Gibson A5 Mandolin Serial Numbers
Gibson guitar serial numbers are, like a lot of serial number systems from guitar manufacturers, a complicated beast.But with a little bit of research you should be able to find out when your Gibson was built and in some cases where.There are a number of distinct time periods for Gibson’s serial numbers, where the systems differed. There are also other ways of determining the age of your instrument, including FON’s and things such as logo designs. FON’sIn addition to serial numbers older Gibson guitars also had Factory Order Numbers (FONs) imprinted.
Gibson A5 Mandolin Serial Numbers Look Up
In some cases, in fact, only FONs were used and there was no serial number (this was mainly for early low-end models).FON’s (and serial numbers) on Gibson guitars are usually found either on the inside of the back of the guitar (inside the sound hole) or on the back of the headstock).FON’s were used from 1902 to 1961. Other IdentifiersThere are some other ways you can get an idea of the age of your Gibson. LogoGibson’s logo has been largely unchanged since 1947 but before that time the logo changed a bit, so you can use that to help identify the era your guitar was built. Made in USAFrom 1970 onwards a “Made in U.S.A” was engraved below the serial number. This can help determine if your guitar was from the 1960s or 1970s (some guitars during those 2 decades had the same serial number).
Other FeaturesYou can also use other features to help identify the time period of your instrument. Some of these include:. Volutes: Extra bits of wood carved into the headstock where it meets the neck. These were starting to be added in 1969 – so if your instrument didn’t have them then it’s likely to be pre-1969. Things such as tuners, capstans, plates can also give you clues – though remember that an older instrument could have had these items replaced so it’s not a definite clue.Serial NumbersO.k.
Harry potter and the goblet of fire full movie youtube. So why discuss all these other aspects, when this post is supposed to be about serial numbers!Good question – and the answer is simply that the serial number system used up until 1977 wasn’t the easiest or most reliable system – so you may not be able to accurately determine anything about your guitar using the serial number alone.O.k., let’s take a look at the different time periods of serial numbers from Gibson Guitars. 1902-1947The following serial numbers apply just to acoustic guitars.During this period, the system was actually relatively simple. Guitars were just given the next available number.The chart below shows the year that relates to the serial number.
The serial numbers shown represent the approximate last serial number for that year. The first serial number for acoustic guitars was 100. YearLast Aprox Serial #7 to 1961Once the serial numbers hit 99999, Gibson decided to change to a new system, rather than go into 6 digits.The new system used a letter to prefix the numbers. The first guitar in this new system was A 100 which was in April of 1947.
YearLast Aprox Serial #1947A 13051948A 26651949A 44101950A 65961951A 94201952A 124601953A 174351954A 186651955A 219101956A 247551957A 268201958A 288801959A 322851960A 346451961A 361471961 to 1970A new system, introduced in 1961, was made to cover all of the instruments in Gibson’s line (not just acoustic guitars). This was pretty poorly done though (IMO) and meant that some serial numbers were reused so a certain serial number could be from a guitar from different years. YearAprox Serial # Range19-1464-6667096709670-0991963, -1001963, 0-1491963, -1991963, -1991963, -1963196419641221964, -196529653831965, -, -, -396539653965, -, 190-396639663966391-4966496649664251965-66, 190-5965, -5101965, -5561966, 191-695966, -596959695900969690-697900966, -8966, -8966, -8967896789689968996899689970 to 1975It didn’t get any less confusing during this time either. The biggest telling factors for guitars from this period, as opposed to the guitars from 1961 to 1969 is the “Made in U.S.A” that can be found on guitars from 1970 onwards.6 Digit Serial numbers were still used so a lot of the same numbers were also used on 1960s models.
Gibson Flatiron Mandolin Serial Numbers
To make matters even more confusing, there wasn’t really an order for these serial numbers – so you could have something from 1975 that started with a 1 and something from 1972 that started with a 9. NumberYear0XXXXX19731XXXXX1970-19752XXXXX1973-19753XXXXX1974-19754XXXXX1974-19755XXXXX1974-19756XXXXX1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 19757XXXXX1970, 1971, 19728XXXXX1973, 1974, 19759XXXXX1970, 1971, 1972Some serial numbers also used a letter (just because?) NUMBERYEARXXXXXX + A1970A + XXXXXX1973, 1974, 1975B + XXXXXX1974, 1975C + XXXXXX1974, 1975D + XXXXXX1974, 1975E + XXXXXX1974, 1975F + XXXXXX1974, 19751975 to 1977Thing get a little simpler. These serial numbers started with either “96” “00” or “06” with the 96 representing 1975, the 00 representing 1976 and 06 representing 1977. Not sure why these numbers were used, but at least it was uniform!
Like a fingerprint or a social security number, the series of digits inked or impressed on the back of a Gibson headstock can go a long way toward identifying a guitar. But, with more than 75 years of shipping records in the Gibson books, and dozens of variations on numerical schemes used over the years, sometimes do little to shed light on the origin of a mysterious Gibson.“Serial numbers can be extremely tricky,” says Gibson Customer Service Manager Jason Davidson, whose team fields calls and emails regarding every Gibson division. “Some can tell you a lot about a guitar, and some don’t really tell you anything.
Gibson has had so many different schemes over the years, and now we’re using reissue serial numbers that look like the old serial numbers.”Inside a locked closet just outside Davidson’s office are some of Gibson’s most enduring written materials—shipping records dating from 1936 to 1970. With vintage Gibsons selling at auction for as much as half a million dollars, Davidson will sometimes roll up his sleeves and poke around in the ledgers, but only as time allows. The earliest volumes contain hundreds of yellowed pages covered front and back with rows of handwritten numbers. It can take Davidson several hours to locate a specific serial number, if he can find it at all.
Even then, there may be four other guitars—of all different models—with the same number sequence.When faced with a question about a guitar’s date, Davidson most always refers to his beyond-dogeared copy of.“At least a quarter of the calls that Gibson’s Customer Service team gets are related to the dating and IDing of guitars,” Davidson says. “We make sure all the guys have a copy of Gruhn’s Guide.”Davidson also recommends the.Another resource for IDing and dating guitars is Gibson’s computer database, which catalogues scores of serial numbers from 1987 on through the present.“It doesn’t always date the guitar,” says Davidson.
“A lot of people think you can just dump these formats into a database where you can pull up the date, but there’s so much more to it. Serial numbers can pull up multiple guitars from multiple years.”To illustrate his point, Davidson types in a serial number from memory and it quickly pulls up three different guitars—an, a, and a.“Sometimes I’ll literally pull up 10 guitars, and five of them will be so similar you’re not going to know what the customer has. The ship date can help us, but if it’s a weird serial number, we’ll ask for photos.”Today, Gibson USA takes great pains not to recycle serial numbers.
To combat the problem, the company upped its serial number sequence last year from eight digits to nine.“We added another digit to reflect the batch of the day,” says Support Coordinator Eric Marlow. “We were getting close to having so many guitars come through the factory that the serial number would probably lapse in a day and then start repeating itself so we added that extra digit.”With consumers and collectors as attentive as Gibson’s, even miniscule changes in design and manufacturing can translate into a chorus of ringing phones in Gibson’s Customer Service department. That’s exactly what happened following a recent modification in the font size of the serial numbers used on the new.“We’re always trying to get things more accurate,” explains Marlow, “so we changed the Les Paul Classic font because we found a stamp as close to the ’60s version as we could.”Davidson is quick to point out that consumers have good reason to be alarmed by real or perceived discrepancies on Gibson models.“We get calls from pawn shops and used music stores every day, and a lot of the guitars that people ask us about end up being fake Gibsons,” he says.
“A lot of the counterfeiters are using the standard eight-digit series. For the most part, it looks real. But there are some obvious indicators—if it starts with a five, for instance. We don’t start any eight-digit serial numbers with a five. Or it might be an eight-digit serial number that indicates it was built on the 700th day of the year. In a case like that, we’re clearly dealing with a fake guitar.”Davidson is referring to Gibson’s system—in effect since 1977—of including a guitar’s build date within the serial number sequence. On today’s new models from Gibson USA, Memphis, and Acoustic, the first and fifth number in the sequence signify the year a guitar was built, and the second, third, and forth number identify the day of the year.“You get the hang of it, where you can see the date immediately,” says Davidson.
“It may be confusing at first, but the reason we do our serial numbers this way is tradition. Our customers want serial numbers to be formatted a certain way—like they used to be.”For more information on Gibson's serial numbers, refer to our online guide.