Need insight from a serial # expert.

[Darkscience]

I bought a 68' BB LP Reissue and the serial number is 20xxx8. I was curious when it was made because to me it looked likes it was a 2020, but the QC inspection paper from Gibson is dated 8/xx/22, (I forget the date right now but it was August 22).

Are the serial numbers not reliable for dating or do you think something else happen? It's weird too my guitar is VOS but was sold as a Gloss model on the receipt, I am wondering if it's possible for a dealer to send a guitar back that has been hanging for 2yrs and maybe scratched up some to get it the VOS treatment and resell it.

Funny thing is also the receipt has the incorrect serial # as 20xxx3, which doesn't bother me.

All this is out of curiosity, I love the guitar but some oddities to it. Maybe I should call Gibson is the answer but just thought of it now..

 

[efstop]

The incorrect serial # on the invoice should bother you because technically you don't have a valid proof of purchase.

My ES-235 had the wrong inspection card and COA inside the case, and that's where the store got the serial # for the invoice, instead of taking it off the guitar. I at least got them to send me a new invoice.

By the chart on the Gibson website:

Yours would be a 2020, as you thought, RRR is it's place in production (not a date) and 8 is '68 Custom.
Don't know where your dealer had the guitar before you bought it
Maybe it was "repurposed" by Gibson. You ought to call or email them.

 

[Darkscience]

The incorrect serial # on the invoice should bother you because technically you don't have a valid proof of purchase.

My ES-235 had the wrong inspection card and COA inside the case, and that's where the store got the serial # for the invoice, instead of taking it off the guitar. I at least got them to send me a new invoice.

By the chart on the Gibson website:

Yours would be a 2020, as you thought, RRR is it's place in production (not a date) and 8 is '68 Custom.
Don't know where your dealer had the guitar before you bought it
Maybe it was "repurposed" by Gibson. You ought to call or email them.

The serial number on the receipt should probably bother me more than it does, I will ask for them to correct it but I am not overly concerned about it, (plus I am sure they will take care of me).

Yea who knows if they repurposed it, I find it very interesting, I might check with Gibson just to get the low down on it.

Something else I noticed while looking browsing online, there are Gibson reissue style guitars online at sites like Sweetwater with serial numbers that do not match the described year, (I could be wrong I was up really late).

I will reach out and if it interests anyone, I will post whatever I find out. But like the dude who got the repainted guitar, (Black over Pelham Blue), I am just thankful Gibson remembered to install a neck, LOL.

 

[Darkscience]

Ok well glad I took your advice to call, now I know what I own.

So basically, this guitar is not a VOS, LMFAO. This is a gloss model, it was advertised on the dealers site as a VOS, I believe likely by complete accident. So that is one thing, the very fine micro abrasion I can see in certain light is actually just the regular gloss finish.

Secondly, as far as the serial number on the receipt etc., not a big deal at all, I will still likely ask to see if I can get it corrected. According to Gibson, this happens all the time when dealers grab the cases and mismatch serial numbers, and being off by 1 digit, but both serial numbers coming back to the same store and with my documentation of the issue, it really is nothing, they said they would not deny my warranty over this. They said that people who usually get denied don't have a receipt at all and or a COA and no proof of any kind of a purchase linking the guitar back to the store it was shipped too. In my case, I obviously have a receipt, COA and the guitar.

Lastly, as far as it being a 2020 or a 2022, the guitar shipped to the store in August of 2022. What is not clear to Gibson, is if the guitar was made a couple years before it ever shipped, (for whatever reason the guy said he has seen this happen). Also, he is not 100% they have the website correct, since they only mention 1-Y for the year, he just is not sure, (he is on the team that writes that, so he said he is going to look into it and update it if needed). So the only thing he can say for sure is that the guitar was shipped in August of 2022. My personal belief is that the engraved serial number on the back of the guitar was not correct, who ever put the number on it probably should have put 22xxx8. I believe this because the guy said the serial number on the receipt is another guitar that was shipped to that store 6 days earlier.

Now all that being said, I do not buy everything they are telling me, it all just sounds like made up BS, but do I care? No, as long as I can get warranty service as needed is all I care about, this is all typical Gibson shenanigans. There is nothing wrong with the guitar at all and I do not want to take a chance on another one, this one plays good, sounds good and looks good, and I have the correct paperwork needed for service.

This is the guitar: (Waiting on strings in the mail)

 

[Darkscience]

Strung up, pretty much mint right now, (until I start to play it!)

 

[marshall2553]

I bought a 68' BB LP Reissue and the serial number is 20xxx8. I was curious when it was made because to me it looked likes it was a 2020, but the QC inspection paper from Gibson is dated 8/xx/22, (I forget the date right now but it was August 22).

Are the serial numbers not reliable for dating or do you think something else happen? It's weird too my guitar is VOS but was sold as a Gloss model on the receipt, I am wondering if it's possible for a dealer to send a guitar back that has been hanging for 2yrs and maybe scratched up some to get it the VOS treatment and resell it.

Funny thing is also the receipt has the incorrect serial # as 20xxx3, which doesn't bother me.

All this is out of curiosity, I love the guitar but some oddities to it. Maybe I should call Gibson is the answer but just thought of it now..

I have an R4 that I bought new in 2018. The inspection card has a 2017 date on it but the guitar has a 2015 serial number. I don't know if it sat at the factory for two years before they signed off on the card and shipped it or if it was just stamped with the wrong serial number. Glad to see I'm not the only one with a guitar like this

 

[Darkscience]

I have an R4 that I bought new in 2018. The inspection card has a 2017 date on it but the guitar has a 2015 serial number. I don't know if it sat at the factory for two years before they signed off on the card and shipped it or if it was just stamped with the wrong serial number. Glad to see I'm not the only one with a guitar like this

So wild that they store them for so long, who knows what the real story is but I bet they got stored for years. The crazy thing about my phone call, the guy I was talking too says he is responsible for maintaining the page that describes how to decode serial numbers but he is not sure if it is correct....LMFAO. He said a string of recent phone calls like mine has prompted him to investigate and fix it if needed...LOL.

Oh and I forgot to mention this, make it even completely more mysterious, the QC card on mine has the correct serial number, but two of the numbers look...doctored up...like they were changed, BUT they look like they were changed from the same number before, but for whatever reason the handwriting on those two numbers is completely different, but why would they change a #1 to another #1? All the 1's are a single straight line, in the serial #, it is a straight line but then someone went over it and added the head at the top and the base on the #1, but only on that one, and it looks like someone else hand writing LMFAO.

I LOVE MY GUITAR!

 

[1allspub]

Yep, definitely a Gloss model. All the SN and paperwork/receipt shenanigans aside, you got yourself a killer Custom! Congrats and HNGD!