Epiphone Serial Number

harks · Joined: 28 May 2005 Posts: 2

Is anyone able to date my Epiphone Sheraton? The serial number is 880509595 and it's located on a stick-on strip on the back of the headstock. The front of the headstock has "Epiphone by Gibson" at the top and the Epiphone logo at the bottom. Cheers.

lee_UK · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 7:33 pm Post subject:

looking at the epiphone forum the serial numbers seem to run similar to gibsons, if they begin with a letter then this denotes the factory/country of origin, yours has no letter so yours according to Epi forum was made in
88(1988) 05(may 5th month) 09595(9,595th guitar made). Dont know a lot about these numbers so take that with a pinch of salt, you could try posting your question here:
http://www.epiphone.com/ and goto the forum link.
i think mid-late 80's models were made in Korea?
Anyone else want to chip in?

Bluenose · Joined: 05 Jun 2005 Posts: 1 Location: United Kingdom

Hi, I have such an Epiphone, serial number begining with 88 and I cannot find when it was made either! I would guess the guitar is either a copy or eipiphone had samples made by prospective suppliers in the late eighties. Due to the 88 at the front I think it might be an early sample from the company whom started manufacture in the 90's for Epiphone. There is one extra digit to many to show it as being in the Gibson series. Except the extra digit is a zero behind the 88. Do the numbers 88 and the last number 5 on your guitar label have a bolder appearance? My guitar is a beautiful natural maple front and sides with a big lump of pinkish wood inside and sounds absolutely great. Hope you can find out more about these guitars. Good luck.

carl_ejay · Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 1

I bout an guitar (Epiphone) on auktion and I just wonder when and where its made, the number is U6051385. Thanks!

harks · Joined: 28 May 2005 Posts: 2

It's been almost 3 years since my original post and I'd forgotten all about this! Thanks to all who responded and I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner. My Sheraton was indeed made in Korea in May 1988. For those who want to date their guitars, check this site out:

http://www.guitardaterproject.org

To carl_ejay - This is the info from the site regarding the serial number you quoted:

Guitar Info
Your guitar was made at the
Unsung Plant, Korea
May 1996
Production Number: 1385

Un Sung Musical Instrument Co.
Un Sung Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. was established in 1987, Inchon, Korea. They have productive capability 50,000 of Electric Guitars and basses a year. Not only do they produce guitars for several well known brands by OEM but also have their own line 'Silver Star'.

Related Links

Un Sung Musical Instrument Co. Website - http://www.unsung.co.kr/

fredje93 · Joined: 18 Nov 2010 Posts: 3 Location: Netherlands

Hi guys, I am new to this forum

I bought an Epiphone Dot today, it's really pretty and plays wonderful.
This is my first electric guitar, saved up for it for a long time.
I wondered if you could tell me where or when it was made,

Serial number is: 10071501353

Thanks guys.

jason · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:24 am Post subject:

Are you sure that's the exact serial number?

Here's a guide to Epiphone serial numbers taken from Gibson's website:

Most regular production models since ca. 1993. Many '80s and early '90s serial numbers may follow a similar scheme, but may not include a factory ID code.
FYYMMRRRR
F= Factory code (this can be 2 letters as well)
YY= year of manufacture (this can also be just 1 digit for '90s models)
MM= month of manufacture
R= ranking number (may be more or less digits, not necessarily indicative of total units produced)
Example - S02021234 was issued in Feb. 2002.

Another code used on some current Epiphone models
FYYMRRRR
F= Factory code
YY=Year of manufacture
M= This will be a letter code corresponding to the month (A=January, B=February, etc...)
RRRR= ranking number
Example - R03D0263 was issued in April 2003.

Epiphone Elite/Elitist models
FYSSSS
F= Factory Code (this code will be an "F" or "T")
Y= Year of manufacture (2 = 2002, 3 = 2003, etc.)
SSSS= Sequential Serial Number
Example - T41234 is a 2004 Elitist model.

fredje93 · Joined: 18 Nov 2010 Posts: 3 Location: Netherlands

yes, that's the number on the sticker inside the body, but there's no number on the back of the headstock

Tim · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 9:27 pm Post subject:

Strange, the Guitar Dater Project doesn't recognise it either: http://www.guitardaterproject.org/epiphone.aspx Any chance of photos (inc. the sticker)?

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