Martin Guitar Serial Numbers – When Was Your Martin Guitar Built

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.

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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