Kirkelstein Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 Greetings! Just joined the forum and wanted to reach out for some insight. I have an SJ-100 I recently acquired from a 90 years young picker. It's FON is 167-F. I asked Gibson for verification and they told me 1942/43, but I keep getting told the FON indicates 1940. I suppose it really doesn't matter, but curiosity is getting the best of me! What are your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR56 Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 Wow, congratulations on the new acquisition! I'm not really a flat-top enthusiast, but there are some people here who are, and they may be able to give you more details based on your guitar's features. (By the way, I don't recall having seen a pickguard like that before, but I'm more of an archtop guy). The resource I generally rely on for dating Gibson guitars (and sometimes other brands) is here: https://www.guitarhq.com/gibson.html#serial Scroll down to the section on Factory Order Numbers (FON's). It seems to me that the 1940 date is most likely correct. Sometimes Gibson employees are young and inexperienced, and don't seem to give out accurate historical information (experienced collectors tend to know more). Congrats again, and welcome to the forum (although activity has slowed down a lot in recent years, unfortunately). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 Nice guitar! The site Jim mentioned is a great resource. Per it, the FON is 1940 but the bridge features start in 1941, so this is probably somewhere in between that crossover. You may want to repost this in the Acoustic section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkelstein Posted August 29 Author Share Posted August 29 9 hours ago, JimR56 said: Wow, congratulations on the new acquisition! I'm not really a flat-top enthusiast, but there are some people here who are, and they may be able to give you more details based on your guitar's features. (By the way, I don't recall having seen a pickguard like that before, but I'm more of an archtop guy). The resource I generally rely on for dating Gibson guitars (and sometimes other brands) is here: https://www.guitarhq.com/gibson.html#serial Scroll down to the section on Factory Order Numbers (FON's). It seems to me that the 1940 date is most likely correct. Sometimes Gibson employees are young and inexperienced, and don't seem to give out accurate historical information (experienced collectors tend to know more). Congrats again, and welcome to the forum (although activity has slowed down a lot in recent years, unfortunately). Thanks for that info -Much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkelstein Posted August 29 Author Share Posted August 29 9 hours ago, Dave F said: Nice guitar! The site Jim mentioned is a great resource. Per it, the FON is 1940 but the bridge features start in 1941, so this is probably somewhere in between that crossover. You may want to repost this in the Acoustic section. Thanks Dave-That is consistent with what I have been hearing. I'll take your advice on the repost-Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JO'C Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 I have an old Blue Book that also indicates 1940 based on FON. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkelstein Posted August 29 Author Share Posted August 29 1 hour ago, JO'C said: I have an old Blue Book that also indicates 1940 based on FON. I'm going with that-Much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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