Guitar Serial Number Decoders: You can identify your guitar’s year of manufacture (and place) by the instrument’s serial number alone. Here’s how to understand the serial numbers on guitars for different brands. Learn a bit more about your guitar.
In most cases, serial numbers cab help determine the production year of a guitar. Using the serial number decoder, production year and location of several guitar brands can be traced. However, if there’s no serial number or if its poorly printed (unable to read), the electronic components can offer some clue about the guitar.
This information will help you find out what model guitars where made at which factories, approximate quality of factory craftsmanship and in the case of OEM’s, who do they make guitars for.
How to Determine the Model in Gibson & Epiphone Guitars
How to determine the model in case of Gibson & Epiphone Guitars.
Epiphone & Gibson can have identical looking guitars, with the a Custom & Standard models only having some minor differences such as having a small tag near the strings, and so on.
So assuming you have a guitar, is there any easier way to determine what model it is?
- Typically all Epiphones (and Gibsons as well) only have the name on the top of the headstock.
- Epiphones and Gibsons have slightly different headstock shapes
- In the case of Epiphones, barring the brand new ones, the truss rod cover on the guitar will say ‘gibson’. The newer ones say if its a Custom, Standard, or Studio.
- If it says Epiphone on the top than that’s what it is.
And how about the difference between Standard, Studio & Custom Guitars? The best way to determine the model is to look at the appointments on the guitar.
- In case of Studios, usually you will see no binding on the neck or body.
- Standards have trapazoid inlays and binding on the neck and body.
- Customs have a ‘Diamond’ shape on the headstock in some sort of pearl inlay, block inlays including one on the first fret, and multi-ply binding on the body on the front and back of it.
Also Read:
DATING GUITARS BY REFERENCE OF SERIAL NUMBERS
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