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i.d. your Epiphone here -- serial # key, guitardater link + factory codes... a worldwide guide >part 3


Steven Lister

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thanks for getting back to me.

I won this auction on my iphone so it was hard to see the details properly. It was all a bit last minute so i have decided to do a bit of research after the win (not ideal i know!).

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EPIPHONE-DOVE-ACOUSTIC-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ190375407489QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item2c53422f81

 

You'll have to excuse my lack of knowledge on this matter but is it me or is the scratch plate on this the type that's used on the black version of this guitar? All the one's i've seen from this date period have a very different coloured plate and the yellow branches aren't quite so prominent. Perhaps it's just the photo or the flash that makes it look different, but thought i'd better get your advice before i actually pay for the thing!

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I got my Epi Casino off Craigslist a week ago. It is a 1996 Peerless Korea made guitar with an original factory installed Epiphone Bigsby.

 

Serial number is R96M 0534

 

Is that May of 1996 then?

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T.P,

 

I have the same problem as you with identifying the month in which my 99 Peerless was made. I have asked the question on here before.

 

Mine is R99P 0308.

 

Surely the last month letter should be L?

 

I first thought i had a fake but i've seen a few on ebay with a 'P' as the month.

 

Can any one explain this to myself and T.P

 

Thanks.

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Hello' date=' i've just bought my first Epiphone and i'm trying to find out the date and factory where it was made. Having read this thread I have discovered there is a grey cloud above serial numbers that prefix with "GG".

 

My model is a Dove and the serial is GG05100832

 

So i'm guessing that October 2005 is the date, but where is this illusive GG factory???

 

Is it safe to assume it's a genuine Epiphone??[/quote']

 

 

 

Not sure if this has any relevance to the topic but i've received the guitar and found a sticker on the back that states "Inspected by 16 Gabor China"

 

could Gabor = GG ??

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hi

 

i just bought a new epiphone dot vintage sunburst 2 days ago in a french music store

my serial is 0811230878, so this guitar was made in indonesia in November 2008

 

i try several dot and sheraton II in the store, almost 5, 3 dot and 2 sheraton, the dot i choose was perfect, and it was the only one who has been made in indonesia, the others was made in china and don't sound very well or were not finished as good as my dot

 

so my question is : do you have information on the factory 23 ?

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thanks Peter for your quick answer

 

i think epi makes very good guitars from 200$ to 3000$ whatever there are made

 

i bought my first epi in 1996, korean made i think, it was a les paul custom, sold in 2000

 

since 2000 till now, i switched to fender japan and only japan, strats , tele and jazzmaster, very good stuff but the wire, sometimes wasn't very good and these guitars were not cheap

 

four months ago, i decided to try several hollow body in France (hamer echotone, several ibanez archtop from as73 to as103, hagström, and some duesenberg), my conclusion is the best price quality guitars still epi for an hollow body especially the dot

 

 

My only concern about epi, it's not my feeling but the feeling of several french music store is that gibson and epi guitars become more and more hard to find in Europe

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Just quickly harking back to the "GG" issue, although the lack of info regarding this production line could be taken as worrying when considering the guitar's integrity, I can confirm that my version (which is a Dove) is definitely a genuine Epiphone and has been built particularly well!

So, for those that are here researching the GG serial number, as I did when i came across this forum, don't necessarily be deterred the guitar just because it doesn't show up on the guitar dater project system. [biggrin]

 

Thanks

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The "GG" serial # issue is interesting. I've got a "junior" with 3/4 size body, full size scale with serial # beginning with "G". Emailed epiphone and all they could tell me was that it was made in '98, it's an E-5 model, but no production plant info...........

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I have an Epi Zephyr Regent. Serial number begins with R98M , followed by the sequence number. The decoder says Peerless, December 1998. But 'M' is the 13th letter of the alphabet, not the 12th. I would think December would be an 'L', not an 'M'.

 

Anyone have an explanation for this ?

 

Thanks

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I own a black explorer, the headstock says "Epiphone by Gibson", I bought the guitar second hand back in the very early 90`s sometime, so my guess is thats its built at least a few years ahead of that. Its fitted with black hardware, and a locking tremolo, the humbuckers are split half white and half black, the serial # on a sticker on the headstock reads 880400161, I just played it end never thought of it really, but owning it for nearly 20 years now, it would be fun to know if this is a genuine thing or just some fake thing, as I have never really seen one like it, tnx in advance for any help!

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  • 2 weeks later...

OK I posted this on a new thread but here is my question---

 

I got a "new" slightly used Epiphone Les Paul Jr. I can't read all the serial numbers but here is what I can read"

 

0910100xxx

 

Does this mean built Oct 2009?

 

And then the next 2 numbers are 10 and are supposed to be the location right?

 

Well the guitar is from China. So where does the 10 stand for?

 

Thanks to whoever figures this out.

skulldoc

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Hello guys,

I 'm a new guitar player and I have just bought my Epiphone SG G-400 for 340 Euro and I 'm wondering if it is real or not.

Maybe you can help me with the serial number: 0908201178 it is made in China and it has a sticker with the "Inspected By Gabor/ China" thing.

Thank you!!!

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I own a black explorer' date=' the headstock says "Epiphone by Gibson", I bought the guitar second hand back in the very early 90`s sometime, so my guess is thats its built at least a few years ahead of that. Its fitted with black hardware, and a locking tremolo, the humbuckers are split half white and half black, the serial # on a sticker on the headstock reads 880400161, I just played it end never thought of it really, but owning it for nearly 20 years now, it would be fun to know if this is a genuine thing or just some fake thing, as I have never really seen one like it, tnx in advance for any help![/quote']

I just happened to be searching the internet today for info on one of my old guitars and saw your post.

I bought an Epiphone by Gibson Explorer new around 1986/87 and it was a sparkly black finish, metallic black.

Two humbuckers, though I can't recall if they were split black/white (rings a bell though), and I can't recall if there was a tremolo - though I think there was. Two (?) black knobs - tone and volume.

The headstock logo was mother of pearl style on a black headstock. No case or gigbag, just the guitar when new.

 

It was a good guitar as I recall, solidly made, but at the time I was hankering after a Les Paul and soon moved on to a Les Paul copy - kind of wish I still the Explorer now as it was my first new guitar.

 

So yes, they did exist and I'm pretty sure they're genuine. I think I've seen them in red too.

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