Gibson Guitar Serial Numbers: What Can They Tell You?

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 FONs and things such as logo designs.

Table of Contents

• FONs
• Other Identifiers
  • Logo
  • Made in USA
  • Other Features
• Gibson Guitar Serial Numbers Lookup Table
  • 1902-1947
  • 1947 to 1961
  • 1961 to 1970
  • 1970 to 1975
  • 1975 to 1977
  • 1977 to Present
    • Factories
• Exceptions
• Thanks for Reading
• FAQs Gibson Guitar Serial Numbers

FONs

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).

FONs (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.

FONs were used from 1902 to 1961.

Other Identifiers

But, there are some other ways you can get a glance of an Gibson acoustic guitar history, as well as 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.
• Parts: Things such as Gibson’s automatic tuning system, capstans and 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.

Gibson Guitar Serial Numbers Lookup Table

OK. So, why discuss all these other aspects when this post is supposed to be about Gibson serial numbers?

Good question! And the answer is simple – 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.

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 Gibson 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.

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.

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.

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.

Some serial numbers also used a letter (just because?)

1975 to 1977

The thing gets 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!

Here’s Gibson serial number lookup from 1975:

1977 to Present

Finally, in 1977 a much more logical serial number system was introduced.

This is an 8 digit system and follows the format YDDDYPPP.

• The YY represents 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 1^st and 5^th
• This guitar was built on the 35^th day of the year, so this would have been February 4^th – 80351045
• This guitar was built in the Kalamazoo factory and it was the 45^th 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 25^th, 1987. and the 56^th 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.

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.

• How To Verify Authentic Gibson Serial Numbers
• How to Date a Gibson Using Serial Numbers and FONs
• The Guitar Dater Project

Thanks for Reading

I hope this helped you to decipher your (often complicated) Gibson serial number.

Gibson guitars on my blog:

• Gibson Firebird Reverse Review
• Gibson Maestro Review

FAQs Gibson Guitar Serial Numbers

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