EPIPHONE SERIAL - Possible Error?

[guitarmania]

Hello, my friends! :)

 

Quick question. I will be purchasing an Epiphone Sheraton in natural color. I am almost certain that it was made in China this year (serial starts at 1005 and is 11 numbers long) (ie. May 2010?). However, it does not have any letter preceding the serial number. A letter would indicate the country and factory it was manufactured in.

 

This is where I found this info (is it correct?):

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphone

 

and

 

http://www.myguitarguide.com/epiphon...erial-numbers/

 

as well as Gibson's site, among others.

 

 

Checking serial number information from several sources, I discovered that an Epiphone without a preceding letter in the serial number would indicate that it was made in JAPAN.

 

Although most natural color Epi Sheratons are made in China nowadays, is it possible that an Epi without a preceding letter made this year could also be made in China?

 

Or would it definitely be a Japanese made guitar?

 

Pretty much, I was hoping anyone would know whether a guitar without a preceding serial number could possibly come out of China.

 

Any ideas would be soooooo welcome! I am planning on making the purchase within the next 48 hours.

 

Oh..........and I know that this guitar is genuine (NOT a copy). No doubt about it. Which makes it even more of a mystery to me.

 

 

Thanks everyone! :)

 

guitarmania

[Whitmore Willy]

Quick question. I will be purchasing an Epiphone Sheraton in natural color. I am almost certain that it was made in China this year (serial starts at 1005 and is 11 numbers long) (ie. May 2010?).

 

Checking serial number information from several sources, I discovered that an Epiphone without a preceding letter in the serial number would indicate that it was made in JAPAN.

 

Epiphone discontinued the letter prefix around the middle of "08". If it was made this year it will have no letters in front of the numbers. It was not made in Japan.

 

Willy

[guitarmania]

Epiphone discontinued the letter prefix around the middle of "08". If it was made this year it will have no letters in front of the numbers. It was not made in Japan.

 

Willy

 

 

Willy,

 

Thanks much for the info! Yeah, the Epi is priced at the usual retail value. I had a suspicion that a Japanese Sheraton at that price might be too good to be true. Good to know. Thank you! :)

 

I wonder why they changed the serial numbering system in '08. Wasn't that the year that production moved from Korea to China? Maybe that has something to do with it. Interesting. --but that makes it very confusing for potential buyers.

[Whitmore Willy]

They changed to non-prefix serials because Epi wants to be judged by the instuments and not by the factory it was built.

 

Pete.R is spot on.

A good example was the DaeWon factory.

Many have bought L.P.s that were made there and were excellent guitars.

Other said they should have waited until Dae Two.

 

Willy

[RobinTheHood]

Checking serial number information from several sources, I discovered that an Epiphone without a preceding letter in the serial number would indicate that it was made in JAPAN.

 

 

Some of the early Korean guitars didnt have the factory code prefix either. I believe they started it in the 90's. Most Korean Epiphones from 1983-1990 will have an all numeric 7 or 8 digit serial. Not that this applies to your guitar specifically, but I just wanted to clarify that statement.

[guitarmania]

They moved in 2002/03 to China with their first factory

and 2008 with the second.

 

They changed to non-prefix serials because Epi wants to be judged by the instuments and not by the factory it was built.

 

That's what Jim R (Epi1) said ....

 

 

Aha! That makes perfect sense! Ironically, I originally posted on this thread for the very same reason--that I understand that the Korean models were built at higher standards?

 

 

The guitar I'm to buy is Chinese, then. I have to say that the Chinese Sheraton was quite impressive, indeed--certainly rivalling my Korean Casino of the early 2000s. Is the Sheraton I tried completely a one-off, or are the Chinese standards up to the Korean standards of years past?

 

I'd love to hear what you all think!

[RaSTuS]

They moved in 2002/03 to China with their first factory

and 2008 with the second.

 

They changed to non-prefix serials because Epi wants to be judged by the instuments and not by the factory it was built.

 

That's what Jim R (Epi1) said ....

 

What a crock of bullshirt.

[RobinTheHood]

Aha! That makes perfect sense! Ironically, I originally posted on this thread for the very same reason--that I understand that the Korean models were built at higher standards?

 

 

People said the same thing when they moved from America to Japan to Korea and now China. True, the Chinese manufacturing got off to a rough start, but from what I understand, quality has improved vastly over the past year or so. I imagine people will hold the Chinese Epiphones in high regard when in ten or fifteen years they move production to India.:unsure:

[RaSTuS]

I imagine people will hold the Chinese Epiphones in high regard when in ten or fifteen years they move production to India.:unsure:

 

ROFL

 

+10

[guitarmania]

Epiphone discontinued the letter prefix around the middle of "08". If it was made this year it will have no letters in front of the numbers. It was not made in Japan.

 

Willy

 

 

Another

 

I just received an email from Gibson's support. They got back to me really fast and were very professional, I must say. They state that

 

"Thanks for writing. Epiphone switched to an all-numeric serial number system in 2008, so there won't be a country code preceding serial numbers for models made mid-2008 and later."

 

Right from the horse's mouth, so-to-speak! Kudos to Gibson for getting back to me so fast.