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The Dove cost approximately 35 percent more than the Hummingbird and filled the price slot between it and the top-of-the-line J-200By 1965 the Hummingbird had been relegated to number five in the Gibson lineup, according to price, behind the J-200, Dove, Heritage, and Everly Brothers guitars. In 2016, Gibson produced a limited number of 'Hummingbird Dark' guitars which are slightly thinner than a standard Hummingbird, use a black translucent finish, a red-filled pickguard, and carry the signature of country artist Eric Church. Hummingbird Silver Burst. In 2007, Gibson produced a small batch of silver burst Hummingbird. Body had same rounded shape as the Gibson L-1 and L-3. Most Nick Lucas guitars have serial numbers indicating 1928 or 1929 - date guitar by spec not by serial number. Late 1928 Gibson Nick Lucas guitar specs: By the end of 1928 the peghead 'The Gibson' logo was inlaid in pearl. Also the pyramid bridge changed and the sound hole perfing changed. Jul 16, 2007 Gibson Serial Number Information; Corrections and additions to this section will be made as necessary. Gibson USA, Gibson Acoustic, Gibson Memphis From 1975-1977 the number is typically found on a decal on the back of the headstock. This should be an 8 digit number that can be dated by the 1st and 2nd digits as follows: 99 = 1975 00= 1976 06.

1. Guitar Serial Number Lookup
2. Gibson Hummingbird Serial Number Lookup Number
3. Gibson Guitar Serial Numbers And Value
4. Gibson Serial Number Dating
5. Gibson Hummingbird Serial Number Lookup Numbers
6. Ipad Serial Number Lookup

Did you know that you can use Epiphone serial numbers to discover the age of your guitar? In this guide, we’ll give you the basics on how it works so that you can learn if you have a vintage gem that’s worth a fortune.

How To Use Epiphone Serial Numbers To Date Your Guitar

If you have a vintage Epiphone or Gibson guitar, you could be sitting on a gold mine. Many older models have a rich history, and better than that, they could be worth a lot of money.

If you can’t make it to an antique shop with a certified professional who can date your guitar, you can still determine its age by using the Epiphone serial number. That information is extremely helpful if you’re trying to determine its value or if you’re looking to sell your instrument.

In this guide, we’ll give you the basics on how the numbers work and resources to help you determine the age and origin of your guitar.

To understand the significance of the Epiphone serial number, we first need to look at how their company historyintertwines with that of Gibson.

Epiphone started as a family business in 1873 as a luxury banjo manufacturer. In the 1930’s, they switched up their business model and began producing high-end guitars, and became the only manufacturer to successfully make the transition.

They grew in popularity and by the 1950’s, became Gibson’s main rival. In 1957, the Chicago Musical Instrument Company (CMI) acquired Epiphone. As they already owned Gibson, this merge brought the two powerful brand names under one umbrella.

In 1969, a second purchase occurred. Norlin acquired CMI and moved all of the production of Epiphone to Japan and subsequently to Korea.

During each of these transitions, there were also changes made to how the instruments were labeled, which is part of the reason why the serial number identification process is so confusing. For example, after 1969, it’s unlikely your guitar would have a label saying it was made overseas, but you might have a seven-digit serial number that could tell that story.

When trying to date your vintage Epiphone or Gibson instrument, the most accurate way to do it is by decoding the serial number. Because there aren’t any factory ledgers prior to the 1980’s for Epiphone, these stamps will give you the closest approximation to their manufacturing date.

Particularly with older models, the serial number may not be enough to trace the guitar’s origins. Because there is not a single, central database for any of the models manufactured prior to 1977, you have to dig deep into the code to figure out from where and when it originated.

In fact, at Gibson’s customer service line, they report that at least a quarter of the calls they receive daily are from people trying to date their guitar.

If it was manufactured after 1977, the process is easy. If not, they, like the rest of us, refer to Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars to try to begin the process.

Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars

• Used Book in Good Condition
• Carter, Walter (Author)
• English (Publication Language)

A serial number not only confirms the authenticity of your guitar but can impact the value. If, for example, you have a Gibson Explorer that was made from 1958 to 1959, you have one of the few models produced in that period.

In general, rare guitars are worth more money, and that particular model is valued at between $250,000 and $310,000.

Today, it’s simple to use the serial number on your Gibson to date your guitar. If it was manufactured after 1977, the build date is included in the sequence.

The first and fifth number signifies the year it was built, and the second, third, and fourth are the day of the year.

For example, if the first five digits of your eight-digit serial number are 01545, then you know that the guitar was made on the 154th day of the year in 2005.

The sixth number in the modern sequence will tell you the batch, and the last three indicate the rolling production number.

Unfortunately, prior to the system instituted in 1977, the process is anything but simple to decipher.

There are entire books written on how to decipher your Epiphone serial number sequence, but here we will outline the basics of what you need to know based on year ranges that have commonalities.

In the first two years, 1932 and 1933, Epiphone die-stamped the serial number on the inside of the back of their instruments. If you look through the “F” hole on the bass side, you will see it positioned below the label.

Beginning in 1934, they moved the placement directly onto the label itself.

This sequence begins in 1932 with the number 5000, and the last documented serial number in this series is 20142.

When Epiphone launched the Electar line in 1935, they also began using a new system for serial numbers on their electric instruments.

You’ll find them die stamped on the top rear of the peghead, and they are a sequence of between three and five numbers.

They range from 001 in 1935, to 9999 in 1945.

In 1944, there were some shakeups inside of Epiphone which resulted in the creation of a new numbering system. Most significantly, Epi died, and his widow gave up her shares which opened the door to a financial restructuring of the company.

At the same time, the new shareholders decided to change some of their production methods which had a direct impact on their inventory. This, in turn, affected the numbering scheme.

Guitar Serial Number Lookup

The new serials began at 50,000 in 1944 and ended at 59,999 in 1950.

This is one of the many spans of time where there is a significant amount of grey area around dating the serial number on your instrument.

We know that from 1944 to 1950, the manufacturer introduced a two-digit prefix in front of the actual three-digit production number of all of its electric models. However, there is no data that tells us how many guitars were made each year, which makes it impossible to pinpoint an estimated date the instrument was manufactured.

On these models, you’ll locate the impressed serial number on the back side of the top of the peghead.

In 1951, Epiphone transitioned their electric models to the same five-digit numbering scheme as their acoustic models. Beginning with 60000 in 1951, and ending with the last known New-York made model, the Epi Zephyr, number 69637.

After Epiphone and Gibson merged under the same umbrella, Gibson started following their lead and placing serial numbers on their guitars.

During this time period, they ink stamped the digits on the back of the peghead and used the last number of the year as the first number in the serial sequence on their solid body models.

For example, in 1958, the first digit in the serial number is 8. In 1960, the first number was 0.

From 1958 to 1961, Gibson branded guitars used a different numbering series than Epiphone. You know it’s a Gibson if there is the letter “A” preceding the serial number found on the label of a hollow body model.

Beginning with A1000 in 1958, this series goes to A4999 in 1961.

In 1961, all of the guitars produced that were not part of the A-Series by both Gibson and Epiphone followed the same serial number series.

The manufacturers stamped it on the top backside of the peghead. They also removed text that read “Made in the USA” during this years because some of the components were created overseas.

The sequence begins with serial number 0100 in 1961, and by 1967, the six-digit code emerges. During that year, all started with the number zero, and by 1968 the companies were up to 999999.

Notably, from 1966 to 1968, they made an adjustment to differentiate between the low and high-end models. In that span, guitars numbered between 600000 to 600998 were lower quality. Then, in 1969, they changed things up and used the sequence 600000 to 606090 to denote the more expensive, high-end guitars.

There are many variations of serial numbers, and it can sometimes be difficult to decipher the code.

In addition to Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, which is considered the ultimate reference point for guitar enthusiasts, there are a few additional resources that can help.

In the Gibson forums, their support staff has broken down all of the possibilities for you and tried to help make sense of it. They share the four distinct formats, as well as a full list of factory later and number codes, and special designations found on the Les Paul models.

Gibson Hummingbird Serial Number Lookup Number

Before collectibility and value can be determined about a Gibson guitar (and before you emailme asking, 'what kind of Gibson guitar do I have?'),several things need to be identified:

Gibson Guitar Serial Numbers And Value

1. The type of guitar (flattop, archtop, solidbody, lapsteel, etc).
2. The exact model within the type.
3. The year it was made (or approximate year/era).
4. Oringinality (have any of the parts been changed or modified?).

First Determine the Type of Guitar and the Model.
Sometimes there is a tag inside the guitar stating the 'style' or model.If the model is hollow, look on the inside for any tags and madenote of any ink stamps (sometimes the model is ink stamped inside the guitar).But unfortunately, especially on the low to mid line models,usually there is NO tag or label inside the guitar specifying what it is.If this is the case, start at the beginning and first determine whattype of guitar you have.These are several different types of Gibson guitars made.Once this is known, go directly to the section aboutthat type (listed in the blue table of contents text above),and look at the model pictures and descriptions that matches your guitar.

Here are the general types of Gibson guitars:

• Electric Solid body Gibsons: body is a solid piece of wood(no soundhole or cutouts), 1.5' to 2' thick, pickups and knobs routed into the top of the guitar.
• Flattop Acoustic Gibsons: single round sound hole under the strings, body 3.5' to 4.5' thick with a flat top, usually not electric(but often owners add a sort of bolt-on electric assembly).
• Acoustic Archtop Gibsons: two 'f' hole stylesound holes cut in the top, body 3' to 4.5' thick, slightly arched top, acoustic with no pickups (but sometimes these models have bolt-on electic assembly added later by players).
• Electric Archtop Gibsons: same as above ('f' holes, arch top)but the factory installed electric pickups into the guitar with volume/tone knob(s).
• Electric Thinline Archtop Gibsons: same as above (electricwith two 'f' holes in the top), but the body is thinner at 1.5' to 2' thick. These are always electric from the factory.
• Electric Lapsteel Gibson: a small solidbody guitar (no cutoutsor sound holes) that is playedin the lap, Hawaiian style, with a metal slide bar, pickup and knob routed into the top.

Once the type of guitar is determined, figuring out the exact model isMUCH easier! (just go to one of the above six linked webpages that describes your guitar, and compare each model specs to your guitar, until you find the one that matches).

Gibson Serial Number Dating

Next Determine the Year or Approximate Year.
Gibson guitars usually have a FON (Factory Order Number), a serial number, or both(but sometimes neither!) Various serial number systems were used by Gibson,and often the same serial number could be used in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.See the serial number/FON section for details.Duplicate or no serial/FON number doesn't make things easy, but there are other traits that allow theserial number to make sense (see the General Specs sectionfor more details). Also mid to top end instruments usually have a label insidethe guitar with the serial number. Guitars with no label are usually lower end instruments(or are a solidbody guitar!)

Probably the first thing when trying to determine the year on an old Gibsonis whether the guitar was made 'pre-WW2', during WW2, or 'post-WW2'. This is easy to do, as Gibsonused different peghead logos for pre-WW2, 'wartime', and post-WW2 (see the General Specs section for more details). Knowing the general era of the Gibson guitar will make Gibson's rather complicatedserial number/FON systems less tangled.

Next Determine the Exact Model.
There are several general questions which can be asked in determining a guitar's model,once the type of guitar (flat top, arch top, etc.) has been determined:

Gibson Hummingbird Serial Number Lookup Numbers

• What is the color of the top of the guitar? Common top colors include 'sunburst' (a yellow center that fades to a darker red or brown around the edges),black, natural and 'cherry red' (a translucent red which shows the wood grain).
• What is the color of the back of the guitar? Common back colorsinclude translucent dark brown, translucent light brown, sunburst, cherry red, etc.
• What is the body size? (measure the guitar across the top at the widest point, which isthe guitar's 'hips'). This is really important for all model types except solidbody electrics.
• What is the style of fingerboard inlays? (dots, blocks, trapezoids, double parallelagrams, etc.)
• What is the style of 'Gibson' peghead logo? That is, is it white silkscreen,gold silkscreen, or pearl inlay? Also if the logo is pre-WW2, wartime, or post-WW2 (see above).Also fancier models can even have some sort of pearl inlaid decoration (a 'crown' or longskinny 'diamond') on the pegheadjust below the 'Gibson' logo.
• What is the style of binding? Binding is the whitish/yellowish/tortoise 'band' that goesaround the edges of the body. Most Gibsons have some sort of body binding.Often binding is multi-layers (white/black/white, etc).Some guitars also have binding on the neck. The more binding a guitar has, the fancierthe model.

Ipad Serial Number Lookup

Finally Determine the Originality.
Originality of an instrument is very important. Modifications (any modifications),are a bad thing in the eyes of a collector. This will greatly influencevalue. Modifications can often be determined by looking at the modelspecs for a particular year guitar in this web page (after the approximate year is determined), and compare to your instrument.