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.
Serial number 870029. It has a rectangular label with the words J-50 Deluxe hand written on it. It seems to me all the guitars I have seen for sale have it typed in. The Gibson J-50 Deluxe is essentially the same as the J-45 Deluxe except the natural finish replaces the J-45âs sunburst finish. Like the J-45, it has a jumbo body with a solid spruce top and mahogany back, sides, and neck.
There are a number of distinct time periods for Gibsonâs serial numbers, where the systems differed. There are also other ways of determining the age of your instrument, including FONâs and things such as logo designs.
FONâs
In addition to serial numbers older Gibson guitars also had Factory Order Numbers (FONs) imprinted. In some cases, in fact, only FONs were used and there was no serial number (this was mainly for early low-end models).
FONâs (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).
FONâs were used from 1902 to 1961.
Other Identifiers
There are some other ways you can get an idea of the age of your Gibson.
Logo
Gibsonâs 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 USA
From 1970 onwards a âMade in U.S.Aâ 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 Features
You can also use other features to help identify the time period of your instrument. Some of these include:
Serial Numbers
O.k. so why discuss all these other aspects, when this post is supposed to be about serial numbers!
Good question â and the answer is simply that the serial number system used up until 1977 wasnât the easiest or most reliable system â so you may not be able to accurately determine anything about your guitar using the serial number alone.
O.k., letâs take a look at the different time periods of serial numbers from Gibson Guitars.
1902-1947
The 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.
1947 to 1961
Shelby bike serial numbers. Once 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.
1961 to 1970
A new system, introduced in 1961, was made to cover all of the instruments in Gibsonâs 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.
1970 to 1975
It didnât 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 âMade in U.S.Aâ 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. To make matters even more confusing, there wasnât really an order for these serial numbers â so you could have something from 1975 that started with a 1 and something from 1972 that started with a 9.
Some serial numbers also used a letter (just because?)
1975 to 1977
Thing get a little simpler. These serial numbers started with either â96â â00â or â06â 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!
1977 to Present
Finally, in 1977 a much more logical serial number system was introduced.
Gibson Guitars Serial Numbers
This is an 8 digit system and follows the format YDDDYPPP.
So, for example, letâs take the serial number 80351045.
Gibson J 50 Deluxe Guitar
So this serial number represents the 45th guitar built on February 4, 1981 in the Kalamazoo factory.
Factories
The Kalamazoo factory operated until 1984 and guitars made in that factory from 1977 to 1984 had the last 3 digits (the production number) that were between 001 and 499.
Guitars built in the Nashville factory from 1977 to 1989 used the production numbers 500-999.
For example, the serial number 81457556 â would be May 25th, 1987 and the 56th guitar built in the Nashville factory. The first guitar built that day would have the production number 500.
Guitars built in the Nashville Factory from 1990 onwards have production numbers 300-999 â so the first guitar produced that day would have the production number 300.
The Montana factory uses production numbers 001-299 and this was from 1989, when that factory was opened.
Exceptions
There are guitars that will be exceptions within all of these time periods.
If your guitar doesnât seem to fit within any of these systems, check out the resources below to see if you can decipher your serial number.
Thanks for Reading
I hope this helped you to decipher your (often complicated) Gibson serial number.
Photo CreditGibson J50 Serial Numbers
By Henry Zbyszynski from Cambridge, USA (P1060339) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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