Hence mandolins from the 's are somewhat rare. Until the mandolin became popular in country music after WWII, demand and production for mandolins stayed low. Discontinued all models except L-5 by Discontinued L-5 Fiber peghead veneer replaces "Holly" wood veneer: to present.
Also "Made in U. Peghead angle is 17 degrees: Peghead angle is 14 degrees: approximately. Peghead angle is 17 degrees: present. Thickness of peghead uniform: present.
Prior to peghead narrows in thickness towards top. Fingerboard Woods Fingerboards, bridges and other small parts made from rosewood are all the Brazilian variety till Starting in , Gibson changed to Indian rosewood. Left: Pre-WW2 pearl script logo. Note no letters drop below the other letters.
Middle: Post-WW2 pearl style logo with connecting dot. The "G" and the "n" drop below the other letters, and the open "b" and open "o" open at the top of the letters were used in their pearl logos until Right: "Pantograph" logo used from to Note the closed "b" and "o". Fret size Gibson used a smaller. Then the width changed to. This happened to pretty much all models at some point in There were some exceptions though, like the Les Paul Custom which kept the smaller.
Peghead Logos Pre-war Gibson script logo used before No letters drops below the other letters. Pre-war Script Gibson logo, Pearl or White. Pearl inlaid, high-end models: White silkscreen, low-end models: Thicker "Gibson" on Super and other high-end models: mid 's. Thicker "Gibson" all models: late 's. Left: Gold post-war logo on a Les Paul Junior. The "i" dot was always attached on all of these post-war gold logos. Middle: Pearl post-war logo with detached "i" dot on a Les Paul.
This style logo with detached "i" dot was used from to , and again from to present. Gold Script Gibson logo. All models made during WW2. The post-war logo has the "G" and the "N" with a tail that drops below the other letters. Gold logo: silkscreened Gold logo: decal present Pearl logo: open "b" and "o": Pearl logo: "pantograph" style, closed "b" and "o": Pearl logo: open "b" and "o": present Pearl logo: Dot on "i" connected to "G": Pearl logo: Dot on "i" free from "G": present Finish.
Gibson always used nitrocellulose lacquer for all instruments from to present. Some other special order custom colors were available. Prior to , Gibson used mostly spirit varnish. This is very similar to Behlen's Violin Varnish still available today. This spirit varnish produces a eggshell crazing patina. Around is when Gibson started experimenting with Nitrocellulose laquer, and by all models were using lacquer.
In the lacquer experimentation process began on less expensive models like the opaque white top A3, L3, and Sheraton Brown "A" models. Note that all staining was done with water based aniline dyes directly on the wood. As for binding, all bindings were scraped clean of varnish and stain at the end of the finishing process. Early on, this left the binding "raw". Then with the advent of sprayed lacquer, after the binding was scraped, a clear top coat were applied over the entire instrument including the scraped binding.
For example some Lloyd Loar mandolins had this finish. This was short lived though. A faded sunburst on a Les Paul Standard. With the pickguard removed we can see how much brighter the original red was in the sunburst under the pickguard. This is particularly noticable by the neck pickup pickguard attachment point.
During the late 's, the red ainline used in their sunburst finishes often faded. This problem was fixed by mid, though sometimes you see it on later 's models. Left: Oval white label as used from spring to January Right: Orange label as used from January to The to orange labels are identical, except for the added text "union made".
Left: Orange "union made" label as used from to Note the "union made" designation to the left of the "Gibson" insignia. When Gibson was bought by Norlin in , thousands of these labels were discarded and replaced with white and purple "Norlin" labels. These blank unused labels were snatched up by many guitar dealers, and are still available today.
Rigth: White label used from to This particular label is from a L-4 model. Seen through this f-hole is the "Norlin" white rectangle label with purple and black triangles , used from to Labels hollowbody models only. Rectangular label, no serial number or model name on label, photo of Orville Gibson and lyre-mandolin on label, date sometimes penciled under top: to Oval label with serial number, no model name, photo of Orville Gibson and lyre-mandolin: to White label with number and model name, number range to Hand ink or penciled some overlap with previous style : to White label with number and model name Ink stamped: to White oval label with number preceded by "A-": spring to January Note white label numbers A to A were not used.
Orange oval label with number preceded by an "A": Jan to Note the "-" after the "A" was dropped for the orange labels. Orange oval label with number matching number on back of headstock number range to : to Don't read too much into a label that has or does not have "union made", as both label types were used throughout the s.
White rectangle "Norlin" label with black and purple triangles: to Electric Archtop Bodies. Tops: Before WW2, tops on electric archtops are solid spruce. Back and Sides: Before WW2, back and sides are solid maple.
From to , all models including the above use laminated maple back and sides. Also note the "made in USA" stamp. Neck Shape Spanish models. WW Known as "baseball bats" due to the large back size. The era necks are often considered the best of this era; large and comfortable without being huge. Back shape is about the same as the era, but the narrow nut width makes these necks feel like "pencil necks".
Nylon, a thermoplastic material, was invented in by Wallace Carothers at DuPont. Bridge, flat top models. Retangular bridge, most models: WW2. Martin-type belly bridge, some banner-logo examples: WW2. Upper belly bridge above bridge pins : early 's Plastic bridge, most models below SJ: Indian Rosewood used instead of Brazilian: Lower belly bridge below bridge pins : Upper belly bridge above bridge pins : present.
Adjustable bridge saddle: Je from introduction : Option on J, J, SJ: Standard on most models: In , it changed to a "compensated" style unit with "stairsteps" for each string. Right: tunematic bridge "no wire" and stop tailpiece on a goldtop Les Paul note the partial shown white covered P "soapbar" pickup at the bottom of the picture. Tunematic bridges started showing up on many Gibson models in Used on some models ES and ES until This tailpiece was used until the 's on some models including the SG Junior.
This was an important change on wrap around tailpieces, because it stopped the wrap-around from leaning forward and cracking the body wood often seen on Les Paul Juniors and Specials. Many electric archtop models also converted to the tunematic bridge.
The wire goes over the six saddle screw heads to prevent the saddles from popping out during string changes.
Stop tailpiece now chrome plated too, and replaced on many models like the ES with a trapeze tailpiece. Two early "P. Left: Top to bottom: P pickup, Alino pickup, Humbucking pickup, "double white" humbucking pickup with metal cover removed. Right: P pickup top and a P. Two variations, one almost 6" long extending diagonally from the bridge to almost the neck, the other shorter and more conventional looking and mounted at less of an angle.
Both seen on ES model: Finger rest pickup system: First cataloged as a "conversion" pickup. Volume and tone controls and pickup integrated into the pickguard. Available with 1 or 2 pickups.
Also known as the "McCarty" pickup system. Available for acoustic archtops such as the L-7, L-5 and Super Fixed pole P pickup. Non-adjustable pole P pickup, single coil, 6 magnet slugs down center, black "dog ear" pickup cover: P pickup.
Same as fixed pole P, except now has adjustable slot-head poles: present "Soapbar" P pickup, same as above, but pickup cover has no "ears": present Alnico V pickup. Looks like a P soapbar pickup, except has "staple" poles with adjusting screws next to the poles. Used on upper line models: Top: A late "P. Bottom: A mid's "Patent No. Humbucking pickup. One row of 6 adjustable slot-head poles off-center: present. Cover was gold, nickel or after chrome plated. Prior to about mid, have small decal on bottom stating "Patent Applied For".
These are known as "P. Starting in about mid to early , a "Patent No. We are currently delivering in The Netherlands and France.
Prior to when the Kalamazoo, MI factory was closed, the numbers indicated Kalamazoo production. Ranking numbers continued to indicate Nashville production through Ranking numbers for Bozeman start each day at and the electrics may start as low as the s.
Examples: means the instrument was produced on Jan. The sixth number is now a batch number- batch 0 starts at the beginning of the day, and once we stamp , the batch number will change to 1. The first 5 numbers remain the same, the last 3 numbers will remain the same.
A few bolt on neck instruments had a date ink stamped on the heel area. In , Gibson first introduced the serialization method that is in practice today. This updated system utilizes an impressed eight digit numbering scheme that covers both serializing and dating functions.
The numbers show Kalamazoo production, show Nashville production. The Kalamazoo numbers were discontinued in Bozeman instruments began using designations and, in , Nashville instruments began using designations.
It should also be noted that the Nashville plant has not reached the s since , so these numbers have been reserved for prototypes. Examples: means the instrument was produced on Jan. When the Nashville Gibson plant was opened in , it was decided that the bulk of the production of products would be run in the South; the Kalamazoo plant would produce the higher end fancier models in the North.
Certain guitar models built in the late s can be used to demonstrate the old-style 6 digit serial numbers. In the earlier years at Gibson, guitars were normally built in batches of 40 instruments.
Thus, the older Gibson guitars may have a serial number and a F O N. The F O N may indicate the year, batch number, and the ranking order of production within the batch of This system is useful in helping to date and authenticate instruments. There are three separate groupings of numbers that have been identified and are used for their accuracy. Examples are as follows: A 23 D 58 E In , a four digit F O N was used, but not in conjunction with any code letter indicating the year.
I have a Maestro by Gibson electric that belonged to my dad. The serial number is K Any info is appreciated. Is this for real or have I been had. I have a Gibson can you tell me what year it maybe from please? CS is the serial number. Hi Nate, I have a SG and the serial number is which is between; and Is this still supposed to be or one of those which is probably but could be something else? Many thanks! I just bought a used guitar.
There is a number in back pc It ended up being made in U. However, its not my kind of acoustic. Too bass-y for me. Love Gibson , but for its worth om looking to trade towards something pretty decent and some cash. Hi please could you help date my Gibson Les Paul guitar.
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