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Ibanez Collectors World » Vintage & Custom Electrics (1970s Only) » How do you identify the year of your guitar from the # on the headstock? « Previous Next »

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djbadboy62
Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:59 am:   
Somebody please help:

I want to buy an old Ibanez but the seller is not sure of the year it was made.

any tips?


Thanks,
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JohnS
Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:59 am:   
dg:

The only "real" way is to decipher the serial number. Guitars from '76 on usually had serial numbers. However, Ibanez used 2 different systems. The earliest, started with a letter which designated the month of manufacture. So A= Jan, B=Feb, etc. The next 2 digits stood for the year. So 77 = 1977, 84 = 1984, etc.

In '87 they changed. There were only 2 letter prefixes. These stood for the manufacturing facility. F stood for Fuji in Japan and C for Cort in Korea. I'm fuzzy on how to decipher the year on these later guitars. Somebody else will have to jump in and clarify.

If your guitar has no serial number than an accurate description, (a photo is far better) is the only way for someone to identify and match it up to catalog sheets and price lists and come up with an estimate on the year.
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orval
Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:59 am:   
the number following the letter is the
last number of the year. not sure how
to tell 1987 from 1997 by the codes "7"
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Mark Allen
Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:59 am:   
I have an Ibanez that I bought new in 1974. It is a "vintage" model# 952SB, ser#? (inside at base of neck): 760715. It plays and sounds GREAT. As a matter of fact, it sounds better the older it gets.
What is it?...what does it mean, what is it worth?
It is quite unusual because it has a "rounded"/"beveled" back (all wood). Not just a little beveled, perhaps an inch at the highest point. It appears to be all mahogany, with a spruce top. I've taken it to dealers, and NO ONE has ever seen one like it............Help me PLEASE.
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Kruisselbrink
Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:59 am:   
Hi Mark
Sure you're not mistaken about the date you bought
the guitar? To me it seems a little impossible to buy a guitar in 1974 that has a 1976 serial number.......
greetings from Holland, Harry.
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Aki Rintamäki
Posted on Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 5:18 pm:   
Mark:

Any pictures available? Would be very interested seeing. Acoustic, if I understood right?


-Aki.

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