Dating Gibson Guitars

1902 - 1947

The Early Years

In the first 45 years of production the number system was pretty cut and dry. Unfortunately not all instruments were numbered and not all followed the number pattern so all dates are approximate. It's best when trying to evalute a collectible to contact Gibson for further information that is not as easily available.

Production Year	Serial #'s	Production Year	Serial #'s
1902-1903	100 - 1150	1926	83600
1904	1151 - 1850	1927	83601 - 85400
1905	1851 - 2550	1928	85401 - 87300
1906	2551 - 3350	1929	87301 - 89750
1907	3351 - 4250	1930	89751 - 90200
1908	4251 - 5450	1931	90201 - 90450
1909	5451 - 6950	1932	90451 - 90700
1910	6951 - 8750	1933	90701 - 91400
1911	8751 - 10850	1934	91401 - 92300
1912	10851 - 13350	1935	92301 - 92800
1913	13351 - 16100	1936	92801 - 94100
1914	16101 - 20150	1937	94101 - 95200
1915	20151 - 25150	1938	95201 - 95750
1916	25151 - 32000	1939	95751 - 96050
1917	32001 - 39500	1940	96051 - 96600
1918	39501 - 47900	1941	96601 - 97400
1919	47901 - 53800	1942	97401 - 97700
1920	53801 - 62200	1943	97701 - 97850
1921	62201 - 69300	1944	97851 - 98250
1922	69301 - 71400	1945	98251 - 98650
1923	71401 - 74900	1946	98651 - 99300
1924	74901 - 80300	1947	99301 - 99999
1925	80301 - 82700

1947 - 1961

Acoustics and Semi Hollow

in 1947 Gibson changed the serial number pattern and in 1954 went from white labels to orange labels. Since all the instruments using this serial number pattern were acoustic or semi-hollow the labels were located inside the instrument body.

Production Year	Serial #s	Production Year	Serial #s
1947	A100 - A1305	1955	A18665 - A21910
1948	A1306 - A2665	1956	A21911 - A24755
1949	A2666 - A4410	1957	A24756 - A26820
1950	A4411 - A6595	1958	A26821 - A28880
1951	A6596 - A9420	1959	A28881 - A32285
1952	A9421 - A12460	1960	A32286 - A35645
1953	A12461 - A17435	1961	A35646 - A36150
1954	A17436 - A18665

1953 - 1961

Solid Body Electrics

Gibson introduced a new pattern when they began producing solid body guitars. An ink stamp on the back of the headstock which included either 5 or 6 digits. The first digit is the year and the other numbers are production numbers. This system is fairly reliable for guitars made from 1953 to 1961.

Example: 3 0602 = 1953

Note:
Some of the earliest solid body guitars made in 1952 did not follow the new system and may have only 3 digits and are stamped on the headstock top.

1961 - 1969

All Instruments

A new system was put in place in 1961 which was set up to include all the Gibson instrument lines. This new system had the numbers pressed into the wood. The system was used from 1961 to 1969 and had many problems that resulted in duplicated batch numbers so the numbers from those years are approximate and exact dates are hard to come by. If the instrument has original electronics some dating can be verified by pot numbers.

Production Year	Serial # Range	Production Year	Serial # Range
1961	100-42440	1965	320700-321100
1962	42441-61180	1965	322000-326600
1963	61450-64220	1965	328000-328500
1964	64240-70500	1965	328700-329179
1962	71180-96600	1965, 1967	329180-330199
1963	96601-99999	1965, 1967, 1968	330200-332240
1967	000001-008010	1965	332241-347090
1967	010000-042900	1965	348000-348092
1967	044000-044100	1966	348093-349100
1967	050000-054400	1965	349121-368638
1967	055000-063999	1966	368640-369890
1967	064000-066010	1967	370000-370999
1967	067000-070910	1966	380000-385309
1967	090000-099999	1967	390000-390998
1963, 1967	100000-106099	1965, 1966, 1967, 1968	400001-400999
1963	106100-108900	1966	401000-407985
1963, 1967	109000-109999	1966	408000-408690
1963	110000-111549	1966	408800-409250
1963, 1967	111550-115799	1966	420000-426090
1963	115800-118299	1966	427000-429180
1963, 1967	118300-120999	1966	430005-438530
1963	121000-139999	1966	438800-438925
1963, 1967	140000-140100	1965, 1966, 1968, 1969	500000-500999
1963	140101-144304	1965	501010-501600
1964	144305-144380	1968	501601-501702
1963	144381-145000	1965, 1968	501703-502706
1963	147009-149864	1968	503010-503110
1964	149865-149891	1965, 1968	503405-520955
1963	149892-152989	1968	520956-530056
1964	152990-174222	1966, 1968, 1969	530061-530850
1964, 1965	174223-176643	1968, 1969	530851-530993
1964	176644-199999	1969	530994-539999
1964	200000-250335	1966, 1969	540000-540795
1965	250336-291000	1969	540796-545009
1965	301755-302100	1966	550000-556910
1965	302754-305983	1969	558012-567400
1965, 1967	306000-306100	1966	570099-570755
1965, 1967	307000-307985	1969	580000-580999
1965, 1967	309848-310999	1966, 1967, 1968, 1969	600000-600999
1965	311000-320149	1969	601000-601090
1967	320150-320699	1969	605901-606090
1966, 1967	700000-700799	1967	893401-895038
1968, 1969	750000-750999	1968	895039-896999
1966, 1967, 1968, 1969	800000-800999	1967	897000-898999
1966, 1969	801000-812838	1968	899000-899999
1969	812900-814999	1968	900000-902250
1969	817000-819999	1968	903000-920899
1966, 1969	820000-820087	1968	940000-941009
1966	820088-823830	1968	942001-943000
1969	824000-824999	1968	945000-945450
1966, 1969	828002-847488	1968	947415-956000
1966	847499-858999	1968	959000-960909
1967	859001-880089	1968	970000-972864

1970 - 1975

All Instruments

Once again the system was modified in 1970 to a six digit number pressed into the back of the headstock. Unfortunately, the numbers were in no particular order. Some numbers also had a prefix. 1970 also saw the end of the orange labels on the inside of hollowbodies and acoustics. New white and orange rectangular labels were designed for acoustics and smaller black/purple and white labels for hollow body electrics.

Also starting 1970 "Made In USA" was impressed into the headstock (although a few from the '50s had this).

Production Year	Serial # Approximation
1970, 1971, and 1972	100000s, 600000s, 700000s, 900000s
1973	000001s, 100000s, 200000s, 800000s and a few “A” + 6 digit numbers
1974 and 1975	100000s, 200000s, 300000s, 400000s,500000s, 600000s, 800000s and a few A-B-C-D-E-F + 6 digit numbers

1975 - 1977

All Instruments

From 1975-1976 a transfer was used for the serial numbers. The transfer contained an eight digit serial number as well as "MADE IN USA". Also some models were marked as "LIMITED EDITION". There also were some bolt on models with a date ink stamped on the heel.

1977 - Present

All Instruments

Gibson introduced the current system of serialization in 1977 and continues with it today. The pattern is as follows:

    YDDDYPPP
    YY is the production year
    DDD is the day of the year
    PPP is the plant designation and/or instrument rank.

Plant designations are as follows:
001-499 = Kalamazoo
500-999 = Nashville (300-999 from 1990-present)
001-299 = Bozeman, Montana (acoustics only starting 1989)
* Kalamazoo numbers were discontinued in 1984.

Gibson's F O N System

In the early years Gibson also used Factory Order Numbers (F O N) to track batches of instruments being produced at the time.

For information on FON numbers a copy of The Blue Book of Electric Guitars by Zachary R. Fjestad should be obtained.

For the most accurate identification contact Gibson.