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Martin Guitar Serial Numbers – When Was Your Martin Guitar Built

Last updated: June 29, 2018 by Nate 5 Comments

Martin Guitar Serial NumbersWhat 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

Filed Under: Other

Comments

  1. Howard Childress says

    March 24, 2018 at 9:32 am

    Is there a list of serial numbers for Martin guitars built last year, 2017 ?

    Reply
    • Nate says

      March 24, 2018 at 10:11 am

      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.

      Reply
  2. Karin Ditzler says

    July 23, 2018 at 8:28 pm

    Hi. The number and serial of this Martin is:
    D-28
    246416
    Can you confirm the year of manufacture and
    Did the owner register this guitar?
    Thank you. Kind regards, Karin

    Reply
  3. Laura SIMONE says

    October 6, 2018 at 1:25 pm

    I have a D-18 and cant seem to find a matching serial number so I can date and value it #221439 AND it has double pick guards . Can anyone advise please

    Reply
  4. Larry Watson says

    November 6, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    Hello,
    I have a Martin model LX1E.
    Serial# 285739 Made in Mexico
    Can you tell me when this guitar was made?
    I have not been able to do so on my own.

    Thanks

    Reply

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