Serial numbers are also helpful in determining an instrument’s production year. For years, serial numbers have been used in various locations on Fender instruments, such as the top of the neck plate, the front or back of the headstock and the back of the neck near the junction with the body. Norman’s Rare Guitars (www.normansrareguitars. Godin Guitar Serial Number Lookup DOWNLOAD godin guitar serial number search c604b1855d Guitar Center is an American music retailer chain. It is the largest company of its kind with 269 locations in the United States. Its headquarters is in Westlake Village, California. Seagull Guitar Serial Numbers: When Was Your Seagull Guitar Built This post applies to all guitars under the Godin umbrella (Seagull, Art & Lutherie, Simon & Patrick, Norman.

Fred wrote:

>Are there any good web sites devoted to Norman Guitars? I just>bought what I
think is an older B-50 and I want to figure out when it>was built. It's a sweet
guitar.

Fred, so far as I can tell there's very little information about Normans on the
Web.

My understanding is that Norman guitars were originally made by an independent
compny somewhere in Eastern Canada, possibly in one of the Martime Provinces.
Then the brand name was bought by LaSiDo, the Quebec-based company that also
makes Seagulls, Simon & Patricks, Art & Lutherie and the various Godin
acoustic/electrics.

The last time a similar question was posed here someone mentioned a discussion
forum dedicated to Seagulls as a good place to find out information. You might
be able to find it by doing websearches for LaSiDo, any of the brand names
listed above, or even on the topic of Canadian-made guitars.

Good luck on this. I, personally, would be interested to know what you find
out. Every so often folks show up here wanting to know how to date their
Norman guitars, and I'd like to know the things to look for so a person could
tell whether they have a LaSiDo Norman or one of the earlier ones.

One thing you CAN look for is whether LaPatrie, Quebec is listed on the label.
If it is, then you have a LaSiDo model.

Hope this helps.

Wade Hampton Miller
Chugiak, Alaska

Remove the 'Howdy' to reply..

Alongside Fender, Gibson, Martin and Rickenbacker, Gretsch was one of the original American guitar manufacturers. As such, there are a lot of vintage specimens hidden under beds, lurking in closets or parading in plain sight on shop walls (and Reverb listings). Half the battle of finding a great deal or pre-empting conflict is accurately dating the guitar in question. The guide below is intended to help you identify the production year of any Gretsch guitar, given the serial number and its location on the guitar. This information has been compiled from multiple sources (cited at bottom). Their collective investigative legwork deserves the respect and gratitude of us all.

Like the other Giants of Original American Guitars (save Martin), Gretsch had its share of corporate hand-offs and resulting serial number inconsistencies over the years. While the situation isn't quite as bad as say, Gibson or Guild, this guide should be viewed as the best available consensus, not gospel. In some cases a serial number may leave you with a fuzzy span of several years, and in others you will know which number your guitar was within a batch during a specific month and year. And there's always the possibility of discovering a specimen that completely upends common knowledge about what was produced when. Just make sure it's not modified or a partscaster before screaming from the Gretsch-pert mountaintops.

The best approach is to cross-reference the serial number with known features for the model during different eras and the personal account of previous owners. Getting the correct year is one thing, but getting the story behind a guitar is the fun part. Hp pavilion dv6000 wifi drivers. The guide for that is much simpler: be nice, ask questions, offer whiskey.

Overview of Gretsch Production Eras

If you have absolutely no idea whether your Gretsch is old or new, a good place to start is the model number. This will give you an approximate idea of the era during which your guitar was manufactured. It's also one more piece of evidence to pair with the serial number to corroborate the actual year.

1933 - 1948: Model numbers reflect retail price. The original Synchromatic models.
1948 - 1971: 6000 Series (example, the original 6120 Chet Atkins Hollowbody)
1971 - 1980: 7000 Series (though the 8000 Series started in 1979)
1979 - 1983: 8000 Series
1990 - present: G before the number. (i.e. G6120)

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Does this also tell me where my Gretsch was manufactured, you ask? It depends. The bulk of vintage Gretsch specimens were manufactured in the original factory in New York, with a decade of Arkansas production during the '70s. From there, things get a bit more complicated. See the reference below.

Early 1900s - 1970: New York City
1970 - 1979: Booneville, Arkansas
1979 - 1981: Various locations including Mexico. Low production.
1989 - present: Japan (Terada factory)
1995 - present: US (Custom & Masterbuilt Series)
2000 - present: China and Korea (Electromatic & Synchromatic Series)

You will also hear people throw around terms with Gretsch guitar like pre-Baldwin or Fender-era. This refers to the corporate ownership changes the company experienced over time. Gretsch is unique in that it started as a family company, was bought out and later taken back by the family, only to be bought a second time. See the reference below.

Pre-Baldwin Era: 1883 - 1967. Gretsch is family owned, growing to major distribution. This was the original Golden Age for Gretsch, particularly the late '50 and early '60s, when they enjoyed the endorsement of Chet Atkins and George Harrison.
Baldwin Era: 1967 - 1981. Gretsch is bought by Baldwin as a second choice after failing to buy Fender. Production moved to Baldwin/Burns factory in Arkansas. Quality and worker morale drop in the wake of new management and two factory fires. Chet Atkins withdraws his endorsement.
Revival Era: 1989 - 2002. Fred W. Gretsch (great grandson of the founder) buys back the company. Production begins in Japan's Terada plant, mostly re-creating classic models.
Fender Era: 2002 - present. Fender buys Gretsch with complete control. Model ranges expand and quality improves even further, with standard models produced in Japan and budget models produced in China, Korea or Indonesia.

In the eyes of collectors, late '50s and early '60s models are most desirable, particularly specimens with the same features as those played by Harrison or Atkins. Specimens from 1967 - 1981 are mostly considered player-grade, non-collectible guitars, though some models like the Atkins Axe and Super Axe have a strong following. In terms of raw playability, the made-in-Japan models of the last decade are regarded as high-quality instruments that avoid some of the flaws of the mid-20th century designs on which they're based.

Norman Guitar Serial Number Search Database

Serial Numbers

To find the serial number on your Gretsch, start by looking at the headstock. On most modern (post-1989) Gretsch guitars, you'll find it on the back of the headstock. Some models from 1962 - late '60s also had serial numbers on the top of the headstock or on the model plate, but for most vintage specimens you'll be looking for a label, either visible through the F-hole on hollow bodies or in a control cavity for solid bodies (in which case you'll need some tools). Before 1949 there were no labels and serials were written in pencil inside the guitar.

Gretsch serial numbers were sequential (a la Martin) from 1939 - 1966. When Baldwin took over, serials became date-coded from 1967 - 1981.

Click on the links here to jump directly to the serial number style that matches your instrum