What year is the model of your guitar? Ever wanted to know but aren’t quite sure. Well, it’s quite easy to determine using the serial number on your Martin guitar.
Where Do I Find the Serial Number?
On Martin Guitars the serial number is usually located on the heel of the neck inside the soundhole. So you’ll need to look through the soundhole towards the neck.
This may be hard to read so you may need to shine a light in there (flashlight, smartphone etc).
There will usually be 2 numbers in there. The first number (the top number) will be the model number. The second number (the bottom number) will be the serial number.
Once You’ve found Your Serial Number
Once you’ve found your serial number check out the table below. This shows all of the serial numbers of Martin’s guitars since 1898!
The serial number for each year shows the serial number of the last guitar that was built in that year.
So, if your serial number is 240121 for example then your Martin guitar was built in 1968. The number is above 230095 so it was built after 1967 but it’s less than 241925 so it was built before the end of 1968 – so it was built in 1968.
The Martin Guitar Serial Numbers Tables
| Year Built | Last Serial No. of That Year |
| 1898 | 8348 |
| 1899 | 8716 |
| 1900 | 9128 |
| 1901 | 9310 |
| 1902 | 9528 |
| 1903 | 9810 |
| 1904 | 9988 |
| 1905 | 10120 |
| 1906 | 10329 |
| 1907 | 10727 |
| 1908 | 10883 |
| 1909 | 11018 |
| 1910 | 11203 |
| 1911 | 11413 |
| 1912 | 11565 |
| 1913 | 11821 |
| 1914 | 12047 |
| 1915 | 12209 |
| 1916 | 12390 |
| 1917 | 12988 |
| 1918 | 13450 |
| 1919 | 14512 |
| 1920 | 15848 |
| 1921 | 16758 |
| 1922 | 17839 |
| 1923 | 19891 |
| 1924 | 22008 |
| 1925 | 24116 |
| 1926 | 28689 |
| 1927 | 34435 |
| 1928 | 37568 |
| 1929 | 40843 |
| 1930 | 45317 |
| 1931 | 49589 |
| 1932 | 52590 |
| 1933 | 55084 |
| 1934 | 58679 |
| 1935 | 61947 |
| 1936 | 65176 |
| 1937 | 68865 |
| 1938 | 71866 |
| 1939 | 74061 |
| 1940 | 76734 |
| 1941 | 80013 |
| 1942 | 83107 |
| 1943 | 86724 |
| 1944 | 90149 |
| 1945 | 93623 |
| 1946 | 98158 |
| 1947 | 103468 |
| 1948 | 108269 |
| 1949 | 112961 |
| 1950 | 117961 |
| 1951 | 122799 |
| 1952 | 128436 |
| 1953 | 134501 |
| 1954 | 141345 |
| 1955 | 147328 |
| 1956 | 153225 |
| 1957 | 159061 |
| 1958 | 165576 |
| 1959 | 171047 |
| 1960 | 175689 |
| 1961 | 181297 |
| 1962 | 187384 |
| 1963 | 193327 |
| 1964 | 199626 |
| 1965 | 207030 |
| 1966 | 217215 |
| 1967 | 230095 |
| 1968 | 241925 |
| 1969 | 256003 |
| 1970 | 271633 |
| 1971 | 294270 |
| 1972 | 313302 |
| 1973 | 333873 |
| 1974 | 353387 |
| 1975 | 371828 |
| 1976 | 388800 |
| 1977 | 399625 |
| 1978 | 407800 |
| 1979 | 419900 |
| 1980 | 430300 |
| 1981 | 436474 |
| 1982 | 439627 |
| 1983 | 446101 |
| 1984 | 453300 |
| 1985 | 460575 |
| 1986 | 468175 |
| 1987 | 476216 |
| 1988 | 483952 |
| 1989 | 493279 |
| 1990 | 503309 |
| 1991 | 512487 |
| 1992 | 522655 |
| 1993 | 535223 |
| 1994 | 551696 |
| 1995 | 570434 |
| 1996 | 592930 |
| 1997 | 624799 |
| 1998 | 668796 |
| 1999 | 724077 |
| 2000 | 780500 |
| 2001 | 845644 |
| 2002 | 916759* |
| 2003 | 978706 |
| 2004 | 1042558 |
| 2005 | 1115862 |
| 2006 | 1197799 |
| 2007 | 1268091 |
| 2008 | 1337042 |
| 2009 | 1406715 |
| 2010 | 1473461 |
| 2011 | 1555767 |
| 2012 | 1656742 |
| 2013 | 1755536 |
| 2014 | 1857399 |
| 2015 | 1972129 |
See more at: https://www.martinguitar.com/about/martin-story/serial-number-lookup
Exceptions
In 1981 & 1982 the serial numbers 900001 to 902908 were used on Sigma guitars – so these serial numbers aren’t on any Martin guitars. So the serial numbers for Martin Guitars built in 2002 are 845645-900000 and 902909-916759.
Why is the First Number not 1?
The reason the first number isn’t 1 is that the first guitars in production by Martin weren’t numbered like this. But once they started this numbering system they estimated that they had built 8347 guitars before starting the system – so the first one in the system is 8348.
Thanks for reading
I hope this helps you to discover when your Martin guitar was built if you are curious or need to know it for any other reason.
Photo Credit
By Lehigh Valley, PA from Lehigh Valley, PA, USA (C.F. Martin Guitar Co.Uploaded by clusternote) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Howard Childress says
Is there a list of serial numbers for Martin guitars built last year, 2017 ?
Nate says
Hi Howard
Thanks for your message.
I haven’t seen a list for 2017 yet. When I wrote this post (March 2017), they only had up to 2015 on the Martin site – https://www.martinguitar.com/about/martin-story/serial-number-lookup/ – and they have now updated with the 2016 serial numbers. Not sure when they did that exactly, but they do seem to be slow to update them. Probably your best bet is to contact Martin and see if they can send you a list of 2017 serial numbers.