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Gibson used various systems of numbering their instruments, but many (particularly around 69-73) can cause more confusion than clarity. BEFORE you read the Gibson serial number charts, please read the rest of this page!
Gibson did re-use numbers. If you read through the charts for a hypothetical number, say 123456 - we see that it was shipped in 1963, 1970-72, and again in 74-75. Not an ideal situation, but many of the Guitars we see listed for sale as 1960s instruments, are actually newer. It is often not the sellers fault, as they will have looked through the numbers, found it was 1963, and would see no reason to look further in the document.
The serial numbers on the Gibson website are provided by bluebook, but differ somewhat from those in "The Gibson Guitar" by Ian C Bishop. Unfortunately the author does not site the souce of his information, but seeing as the book was published in 1976, perhaps it was not such a 'historical mission' to come across them, as it is now.
| These numbers are accurate to the nearest 10,000 or so, as production quantities varied from year to year. |
| late 1960 onwards | 000001-010500 |
| 1960 | 000001-010500 |
| 1961 | 010501-083000 |
| 1962 | 083001-168000 |
| 1963 | 168001-263500 |
| 1964 | 263001-365500 |
| 1965 | 365001-477500 |
| 1966 | 477001-600000 |
| 1967 | 600001-744000 |
| 1968 | 744001-889000 |
| 1969 | 889001-999999 |
In 1969 the number 999999 was reached and they returned to 000001 therefore the numbers for 1969 run from 889001 to 999999, and then from 000001 to about 070000. In 1970, instead of continuing this series, they jumped to 500000,. Therefore the numbers from 1970 run 500000-635000 |
| 1971 | 655001-765000 |
| 1972 | 765001-897000 |
In 1973, the number 999999 was reached again, and this time they returned to 000001, and this is the series that is in use at present, therefore. 1973 numbers run 897001-999999 and 000001-031000 |
| 1974 | 031001-173000 |
| 1975 | 173001-313000 |
| 1976 | 313001-? |
I have guitars that contradict both the above, and following blue book figures. The serial numbers must be used in conjunction with physical features (bridge, pickups, actual body design etc), and the potentiometer codes.
For more detailed information on dating Gibson bass guitars see our dating article
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