Gibson Serial Numbers Mandolin

Permalink Reply by Bob Krueger on August 20, 2009 at 2:04pm

Gibson Serial Numbers. What do the Gibson model numbers stand for? This information originally appeared on CoMando. A - ovoid mandolins B - banjo - also RB - resonator banjo C - classical guitar E - electric instruments ES= electric Spanish guitar F - florentine mandolins G - guitar (steel string) H - mandola J - jumbo guitar K - mandocello L.
Re: Gibson Mandolin Serial Number Search My son just came across a Gibson F5 serial# 9178227. It also has ID on sticker inside 227 1998. He tried ti email me a picture of it but it didn’t turn out well.
In 1994, Gibson's Centennial year, many instruments have a serial number that begins with '94' for the year, with the remaining 6 digits indicating the ranking number. Gibson USA 2014 to present – These serial numbers cannot be dated to a specific day of the year.

Years ago Pickin magazine ran an article on Gibson mandolin serial numbers. Don't know if it ever made it to the internet. I may have a copy of it - somewhere?? - if you can't find a more updated link. Mugwamps might be another source. On the A1, I think there was something about dating using the peghead shape.
Bob Krueger

Jun 11, 2015 Re: Gibson mandolin serial numbers Originally Posted by allenhopkins S.P. Fjestad's Gibson Serialization from the Blue Book of Electric Guitars (linked to Gibson's website) gives the sequence for 1916 as 32000 to 39500 for all instruments, in an initial sequence starting at 100 and running to 9999 for the period 1902-1947. Next, check for the serial number on the back of the headstock. It should have a serial number on top. Modern numbers are 9 digits but older/vintage Gibson guitars are much shorter. It should also have 'Made in USA' underneath the serial number. Only the newer ones have the year on them so it's not necessarily a fake if it's not there.

Permalink Reply by Ed Taublieb on August 20, 2009 at 7:46pm

Thanks for the suggestions. I believe I have all the issues of Pickin'-- just have to find them and then get the right issue.
Ed

Permalink Reply by Frank Ford on August 22, 2009 at 5:23am

If you just want a quick list, here's one - approximate but close:
Year Last Number
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1903 1500
1904 2500
1905 3500
1906 5500
1907 8300
1908 9700
1909 10100
1910 10600
1911 10850
1912 13350
1913 16100
1914 20150
1915 25150
1916 32000
1917 39500
1918 47900
1919 53800
1920 63650
1921 69300

Permalink Reply by Ed Taublieb on August 22, 2009 at 1:32pm

Thank You Frank.
I did check the mandolin archive website for my early fancy F model and was initially caught off guard to find that the serial number was listed. Then, when I looked at the photos I remembered I had this mandolin at Elderly for a while, in hope of trading it for something like a 00-42. Anyway, it was nice to learn that Elderly is contributing to the mandolin archive.

Permalink Reply by Ned Knepp on August 20, 2009 at 9:05pm

George Gruhn's price guide is usually the best place I've found to look these up since you can compare features to years as well as serial number ranges. You may find a mando in this site that is near your range and discription which will help you out too:
http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/list_mandolins.pl?teens
The blue hyper link on the left side is the serial number so you may be able to page through this to some numbers near yours to zero in on the date.
Ned

Gibson Serial Numbers Guitar Hq

Permalink Reply by Ed Taublieb on August 21, 2009 at 11:57am

Thanks Ned and Frank too. The mandolin archive website is fantastic. As Frank suggested I will take and send some good photos and serial #s and factory order numbers of the two mandolins..
I still plan to find my Pickin' Magazines and see if I can find the article on the Gibson Mandolins, which hopefully will have serial #/year information.
Ed

Gibson F12 Mandolin Serial Numbers

Permalink Reply by Paul Breen on August 21, 2009 at 8:07am

Check out this site.
http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson.html

Permalink Reply by Frank Ford on August 21, 2009 at 8:22am

You could do the entire mandolin community a small favor by sending some good pix and the numbers to our pal, Dan Beimborn at the Mandolin Archive. He posts the comprehensive list of vintage Gibson mandos, and makes all info available free.
Tell him (or us) the serials, and we can date them for you too, of course.
http://www.mandolinarchive.com/
Dan answers his e-mail promptly.

serial number Year(s)

Gibson Serial Numbers Search

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Gibson Serial Numbers Provide

Gibson Banjo Mandolin Serial Numbers

Gibson Mandolins Serial Numbers

410901 to 419999 unknown
420000 to 429193 1966
500000 to 500999 1965, 1966, 1968, or 1969
501009 to 501600 1965
501601 to 501702 1968
501703 to 502706 1965 or 1968
503010 to 503109 1968
503405 to 520955 1965 or 1968
520956 to 530056 1968
530061 to 530850 1966, 1968, or 1969
530851 to 530993 1968 or 1969
530994 to 539999 1969
540000 to 540795 1966 or 1969
540796 to 545009 1969
555000 to 557999 1966
558000 to 567400 1969
570087 to 570643 1966
570645 to 570755 1966 or 1967
570857 to 570964 1966
580000 to 580080 1969
580086 to 580999 1966, 1967 or 1969
600000 to 600998 low end models, 1966, 1967, or 1968
600000 to 606090 high end models, 1969
700000 to 700799 1966, 1967 or 1969
750000 to 750999 1968 or 1969
800000 to 800999 1966, 1967, 1968 or 1969
801000 to 812838 1966 or 1969
812900 to 819999 1969
820000 to 820087 1966 or 1969
820088 to 823830 1966
824000 to 824999 1969
828002 to 847488 1966 or 1969
847499 to 858999 1966 or 1969
859001 to 895038 1967
895039 to 896999 1968
897000 to 898999 1967 or 1969
899000 to 899999 1968
900000 to 901999 1970
910000 to 999999 1968