GIBSON SERIALIZATION
Identifying Gibson instruments by serial number is tricky at best and downright impossible in some cases.
The best methods of identifying them is by using a combination of the serial number, the factory order
number and any features that are particular to a specific time that changes may have occurred in instrument
design (i.e. logo design change, headstock volutes, etc). There have been 6 different serial number styles
used to date on Gibson instruments.
The first serialization started in 1902 and ran until 1947. The serial numbers started with number 100 and
go to 99999. All numbers are approximates. In most cases, only the upper end instruments were assigned
identification numbers.
YEAR LAST #
1903 1150
1904 1850
1905 2550
1906 3350
1907 4250
1908 5450
1909 6950
1910 8750
1911 10850
1912 13350
1913 16100
1914 20150
1915 25150
1916 32000
1917 39500
1918 47900
1919 53800
1920 62200
1921 69300
1922 71400
1923 74900
1924 80300
1925 82700
YEAR LAST #
1926 83600
1927 85400
1928 87300
1929 89750
1930 90200
1931 90450
1932 90700
1933 91400
1934 92300
1935 92800
1936 94100
1937 95200
1938 95750
1939 96050
1940 96600
1941 97400
1942 97700
1943 97850
1944 98250
1945 98650
1946 99300
1947 99999
White oval labels were used on instruments from 1902 to 1954, at which time the oval label was changed to
an orange color. On instruments with round soundholes, this label is visible directly below it. On f-hole
instruments, it is visible through the upper f-hole. The second type of serial numbers used started with an A
prefix and ran from 1947 to 1961. The first number is A 100.
YEAR LAST #
1947 A 1305
1948 A 2665
1949 A 4410
1950 A 6595
1951 A 9420
1952 A 12460
1953 A 17435
1954 A 18665
YEAR LAST #
1955 A 21910
1956 A 24755
1957 A 26820
1958 A 28880
1959 A 32285
1960 A 35645
1961 A 36150
