#GIBSON CUSTOM SHOP SERIAL NUMBERS 2007 SERIAL NUMBER#
#GIBSON CUSTOM SHOP SERIAL NUMBERS 2007 SERIES#

With consumers and collectors as attentive as GibsonРІР‚в„ўs, even miniscule changes in design and manufacturing can translate into a chorus of ringing phones in GibsonРІР‚в„ўs Customer Service department.

#GIBSON CUSTOM SHOP SERIAL NUMBERS 2007 SERIAL NUMBER#

РІР‚СљWe were getting close to having so many guitars come through the factory that the serial number would probably lapse in a day and then start repeating itself so we added that extra digit.РІР‚Сњ РІР‚СљWe added another digit to reflect the batch of the day,РІР‚Сњ says Gibson USA Support Coordinator Eric Marlow. To combat the problem, the company upped its serial number sequence last year from eight digits to nine. Today, Gibson USA takes great pains not to recycle serial numbers. The ship date can help us, but if itРІР‚в„ўs a weird serial number, weРІР‚в„ўll ask for photos.РІР‚Сњ РІР‚СљSometimes IРІР‚в„ўll literally pull up 10 guitars, and five of them will be so similar youРІР‚в„ўre not going to know what the customer has. To illustrate his point, Davidson types in a serial number from memory and it quickly pulls up three different guitars-an SG, a Steinberger, and a Les Paul. Serial numbers can pull up multiple guitars from multiple years.РІР‚Сњ РІР‚СљA lot of people think you can just dump these formats into a database where you can pull up the date, but thereРІР‚в„ўs so much more to it. РІР‚СљIt doesnРІР‚в„ўt always date the guitar,РІР‚Сњ says Davidson. РІР‚СљWe make sure all the guys have a copy of GruhnРІР‚в„ўs Guide.РІР‚СњР”Вavidson also recommends the Blue Book of Electric Guitars.Р”Р„nother resource for IDing and dating guitars is GibsonРІР‚в„ўs computer database, which catalogues scores of serial numbers from 1987 on through the present. РІР‚СљAt least a quarter of the calls that GibsonРІР‚в„ўs Customer Service team gets are related to the dating and IDing of guitars,РІР‚Сњ Davidson says. When faced with a question about a guitarРІР‚в„ўs date, Davidson most always refers to his beyond-dogeared copy of GruhnРІР‚в„ўs Guide to Vintage Guitars. Even then, there may be four other guitars-of all different models-with the same number sequence. It can take Davidson several hours to locate a specific serial number, if he can find it at all. The earliest volumes contain hundreds of yellowed pages covered front and back with rows of handwritten numbers. With vintage Gibsons selling at auction for as much as half a million dollars, Davidson will sometimes roll up his sleeves and poke around in the ledgers, but only as time allows. Inside a locked closet just outside DavidsonРІР‚в„ўs office are some of GibsonРІР‚в„ўs most enduring written materials-shipping records dating from 1936 to 1970. ThatРІР‚в„ўs not the only bit of history transplanted from Kalamazoo to GibsonРІР‚в„ўs Nashville, Tennessee headquarters. In line with GibsonРІР‚в„ўs adherence to tradition, the guitars that come through GibsonРІР‚в„ўs USA plant are impressed with a serial number from the original stamp used at GibsonРІР‚в„ўs early Kalamazoo, Michigan plant. Gibson has had so many different schemes over the years, and now weРІР‚в„ўre using reissue serial numbers that look like the old serial numbers.РІР‚Сњ РІР‚СљSome can tell you a lot about a guitar, and some donРІР‚в„ўt really tell you anything. РІР‚СљSerial numbers can be extremely tricky,РІР‚Сњ says Gibson Customer Service Manager Jason Davidson, whose team fields calls and emails regarding every Gibson division. But, with more than 75 years of shipping records in the Gibson books, and dozens of variations on numerical schemes used over the years, serial numbers sometimes do little to shed light on the origin of a mysterious Gibson.

#GIBSON CUSTOM SHOP SERIAL NUMBERS 2007 SERIES#

ThatРІР‚в„ўs where your Gibson serial numbers come in handy.Like a fingerprint or a social security number, the series of digits inked or impressed on the back of a Gibson headstock can go a long way toward identifying a guitar. Since this is the largest timespan for a Gibson logo, identifying which decade it came from can be a challenge. You can find this version in both gold and silver, some with a dot above the I and others without. You can usually find this version in the middle of the headstock.Р”Р‡inally, Gibson redesigned their logo to the one you know today after 1947. Guitars made in 1943 to 1947 feature a banner logo in thick, gold lettering that utilizes a similar typeface from previous eras. Suddenly, Gibson rebranded itself with the phrase РІР‚СљOnly a Gibson Is Good EnoughРІР‚Сњ and a new, golden logo. The font during this timespan is thicker, replaces the dot above the I in some variants, and looks more hand-written than any other logo. The logo now just read РІР‚СљGibson,РІР‚Сњ removing the article above it from the company name. The next era of Gibson guitars takes place from 1933 to 1947. Several flattop guitars during this period only featured the word РІР‚СљGibsonРІР‚Сњ to save space. These logos are written in thin italics, lacking the pearl inlay from decades prior. From 1920 to 1933, Gibson shifted the logo similar to its current tilt and removed the dot above the letter I.

Gibson custom shop serial numbers 2007