- There is no Gibson serial number decoder that can automatically date your pre-1977 Gibson, although after this time, the currently used eight digit system ha been used. Not only can it tell the date, but also the place of production. These details are encoded unambiguosly into the serial number as follows.
- Electric Guitars built at the Gibson USA plant in Nashville are ranked from 500-999. Prior to 1984, the numbers 001-499 show Kalamazoo production, 500-999 show Nashville production. The serial numbers from the Custom, Art, and Historic division vary depending on the line.
- Gibson Serial Numbers - 1977 to Present. Dating a Gibson Electric or Acoustic Guitar. The following information applies to Gibson USA Guitars From 1977 to Pr.
- 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, serial numbers sometimes do little to shed light on the origin of a mysterious Gibson.
- Gibson Les Paul Custom Serial Number Lookup
- Gibson Serial Lookup Pre 1977 Vintage
- Gibson Custom Serial Lookup
- Les Paul Gibson Serial Number Lookup
- Vintage Gibson Serial Lookup Guitar
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.
Continued to use the 6 digit serial numbers through 1978 and 1979. So double check the serial numbers on those 1970s L-5s, Super 400s, and Super 5 BJBs! Gibson's F O N System In addition to the above serial number information, Gibson also used Factory Order Numbers (F O N) to track batches of instruments being produced at the time. DATING GIBSON GUITARS BY REFERENCE OF SERIAL NUMBERS. Gibson has used various methods of numbering from 1900, so it is not simply based on the serial number to identify the year of manufacture. From 1902 to 1976, Gibson instruments have a serial number or a FON (Factory Order Number) or both.
FON’s
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).
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 Identifiers
There are some other ways you can get an idea of the age of your Gibson.
Logo
Gibson’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 USA
From 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 Features
You 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 Numbers
O.k. so why discuss all these other aspects, when this post is supposed to be about serial numbers!
Gibson Les Paul Custom Serial Number Lookup
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.
1902-1947
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.
Year | Last Aprox Serial # |
1903 | 1150 |
1904 | 1850 |
1905 | 2550 |
1906 | 3350 |
1907 | 4250 |
1908 | 5450 |
1909 | 6950 |
1910 | 8750 |
1911 | 10850 |
1912 | 13350 |
1913 | 16100 |
1914 | 20150 |
1915 | 25150 |
1916 | 32000 |
1917 | 39500 |
1918 | 47900 |
1919 | 53800 |
1920 | 62200 |
1921 | 69300 |
1922 | 71400 |
1923 | 74900 |
1924 | 80300 |
1925 | 82700 |
1926 | 83600 |
1927 | 85400 |
1928 | 87300 |
1929 | 89750 |
1930 | 90200 |
1931 | 90450 |
1932 | 90700 |
1933 | 91400 |
1934 | 92300 |
1935 | 92800 |
1936 | 94100 |
1937 | 95200 |
1938 | 95750 |
1939 | 96050 |
1940 | 96600 |
1941 | 97400 |
1942 | 97700 |
1943 | 97850 |
1944 | 98250 |
1945 | 98650 |
1946 | 99300 |
1947 | 99999 |
1947 to 1961
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.
Year | Last Aprox Serial # |
1947 | A 1305 |
1948 | A 2665 |
1949 | A 4410 |
1950 | A 6596 |
1951 | A 9420 |
1952 | A 12460 |
1953 | A 17435 |
1954 | A 18665 |
1955 | A 21910 |
1956 | A 24755 |
1957 | A 26820 |
1958 | A 28880 |
1959 | A 32285 |
1960 | A 34645 |
1961 | A 36147 |
Gibson Serial Lookup Pre 1977 Vintage
1961 to 1970
A 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.
Year | Aprox Serial # Range |
1961 | 100-42440 |
1962 | 42441-61180 |
1963 | 61450-64220 |
1964 | 64240-70500 |
1962 | 71180-96600 |
1963 | 96601-99999 |
1967 | 000001-008010 |
1967 | 010000-042900 |
1967 | 044000-044100 |
1967 | 050000-054400 |
1967 | 055000-063999 |
1967 | 064000-066010 |
1967 | 0670000-070910 |
1967 | 090000-099999 |
1963, 1967 | 100000-106099 |
1963 | 106100-108900 |
1963, 1967 | 1090000-109999 |
1963 | 110000-111549 |
1963, 1967 | 111550-115799 |
1963 | 115800-118299 |
1963, 1967 | 118300-120999 |
1963 | 121000-139999 |
1963, 1967 | 140000-140100 |
1963 | 140101-144304 |
1964 | 144305-144380 |
1963 | 144381-145000 |
1963 | 147009-149864 |
1964 | 149865-149891 |
1963 | 149892-152989 |
1964 | 152990-174222 |
1964, 1965 | 174223-176643 |
1964 | 176644-199999 |
1964 | 200000-250335 |
1965 | 250336-291000 |
1965 | 301755-302100 |
1965 | 302754-305983 |
1965, 1967 | 306000-306100 |
1965, 1967 | 307000-307985 |
1965, 1967 | 309848-310999 |
1965 | 311000-320149 |
1967 | 320150-320699 |
1965 | 320700-321100 |
1965 | 322000-326600 |
1965 | 328000-328500 |
1965 | 328700-329179 |
1965, 1967 | 329180-330199 |
1965, 1967-68 | 330200-332240 |
1965 | 332241-327090 |
1965 | 348000-348092 |
1966 | 348093-349100 |
1965 | 349121-368638 |
1966 | 368640-369890 |
1967 | 370000-370999 |
1966 | 380000-385309 |
1967 | 390000-390998 |
1965-68 | 400001-400999 |
1966 | 401000-407985 |
1966 | 408000-408690 |
1966 | 408800-409250 |
1966 | 420000-426090 |
1966 | 427000-429180 |
1966 | 430005-438530 |
1966 | 438800-438925 |
1965-66, 1968-69 | 500000-500999 |
1965 | 501010-501600 |
1968 | 501601-501702 |
1965, 1968 | 501703-502706 |
1968 | 503010-503110 |
1965, 1968 | 503405-520955 |
1968 | 520956-530056 |
1966, 1968-69 | 530061-530850 |
1968-69 | 530851-530993 |
1969 | 530994-539999 |
1966, 1969 | 540000-540795 |
1969 | 540796-545009 |
1966 | 550000-556910 |
1969 | 558012-567400 |
1966 | 570099-570755 |
1969 | 580000-580999 |
1966-69 | 600000-600999 |
1969 | 601000-601090 |
1969 | 605901-606090 |
1966-67 | 700000-700799 |
1968-69 | 750000-750999 |
1966-69 | 800000-800999 |
1966, 1969 | 801000-812838 |
1969 | 812900-814999 |
1969 | 817000-819999 |
1966, 1969 | 820000-820087 |
1966 | 820088-823830 |
1969 | 824000-824999 |
1966, 1969 | 828002-847488 |
1966 | 847499-858999 |
1967 | 859001-880089 |
1967 | 893401-895038 |
1968 | 895039-896999 |
1967 | 897000-898999 |
1968 | 899000-899999 |
1968 | 900000-902250 |
1968 | 903000-920899 |
1968 | 940000-941009 |
1968 | 942001-943000 |
1968 | 945000-945450 |
1968 | 947415-956000 |
1968 | 959000-960909 |
1968 | 970000-972864 |
1970 to 1975
It 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. 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.
Number | Year |
0XXXXX | 1973 |
1XXXXX | 1970-1975 |
2XXXXX | 1973-1975 |
3XXXXX | 1974-1975 |
4XXXXX | 1974-1975 |
5XXXXX | 1974-1975 |
6XXXXX | 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 |
7XXXXX | 1970, 1971, 1972 |
8XXXXX | 1973, 1974, 1975 |
9XXXXX | 1970, 1971, 1972 |
Some serial numbers also used a letter (just because?)
NUMBER | YEAR |
XXXXXX + A | 1970 |
A + XXXXXX | 1973, 1974, 1975 |
B + XXXXXX | 1974, 1975 |
C + XXXXXX | 1974, 1975 |
D + XXXXXX | 1974, 1975 |
E + XXXXXX | 1974, 1975 |
F + XXXXXX | 1974, 1975 |
1975 to 1977
Thing 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!
Serial # | Year |
99XXXXXX | 1975 |
00XXXXXX | 1976 |
06XXXXXX | 1977 |
1977 to Present
Finally, in 1977 a much more logical serial number system was introduced.
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This is an 8 digit system and follows the format YDDDYPPP.
- The YY represent the year the guitar was made
- The DDD is the day of the year that the guitar was made
- The PPP represents the factory the guitar was made in and the number of production
So, for example, let’s take the serial number 80351045.
- This guitar was built in 1981 – 80351045 – remember in the format that the year is the 1st and 5th
- This guitar was built on the 35th day of the year – so this would have been February 4th – 80351045
- This guitar was built in the Kalamazoo factory and it was the 45th instrument stamped that day.
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 – 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 – so the first guitar produced that day would have the production number 300.
Gibson Custom Serial Lookup
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 doesn’t 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
Les Paul Gibson Serial Number Lookup
I hope this helped you to decipher your (often complicated) Gibson serial number.
Vintage Gibson Serial Lookup Guitar
Photo Credit
By Henry Zbyszynski from Cambridge, USA (P1060339) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons