ol fred Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 New guy here. Trying to find "birthday" of my ****ry Western. Ser# or FON printed on neck butt F7388-14 All help appreciated. Don't seem to be able to load a pic with question, will try to post pic as separate post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rar Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Trying to find "birthday" of my ****ry Western. Well, I guess this is a model where it is crucial to spell the name correctly! Welcome, Ol' Fred, to the wonderful world of being protected from potentially offensive words by the website software. (Although I should complain. I, along with a lot of other folks, have learned a potentially useful Spanish obscenity thanks to this feature. Probably not what the designers intended.) -- Bob R P.S. A picture would help, as this number looks a little odd. (Suspicious, in fact, given it's just right for an Epiphone.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Well, I guess this is a model where it is crucial to spell the name correctly! Welcome, Ol' Fred, to the wonderful world of being protected from potentially offensive words by the website software. (Although I should complain. I, along with a lot of other folks, have learned a potentially useful Spanish obscenity thanks to this feature. Probably not what the designers intended.) -- Bob R P.S. A picture would help, as this number looks a little odd. (Suspicious, in fact, given it's just right for an Epiphone.) Bob, I work for Gillig, we're a builder of city transit buses. When we got our new Lotus Notes email system, it would block out certain words....and would flag the entire email. Our ONLY diesel engine supplier, (Not CAT and not Detroit Diesel..the other one the one Dodge puts in it's pickups!), was flagging so much email that it virtually shut us down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ol fred Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 Welllllll I have been known to overlook a typo but I usually don't spell like Carlene Carter. I'm a goof, I was on a forum once and knew how to post pics. Thank you all for the reminder. Here's the link: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Lovely top on the ol' girl...Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 How old is my baby???????? I wish I a dollar every time I've said these words.....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rar Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Welllllll I have been known to overlook a typo but I usually don't spell like Carlene Carter. I'm a goof, I was on a forum once and knew how to post pics. Thank you all for the reminder. I'm thinking that 'F' is not an 'F'. 'R' seems like the likeliest candidate, which would make it a 1960. AFAIK, no one can give you a precise birthday. -- Bob R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 She's a beauty. B) Sorry, no help on yer date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-1854Me Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 I'm thinking that 'F' is not an 'F'. 'R' seems like the likeliest candidate, which would make it a 1960. AFAIK, no one can give you a precise birthday. -- Bob R I was thinking the same thing. I have an "S"-FON Country Western, a '59. Looking at that pickguard on the OP's guitar, I was wondering if it might an earlier one, but the only FON alphabet letter that comes close to an "F" might be a "T"?, which could put it to 1958. (Younger?) Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jannusguy2 Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Very lovely guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rar Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Looking at that pickguard on the OP's guitar, I was wondering if it might an earlier one, but the only FON alphabet letter that comes close to an "F" might be a "T"?, which could put it to 1958. I agree that the pickguard looks earlier than '60. Earlier than '58 for that matter. But it's Gibson, so anything's possible. -- Bob R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 That pickguard was used from 1955 through 1962 (it disappeared when the guitars acquired square shoulders). The serial number makes no sense. As noted though if the prefix is an R and the number is hypenated it would date the guitar at 1960. An easy way to tell if the guitar was made before or after 1960 is the neck - that is the year Gibson went to an incredibly thin neck profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rar Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 That pickguard was used from 1955 through 1962 (it disappeared when the guitars acquired square shoulders). The shape stayed constant, but the color and pattern of the celluloid varied quite a bit during that period. You can't reliably date guitars based on which block the pickguard was sliced off -- because, as you know, Gibson had this tendency to let the odd part lay around in a bin somewhere for years before actually using it -- but it's a clue. -- Bob R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ol fred Posted December 21, 2010 Author Share Posted December 21, 2010 Thanks all for the help and comments. Looking again at what appears to be the FON...The first Digit/letter could possibly be a T, even with my tired old eyes F or T I think are the only possibilities. Matters not how old she is I guess, the old girl is still my baby and the sweetest sounding guitar I have ever played. Love her as I do, I might entertain bids in a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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