrument is key to understanding not only its age, but its value.

Our Gibson guitar dating guide below helps you narrow down the age of your instrument gibson serial numbers and FONs printed on or inside your instrument, however you may need to rely on additional specifications and resources to be fully confident. If you have a Gibson guitar you would like to sell, need help establishing a value, or would like additional information about your instrument, please contact us.

The Gibson Factory Order Dating is a batch number assigned during production. Factory Order Numbers are useful for dating Gibson instruments built from through The FON can be found on the neck block or the inside back of the instrument for most models and years. It will be ink stamped or hand written and dating be faded or difficult to decipher. Gibson FON batch ranges from through listed in the table below.

Guitars that some repetition of numbers takes place, and at go here the letter suffix may not be present dallas craigslists ever instrument. FONs with letters resume in the early 50's. In addition to batch numbers, from through the letter of the FON can denote the year of manufacture with some possible variations.

Rv hookup most Gibson FONs in this date range contain a letter as outlined above, some models mostly lapsteels do not contain a letter. In this case, the batch number before the hyphen indicates the year of manufacture. During this time period, the sequence number is usually written in pencil following the ink batch number. Examples of FONs used during the war are listed in the table below.

From through Gibson utilized a standard letter prefix for each year. The FON will begin with the specified letter, then be followed by the 4 digit batch number, and finally a 1 or 2 digit sequence number. FON prefixes for this date range are outlined in the table below. Gibson serial numbers are a convenient way to establish onlyfans kaligunz year your guitar was made, and ultimately understand the value of your instrument.

Though serial numbers are meant to be a unique identifier for the manufacturer or owner to establish warranty, quality control, or ownership status, serial numbers also contain dated information encoded into their sequence.

Along with model specs or other features, you can decipher your guitar's gibson number using the information and tables presented below. Keep in mind that some detective work may be required. In addition to various https://telegram-web.online/free-dating-sites-in-california.php of serial numbers over the years, the placement and method by which the gibson number is affixed to guitar has varied.

Serial number location is predicated on the type of instrument, the vintage, or the available free space available to neatly or artistically place it on the guitar. During this time, Gibson serial numbers were assigned essentially in order. The table below lists the last serial number issued to an instrument in the given year.

Serial numbers, if present, are found on an interior white paper label during this period. During this time, Gibson serial numbers have an "A" prefix. The serial number, if present, is ink stamped onto a paper label found on the interior of the instrument. A is the first assigned number. The "A" prefix is a reset of the number convention after Gibson reaches in early With the introduction of the solidbody guitar inGibson had no interior space to adhere a paper label, so the serial number was ink stamped onto the back of the headstock for these models.

The first digit will indicate the year of manufacture for solidbody guitars in this range. Early examples have no serial number, however from onwards, the serial guitars convention is "Y XXXX" where Y is the year of manufacture and X is the sequence number given to an instrument that year, assigned in ascending order. The first number indicating the year may be also followed by 5 digits with no space as the sequence exceeded in a given year. For example, a Gibson solidbody guitar serial number could read 7 or At the beginning of each year, the sequence would reset while the digit representing the year would increase example: 8 for early InGibson began stamping the serial number physically into the wood on the back of the headstock for all instruments.

All Gibson models now use the same serial number methodology. Hollow and acoustic instruments may also have the headstock serial number duplicated on the orange interior label. Early serial numbers are dating or 5 digits assigned in ascending order, while most have a 6 digit number. During this time period, it is important to note that This web page reuses numbers, and dating the number ranges themselves are not used in any discernible or logical order.

Gibson however changes model features enough throughout this period that the combination of serial number and specification should help narrow down the year of manufacture for guitars specific instrument.

Gibson guitars during this time with a serial number within the range outline below will guitars have a "Made In USA" stamp on the headstock. Guitars produced after may reuse a serial number from the range, but instruments built from and on will be stamped "Made In USA" on the back of the headstock. Gibson serial numbers during this time continue to be 6 digits and stamped into the wood on the back of the headstock.

How To Check The Date Of Gibson Guitars By Serial Number or Factory Order Number (FON)

Additionally "Made In USA" is also stamped into the wood below serial number making it easier to identify guitars from this era. Many serial number ranges from the '60s are used again in the early '70s. Many guitars manufactured during this time also have a neck volute, a large dating transition between the back of the neck and the headstock left intentionally enlarged to prevent gibson breaks.

Models with a letter prefix followed dating a 6 digit number indicate custom shop or limited edition models. Gibson serial numbers during this time are printed onto a decal.

The decal is then adhered to the back of the headstock. The decal may denote the model name in addition to the serial number. The serial number is 8 digits long with a 2 digit prefix that denotes the year of manufacture, followed by 6 digits example: Gibson transitions to an 8 digit serial number in for all models, a method of serialization that ultimately carries through to today. Serial numbers continue to be stamped into the wood on the back of the headstock along with "Made In USA".

The "first and fifth" serial number as it is known makes deciphering the date of manufacture simple and effective, which is why Gibson has continued to use it for so many decades.

The ranking numbers indicated Kalamazoo production prior to when the Kalamazoo, MI factory was closed. Ranking numbers indicated Nashville, TN production through Ranking numbers for Bozeman start each day at and the electrics may start as low as the s. For example, would indicate production, on the 10th day of the year Jan 10and the th guitar off the line in Kalamazoo. SinceSerial number for example would indicate the rd day ofan acoustic guitar from Bozeman, MT, and the guitars guitar serialized that day as the ranking number is below the s starting point for electrics.

Serial number for example would indicate the rd day ofand an electric guitar from Nashville or Memphis as the ranking number is greater than the s starting point. In July Gibson added a 9th digit to the serial number, however it is still read the same as an 8 digit serial number with the extra digit indicating a batch number inserted before the ranking number.

The batch is set to 0 each day, and once the numbers are stamped, the batch number becomes 1. The first 5 numbers and the last 3 numbers remain the same as 8 digit serial numbers. For example, would indicate the th day ofand the first instrument stamped in gibson "1". There are exceptions to the 8 or 9 digit rule for Gibson USA guitars. Some models have their own number convention, and certain time periods utilize a different numbering femdom hookup. From onwards, the ink stamped serial number is maintained, with "Made In USA" stamped below it into the wood.

This ink stamped serial number convention is similar to Gibson solid body electric guitars produced from through Most Les Gibson Classic models with have a 5 or 6 digit serial number though early models have a 4 digit number. There should be a space after the 1st digit with the 4 and 5 digit serial numbers, and no space with the 6 digit numbers.

From throughthe first number indicates the year of manufacture and the serial number will be 4 or 5 digits long. From onward, the first 2 numbers indicate the year and the serial number is 6 digits long. In to celebrate the centennial of Gibson, many instruments were serialized with a "94" prefix, followed by 6 digits.

The "94" prefix indicates as the year of manufacture for these models. Gibson changed it's 9 digit serial number convention during this time period, where the first 2 digits indicate the model year, not necessarily the year of production. The following 7 digits indicate the instrument number produced in sequential order starting at For example, would indicate the rd instrument serialized for the model year. The model year would begin around Fall and run through approximately Fall A model year instrument could guitars been produced in read article or for example, with a lower ranking number indicating earlier production and a higher ranking number indicating later production.

In the guitars ofGibson ends model years and reverts back to the post serial number conventions. Gibson Custom Shop models carry a serial number that is historically accurate to consider, bad boy dating site message reissue year. The style and location of the serial number are similar to the original vintage model that dating reissue replicates, as outline in the list above.

Gibson Custom Shop serial numbers are often duplicated, so additional model features must be utilized for proper dating.

Artist signature models may use the artist's initials or name as the serial number. Collector's Choice models will be serialized "CC" followed by the model number variation example: CC Gibson built solid body reissue-style instruments throughout the 80s and early 90s sporadically, which are often referred to as "Pre-Historic" guitars.

These models may have an ink stamped serial number on the back of the headstock similar to s conventions where the first number indicates the year of production, followed by a space and then a 4 digit number. For example, 7 would indicate production, while 2 would indicate production. While the so-called Pre-Historic models had been limited runs offered by Gibson, in Gibson began offering custom-ordered instruments through their Dealer Custom Department.

From and beyond, the Custom Shop exists as its own entity, and begins a new numbering convention for Historic Reissue guitars that looks similar to vintage s and Pre-Historic models, but is read differently gibson determine both the reissue model year and year of production. Solid body reissue 50's style guitars have an ink stamped serial number on the back of the headstock, gibson to the guitars vintage guitars they replicate.

Gibson Serial Number Lookup

Once the production count reachesan additional digit is added and the space between model reissue year and production year goes away. For "M" in the above format, all models dating a specific reissue year are included in the production count. So a Les Paul Standard, Les Paul Junior, and Explorer reissue would all have a serial number beginning with "8" for a given production year and count towards the total quantity produced.