sherwood_12 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Hi Guys, I have been assigned as the executor of our late client's estate, and as a part of this I have been tasked with auctioning off his collection, with all of the proceeds going to charity. I am currently trying to identify the year on this Les Paul, but I am struggling. I know obviously the year is important. Does anyone have any ideas? if you can't see the picture very well, it is 956002 with a 2 beneath Thanks for your help, Olly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Best to contact Gibson direct really. Phone rather than email though. The '2' under the serial may signify a 2nd, which is stamped if flawed. this link is also at the bottom of this page. https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Support/Serial-Number-Search good general info. There are sites that can assist. I used this one https://authorityguitar.com/gibson-serial-number-lookup-decoder/ which generated this: Year: 1968 Location: Kalamazoo, MI Info: serial number is stamped on the back of the headstock also tried this. It gave a different result which doesn't format well here: https://www.guitardataproject.org/serial/decode and this: https://zinginstruments.com/gibson-serial-number-lookup/ which gives very different results. So yeah, call Gibson Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayville Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Folks here could perhaps be more helpful with more photos of the guitar - front, back, detail of the electronics, etc. Gibson will want that too in many cases to give you a firm answer. Construction and model details have wiggled around substantially since 1952 - there are likely more clues than just the serial number. And if you're looking to come up with fair current value, more than just the year matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JO'C Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 My go to source for serial#'s also comes up 1968. A photo of the front of headstock and body would help pin it down for sure. The Gibson decal on the front of the headstock has changed over the years. I have a 1969 ES-335 and I used to have a 1966. Both had the same decal font so 1968 should also have the same. The 2 below the serial# indicates a factory second. I remember quite a few of those in the 70's but I don't know if they did that in '68. They were usually minor flaws and did not affect playability. Pricing was about 20% off from the regular price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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