In 1991, they reused an “E1” serial number. At this point, they decided to start corresponding the serial number with the actual year, so in 1990 they used an “E0” serial number. An “E2” serial number was then used for 1989 since it was the second year of production. They used a “1” because it was the first year of production. The first year Young Chang produced guitars with in 1987-1988, but they didn’t use a “7” or an “8” as the first number. It does stand for the year of production in a way. The first number on the “E” serial numbers is a little confusing. The Young Chang and Sung-Eum guitars used a serial number starting with an “E” followed by six digits.

Usually the first digit represented the year of production. Guitars produced by Samick used a serial number starting with an “S” followed by six digits. There you have it! There are many exceptions, and of course many other brands out there, but now you can tell how old most Fenders or Gibsons are within seconds.What we do know about the early Korean days was that there were three different plants: the Samick pant, the Young Chang plant, and the Sung-Eum plant. A serial number ending in 501 could be the first instrument made at factory #5 that day, or it could be the 501 st instrument of the day.

The remaining characters (RRR) can indicate the order of instruments created that day, as well as which factory the instrument was made in.

00027xxx for the 2 nd day of the year of 2007 (January 2, 2007).

Gibsons have this pattern stamped onto the back of their headstocks: YDDDYRRR.

Gibson serial numbers are even more interesting, because you can find out the specific date that your instrument was completed! Here's how:.

Shop our selection of Fender Guitars Gibson Serial Dating

Serial number coding for Mexican-made instruments is largely the same, except they will start with an M.

The remaining digits are important for product identification, but the first few characters are all you need to determine the instruments age.

The second character will usually be a number.

For US instruments, the serial number will start with a letter.

Serial dating is easiest for instruments made in the USA or Mexico, but is also possible for those made in Japan, Korea, China, and Indonesia.

First, narrow it down by the country of origin.

Here's a brief rundown of how to do it, plus resources for more information. Well, good news it's very easy to figure out the age of Fender and Gibson instruments from the last 30 years. How Old Is My Guitar? Use the Serial Number!Įver wonder exactly when your favorite guitar was made? You sort of remember when you got it, but you want to really know its history, especially if you're not the first owner.

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