Believe I have L-50 but not sure / year

[FionaCooke]

I've got my great aunt's old Gibson guitar, that I believe she would have picked up in the 50s at some point. 
The headstock is silkscreen, not decal. The original tuning pegs disintegrated and have been replaced. On the back of the headstock it says Made in the USA. Inside the F-hole, I can see "824 22" but that's it, no letters. 

This guitar serial number decoder says 1952 but can anyone confirm/deny? Also, is this an L-50?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

  

[slimt]

Hi. It is a L50.   Keep the old machine heads.    Buttons can be replaced. 

Edited September 11, 2022 by slimt

[JimR56]

Sorry for the very late reply here.  Your number is not a serial number, but a factory order number (aka "FON").  The gap between the first three digits and the final two digits make this obvious.  According to the info here (http://www.guitarhq.com/gibson.html#serial), the year would be 1947.

Gibson Factory Order Numbers, 1942 to 1951.

• • Serial numbers are seldon found on instruments made during WW2. But most (not all) have Factory Order Numbers (FON). These contain a four digit batch number stamped in ink, followed by a two digit sequence number written in red pencil (during WW2 only). After the war, the red pencil wasn't used (and on instruments made during the war, sometimes it's really hard to see the red penciled sequence number). Usually there is no more than 46 instruments (sequence numbers) per batch. Also no batch number with a "1" as the first digit was used during WW2. The FON is usually located on the neck block. The war-time list that follows is not definative but includes FONs that I have seen. Unfortunately I don't have every range of FON's during this period.

    Year    Factory Order Number 
    ----    --------------------
    1941    G (letter code sometimes seen after FON, i.e. 2586G).
    1942    907, 910, 923, 2004, 2005, 7000ish (i.e. 7119) - all 'Banner' logo.
    1942    H (letter code sometimes seen after FON, i.e. 7116H). Range 5xxxH to 8xxxH
    1943    Range generally 9xx to 22xx, depending on the model.
    1944    Range generally 22xx to 29XX, depending on the model, some with no FON.
    1945    1xx to 10xx, but many with no FON.
    1946    n/a ('Banner' logo no longer used, now script logo with no banner).
    1947    700s to 1000s
    1948    1100s to 3700s ('Script' logo no longer used, block logo used.)
    1949    2000s
    1950    3000s to 5000s
    1951    6000s to 9000s