Serial no. calculator

[FearTheCalm]

I thought this was a cool little tool, put in your serial and it will decode the serial and tell you the date it was made, what factory it was made in, and the production no.

The Guitar Dater Project - Gibson Serial Number Decoder

[im_b0r3d_]

Thanks, if this was stickied maybe there wouldn't be so many "What year is this" threads. By the way, I've got to change my pants now thanks to your sig..

Welcome!~

[tomguitar1963]

very good thanx bud

[Cantu]

Nice to know!!

[Csharp]

Still kinda vague for mine - "Your guitar was made at the
Kalamazoo or Nashville Plant , USA
approximately in: 1974 or 1975"

[drewbertca]

Cool...I figured Mine out by decoding it myself from Gibson Documentation....but it's nice to know I was right on

[im_b0r3d_]

Too bad the Ibanez link doesn't work..
Although I do know my JS100 must be a few years old because it has the shitty Lo-trs II bridge I need to replace.

[alfonso]

It doesn't work with 5 digit Classic number here.

[sbreba]

Thanks I was wondering the info on my gt

[Robster]

Didn't work on my 2007 LP Custom. Glitched out.

R

[Axeman16]

good site, bt doesnt work on classics.

[Vtwin]

"Your guitar was made at the
Kalamazoo Plant, USA
approximately in: 1959"

NOT!! Mine is a 2006 R9

[dwagar]

Originally Posted by Vtwin

"Your guitar was made at the
Kalamazoo Plant, USA
approximately in: 1959"

NOT!! Mine is a 2006 R9

well, you tricked it a bit by clicking in this section:
Vintage Panel (For all Gibson guitars made prior to 1977)

I think it's just parsing the serial numbers, it doesn't handle historic and classic style numbering.

[racerratt]

Originally Posted by Csharp

Still kinda vague for mine - "Your guitar was made at the
Kalamazoo or Nashville Plant , USA
approximately in: 1974 or 1975"

This is what I got except mine is a 76 lp custom.

I went round and round with the so called experts at the LPF. One guy was saying all lp's after 74 were made at the Nashville plant. Then he says in 77 they got the now existing serial number scheme and from 77 to 83 (I think) if your serial number goes from 000-499 (last thre digits), it was made in Kalamazoo, numbers between 500-999 are Nashville. I agread with him on that but I asked him how he can tell my 76 was made in Nashville and I never got a straight or definite answer.

They keep telling me (LPF) not to believe all the info out there about Gibsons serialization because it contradicts some of what they think is truth. I've read many a thread about what is truth and what isn't and I don't know who to believe and at this point, don't care.

I love to read the shit that goes on over there. Old wood, truss rod condems, hide glue and yadda yadda!

As Frank Zappa said "Shut up and play your guitar".

[Csharp]

Mine is six digits, stamped, mahogany neck. The more I read, the more I think it's late '74, Kalamazoo.

[dwagar]

Originally Posted by Csharp

Mine is six digits, stamped, mahogany neck. The more I read, the more I think it's late '74, Kalamazoo.

mahogany neck should have the trans tenon too.

no one has ever answered this, but I really don't think any trans tenon guitars were made in Nashville.

Do you have an original pot? Pot codes are really the only way to properly date most of the early 70s LPs.

[dwagar]

Originally Posted by racerratt

This is what I got except mine is a 76 lp custom.

I went round and round with the so called experts at the LPF. One guy was saying all lp's after 74 were made at the Nashville plant. Then he says in 77 they got the now existing serial number scheme and from 77 to 83 (I think) if your serial number goes from 000-499 (last thre digits), it was made in Kalamazoo, numbers between 500-999 are Nashville. I agread with him on that but I asked him how he can tell my 76 was made in Nashville and I never got a straight or definite answer.

They keep telling me (LPF) not to believe all the info out there about Gibsons serialization because it contradicts some of what they think is truth. I've read many a thread about what is truth and what isn't and I don't know who to believe and at this point, don't care.

I love to read the shit that goes on over there. Old wood, truss rod condems, hide glue and yadda yadda!

As Frank Zappa said "Shut up and play your guitar".

Best place for serial number info IMO is the Gibson site. Your '76 would start with '00'. But they don't state how to read the plant designation until '77. Have you tried running your serial by Gibson customer service? They might have a way of telling.

On the LPF I'm pretty sure a guy posted a '78 with a Kalamazoo number, so LPs were still being made there throughout, I think. From what I've read, I think Nashville opened in June '75, so '75s and '76s will be very hard to find the plant designation. Back then, I don't think Gibson thought that anyone would ever care where the guitar was made.

As far as old wood, truss rod condoms and hide glue goes, you may not care, but some of us do.

[Nicole Rose]

my goddess has a 9 digit serial no. this is the result i got.

Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
March 6th, 2000
Production Number: 327

did they even make the goddess in 2000? i thought i read somewhere that they started it in 2005.

[dwagar]

I think the 'dater' is just parsing the number, does an okay job on a lot of guitars, but misses an awful lot.

Best to contact Gibson customer service if you need to know about your guitar. Unless it's a '70s, then it can be a bit of a mystery even to Gibson.

[Csharp]

dwagar, I put this Standard in layaway in May '75. At that time only Custom and Deluxe models were available, Standards were special dealer ordered, as I understand it. If I remember right, I finally paid it off and picked it up in Feb. or Mar. '76 (give me a break, I was a poor student). About 6 months later I had Schallers installed and speed knobs added. Everything else is original. The black pick guard in my pics is something I made to avoid scratching up the stocker, which is safely stored away. I'll have to get some photos of the pots and neck pocket.

[racerratt]

Originally Posted by dwagar

Have you tried running your serial by Gibson customer service? They might have a way of telling.

On the LPF I'm pretty sure a guy posted a '78 with a Kalamazoo number, so LPs were still being made there throughout, I think. From what I've read, I think Nashville opened in June '75, so '75s and '76s will be very hard to find the plant designation. Back then, I don't think Gibson thought that anyone would ever care where the guitar was made.

I tried Gibson but as usual, they don't respond to anything. I gave up on them a long time ago. Sometimes I wonder if Gibson is for real! Are they really there?

Yes, it's a 76. Like I said one of the know it alls over at the LPF said that my guitar was made in Nashville without even seeing it in detail. He also said that production of lp's at the Nashville plant started immediatly (opened in 74) and then there's the president of Gibson at that time saying that no lp's were being built there at first, said it was mainly office people there at first and when the plant started making guitars, that they were putting out only acoustics at first.

[eaglewolf]

[quote=racerratt;97579]I tried Gibson but as usual, they don't respond to anything. I gave up on them a long time ago. Sometimes I wonder if Gibson is for real! Are they really there?
QUOTE]

Really? I was attempting to fill out my registration for my 07 Custom, and ended up calling Gibson (using the number on their website) to help me with the product code. They seemed to have all the info I could want in their computer about my guitar. At the time I didn't care about where it was made, but from the detailed info they did give I would suspect they had more. The guy was extremely helpful.

David

[drriff]

Worked for me as follows:

Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
January 23rd, 1979
Production Number: 97

Thanks for the link - very cool!

[jerryo]

My Data sez:

PS:Your guitar was made at the
Kalamazoo Plant, USA
approximately in: 1960

...gentlemen there must be an error

it does not take 48 years for Lacquer to become unsticky

[jomo]

Mine doesn't come up. I may email Gibson one of these days. If any of you can figure mine out, I'd appreciate it. 5 5549

[Csharp]

It's a 1955, of course.

[radicalcon]

That's a cool little gizmo, worked just like it should...I think. I think its cool that it can make you a little banner, I tossed it in my sig just for the hell of it.