Thanks, Tim. I checked the link, interesting if true. I mailed the factory in Korea since their site looked pretty well organised and might even get a reply. Who knows?

‘The Guy’ was Joe_pas_wannabe1. The site was:

http://www.guitardaterproject.org/

Your guitar was made in
Korea
January c.1988
Production Number: 4684

Apparently…but don’t blame me if it wasn’t!

Doesn’t that guy’s guitar-dater site do these? I know I looked up my Epi SG on it. I forget his name but I look for the link.

I have been emailing Gibson ref. a serial number on my Epiphone LP Goldtop and so far the result has not been brilliant. The Serail Number on my guitar is- I 7032428. The info Gibson gave me so far is that the guitar was built in 1997. I have also found out that Epiphones have been built in Korea and China(now) and also Japan. For example, an S before the serial number would mean that Samick built the guitar for Epiphone. The Elitist guitars are built exclusively in Japan (apparently) in a dedicated plant similar to a “custom” production plant. However, some Limited Edition Epiphones were made in Nashville,TN, in the ‘mid ’90’s to re-stamp the brand as a quality brand. All this has not helped me find out exactly where my guitar was built….So, any ideas or tips would be appreciated!
Thanks.

Too much info for me to look at atm: http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson.html

We’re still not there, yet. This would be a guitar made on the 801st day of 1984, which would be a bit weird. The truth is out there 🙂

Ahhh… While I’m there anyways… Gibson SN links: http://www.gibson.com/Service/Serial%20Numbers%20Search/

That’s a nice link, Mike, but this 8-digit number will be a later Epi made in the Far East. From what I’ve heard, Gibson are very good at responding to email enquiries – if you do want to find out more.

Epiphone Serial Numbers: http://www.gibson.com/Files/downloads/bluebook/EpiphoneSERIALNUMBERS.pdf

Epiphone’s parent company, Gibson, look like they’re setting up an infolink on Gibson and Epiphone serial numbers: http://www.gibson.com/whatsnew/pressrelease/2000/may19a.html. However, when I tried it, I got a lot of 404 “page not found” messages. Contact Gibson direct from the link if you get the same problem.