How do I tell what year my Gibson J-45 is?

How do I tell what year my Gibson J-45 is?

Check the back of the guitar headstock for an eight-digit serial number. If your guitar has an eight-digit serial number stamped on it, it was made after Gibson changed its numbering system in 1975.

How do you read a Gibson Custom Shop serial number?

The 1st digit indicates the year of manufacture for the 4 & 5 digit serial numbers, these were used from 1989-1999. The 1st and 2nd indicate the year of manufacture for the 6 digit serial numbers which we’ve been using since 2000.

How to determine the age of a Gibson J-45?

How to Determine the Age of a Gibson J-45. If your guitar has an eight-digit serial number stamped on it, it was made after Gibson changed its numbering system in 1975. If there is no eight-digit serial number found, check the bottom of the guitar neck, which can be seen by looking inside of the guitar’s sound hole.

What’s the worst thing Gibson did to the J-45?

The worse thing Gibson did to the J-45 was to make the J-45ADJ (a J-45 with an adjustable bridge). The adjustable bridge sucked the life and tone from the J-45, and really killed the model (at least in my eye). Yes you can convert the adjustable bridge to a non-adjustable, but then it’s not original any more.

What was the serial number on a Gibson guitar before 1975?

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to decipher serial codes of guitars made before 1975. Gibson used and reused numbers, changed numbering systems, and generally did not give much consideration to sequential numbering prior to its 1975 serial number system. Visit the Vintage Guitars Info Web site.

How can you tell if a Gibson Guitar is a Gibson?

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