How to Date Gibson Acoustic Guitars

Dating a Gibson acoustic guitar is often difficult and sometimes not entirely possible, due to the fact that some guitars were made over the course of more than a single year. Some Gibson acoustic guitars may, for instance, have a neck made one year with a serial number fitted to a body made the following year. Even with this challenge in place, with a little detective work it's possible to use a combination of components to accurately date your vintage Gibson acoustic guitar.

Things You'll Need

• Gibson serial number chart

Instructions

1. Familiarize yourself with serial numbers and FONs. A FON is a factory order number Gibson used to indicate batches of instruments. In the early days, Gibson produced batches of 40 guitars at a time. The FON was used in conjunction with serial numbers to identify guitars and includes the year, batch number and ranking of the instrument in question.

2. Look for three groupings of numbers that are often used to identify acoustic Gibson guitars accurately. These three locations are stamped or written on the instrument's back, visible through the lower f-hole or round sound hole. Numbers may also be impressed on the back of the headstock.

3. Identify older instruments without FONs as made sometime between 1941 and the end of World War II. Gibson discontinued the use of FONs during this period. Gibson added a FON in 1942, but there were no code letters to indicate the year the instruments were made.

4. Identify FONS from 1952 to 1961. These FON contain a letter (indicating year), batch number and instrument ranking, and can be searched through the Gibson website at no charge (see resources).

5. Identify serial numbers stamped on a white paper label, typically located inside the body of the guitar. Gibson acoustic guitar serial numbers began with the number 100 in 1902, running to 99999. Anything after 1977 has an eight-digit serial number along with year, date and plant designations.

Tips & Warnings

• Since dating a Gibson acoustic can be tricky, consider consulting a vintage guitar dealer or the Gibson website, which maintains a complete set of serial numbers and other identifying materials.

References

• Gibson Support: Serial Number Search
• Gibson: Gibson Acoustic Guitar Bluebook