Is this a S-310 custom?dodgy serial number!

[Azagthoth]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Epiphone-by-Gibson-strat-style-electric-guitar-1987_W0QQitemZ180365929190QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item29fea5aae6&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1683|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

 

Trying to help this guy with an I.D and im nearly positive its a S-310 custom as it has a pair of humbucker's,but they were made around 1996 for a year or so and he insists hes had it sice 1991.confusing as the serial number dates in the 1970's!!

 

any ideas?

[Lord Summerisle]

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that your friend was right about buying the guitar in 1991, because the guitar was made in 1987.

 

First clue is the 1980s "Epiphone by Gibson" headstock:

 

 

 

...which compares with this 1987 guitar:

 

 

You may find this article interesting, as it provides an appraisal of a 1987 Samick-built S-800:

 

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2008/Apr/Epiphones_800.aspx

 

Note: the S-800 being evaluated in the article has the serial number: 710113XX (your friend's guitar has a similar serial number: 71108272). The article confirms this as a 1987 built guitar: "Although there is no accurate serialization from this era of Epiphone, your guitar was probably built in 1987 by Samick in Korea. Cort and Peerless also produced guitars for Epiphone during the late 1980s, but Samick was the larger provider. The eight digit serial number conforms to Samick’s system where the first number of the serial number indicates the last number of the year."

 

It's definitely an S series guitar, but not a S-310 Custom (at least not by the '90s spec - the mid-90s S-310 Customs had single coils):

 

 

Note also the absence of "by Gibson" on the headstock logo.

 

Retrieved from the Epiphone website for May 1998, via archive.org -

 

S-310 Custom

Features & Benefits

 

Scale Nut Length: 25.5

Nut Wide: 1.68"

 

Specifications

 

Pickups 3 Single

 

Hardware Chrome

 

Scale/Nut width 25.5" / 1.68"

 

Neck Joint Bolt

 

Neck Material Mahogany

 

Fingerboard/Inlay Maple / Dot

 

Body Material Ash

 

 

I think that your friend definitely has a late-'80s S Series Epiphone. I guess the original model number doesn't matter too much. In any case, the pick-up configuration could have been changed before your friend bought the guitar in the early '90s.

 

The asking price of £195 ($312) may be a little ambitious - but then again, the guitar looks in excellent condition and has a hard shell case.

[RobinTheHood]

WHAT I DO BELIEVE IS THAT IT IS AN S-310 MODEL PRODUCED IN KOREA AT THE SAMICK FACTORY IN 1987. THIS TIES IN WITH SAMICKS SERIAL NUMBER METHOD. IVE ALSO PHONED A FEW MUSIC SHOPS AND HAD MEMBERS OF STAFF LOOK AT THE GUITAR PICTURES AND MOST AGREE THAT ITS MID EIGHTIES.

 

 

This info is correct. It is an 80's model. The Pickup config could have been changed by a previous owner at any point in its lifetime. Those headstocks were produced between 86' - 89'