[Jon_UK]

Good day all,
I have been following this forum for a while, may i say how nice it is to find such a friendly and helpful resource!

Ive recently bought an Ebony Gibson Grabber but like everyone else I am having a terrible time trying to find the age of it.

I dont have the serial number with me right now (at work) but are there any online resources that can help me determine the rough date of production?

Or would you rather i just post the serial number here?

Any help will be greatfully received.
Happy new year all!

Jon

[doom]

Here's a source for serial nr identification:http://www.gibson.com/Files/download...IALNUMBERS.pdf

Here's a non PDF-version with just about the same info:http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson.html#serial

Congratulations and good luck!

[jules]

Hi and welcome

The resources Doom lists are good, but also see the numbers copied from Ian Bishops 'the Gibson guitar' which gives a bit of reason behind the numbers.

Sorry but you are unlikely to get a straightforward answer, if your serial number is a six-digit stamped number.

The serial number dates the neck. The pot codes date the pots. Both could have been replaced at any time.

Both are worth checking, but you have to ask yourself what you mean by 'date'. Date it was stamped? Date it was shipped? Date it was made?

Making a guitar can take months? How many months? Were they ever left in storage before assembling? Were they ever left in storage before shipping? At what point in production was it stamped? Do any of these questions have a consistant answer?

Grabbers especially, but also other mid seventies Gibsons often have widely divergent dates - leading one to assume that perhaps a whole bunch of necks (with or without bodies) were made and stamped before the rest of the bass were assembled.

If your serial number is a decal or eight digit stamp, you can be more precise.

Let us know what your serial number is, just out of interest!

[Jon_UK]

Hi again,

Serial number: 06165149
I can't make much sense of it even with the guides.

cheers for your replies
Jon

[jules]

ok, thats a decal then, which makes them easier to date

the decal numbers either begin with

99 - signifies 1975
00 - 1976
06 - 1977

then a further 6 digits.

No it doesn't really make sense, which I suppose is why they changed to the 8 digit codes that are still used to this day, immediately afterwards

so yours is a 1977

[doom]

Yup, dating a Gibson is a real bi**h but the guide says:
Gibson Serial Numbers, 1975-1977.

All models, decal, 2 digit prefix followed by 6 digits. The decal can also states the model name/number.

Prefix Year
------ ----
99 1975
00 1976
06 1977

which makes yours a '77 but with Gibsons there's always exceptions to every rule.

[Jon_UK]

thanks for the help guys, im happy to know the rough age at least, so thanks again.

Jon