Most major guitar manufacturers, including fender, gibson, and martin, have tables on their websites that list the serial numbers used for different models and the years they represent. The official vintage guitar magazine price guide 2020 greenwood, alan. Whether the music you listen to is from the north or the south, the country or the city, it is likely that a gibson guitar was involved in creating it. The official vintage guitar price guide vintage guitar. Gibson invented the archtop guitar as we know it and has remained one of the better makers. We are the trusted guitar price guide for providing guitar blue book values. To determine the value of you gibson guitar, you must know the model and the year of manufacture. Which is better gibson les paul custom or gibson les. The serial number is a330xx, and its on an orange label on the inside. Your help adding to this thread will help many players and guitar enthusiasts. Collectors who grew up in the 1950s often want different guitars to those that grew up in the 1980s. With the serial number, you can check sites such as and for the date.
But with a little bit of research you should be able to find out when your gibson was built and in some cases where there are a number of distinct time periods for gibsons serial numbers, where the systems differed. Gibson guitar serial numbers are, like a lot of serial number systems from guitar manufacturers, a complicated beast. The condition of a particular piece greatly affects the value of a collectible. This new function will try to match the serial number against older formats, details required for an exact match are listed in yellow.
The website is divided into electric guitars, acoustic guitars, and guitar amplifiers in addition to other instruments. As i said i cannot think of any gibson guitar that has increased since the 80s. Vintage guitars info gibson collecting vintage gibson. So double check the serial numbers on those 1970s l5s, super 400s, and super 5 bjbs. How much is the worth of epiphone gibson model pr 350be guitar. Gruhns guide to vintage guitars updated and revised third edition book. Can anyone guide me to a site where i can check the current value of some vintage gibson guitars. Acoustic guitars deliver sound without electronic amplification and through the body of the instrument. I believe this is a good resource for arriving at an estimate of an instruments current value.
It is known in guitar circles as the holy grail of guitars. Bach the parts of the guitar there are three main types of guitars,the steelstring acoustic, the nylon string or classical guitar, and the electric guitar. Musicians dont usually consider the value of their instrument 50 years on when they change pickups or slap stickers on it. The most collectible gibson archtops are the larger models made from the early 1930s to 1959. This method goes back to the idea that an items worth is the amount you can get somebody to pay for it.
After all, gibson preceded fender in the amplifier market by more than ten years, introducing the eh150 in the midthirties. For guitars made prior to 1977 use the extended search function. The gibson guitar corporation is one of the oldest and most prominent names in guitar manufacturing, having created countless electric and acoustic guitars over the decades that long lines of acclaimed and awardwinning musicians swear by. Damages on any guitar, acoustic or electric, can devalue it significantly. An instrument that has a few scratches on it but has all its original parts and finish is usually worth more than a perfectly refinished specimen. From the 1920s to the present, gibson and its flattops have been synonymous with american music. There is a site that offers free serial number look ups to determine the year. How to find the value of an epiphone guitar our pastimes. Maybe you picked up an old guitar at a yard sale for a few bucks. What is the value of a 1952 gibson les paul answers. Its been put away all these years, and now my wife and i are thinking about moving and its time to downsize. The official vintage guitar magazine price guide 2020.
One should bare in mind that blue books cant predict changing economic times and regardless of an estimated value, its only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, as they say. Discover the timeless perfection of these electrics, acoustics and basses. Gibson and slash are proud to present the new slash collection of signature guitars. The move might have seemed strange to followers of gibson, generally regarded as traditionalists in the field, but in hindsight, it was actually an extension of orville gibsons radical mandolin designs back in the 19th. One of the most surefire ways to find out the value of your gibson acoustic guitar is to contact the gibson guitar corporation. Use this site for a pricing guide and source of information on all guitars. Top 5 quality guitar brands with horrible resale value. The lineup includes alltime favorites, modern updates on popular models and much more. These models represent electric and acoustic guitars slash has played before millions of fans during his career and influenced multiple generations of players around the world. Find the current blue book value and worth of your new and used guitars, both acoustic, electric and amplifier. Unlike used price, you will have to register for a. How to find the value of a gibson acoustic guitar our.
If there are two of the same guitars, the guitar with the least amount of damage will be the more desirable product. Gibson les paul traditional pro v flame top electric guitar. The gibson es335 is an archtop guitar equipped with two hollow chambers separated by a solid maple wood block running down its center, and twin humbuckers. What is the value of a 1980 gibson les paul custom answers. The world of popular music would be a lot different if it wasnt for gibson. Read about guitar history and find out how much your guitar is worth at the reverb price guide. The advance 17 or wider models from late 1934 onward are of the same construction used in todays archtops. The first way to find value in a gibson acoustic guitar is to check the guitars body, neck and headstock for dings, scratches, nicks or cracks. Jones is willing to risk life and limb to attain the mystical treasure. Gibson l00 guitar gibson l00 guitar info, l0 l1 l2. The gibson serial number decoder currently supports 6 formats from 4 factories.
Its amazing to think that right now at this very moment, someone is learning their first chords on a. A lot of us turn to blue book price guides for instrument valuation. When appraising your guitar, the first place to begin is the average market value of the guitar. The gibson l00, l0, l1 and l2 are all very similar models, with the only differences being small cosmetics. The number one source of guitar and amplifier pricing and information so you can find the price and value of your used guitars and amplifier. Welcome to the reverb price guide, the ultimate resource for music gear pricing and information. Gibson serial numbers 1975present this section is designed to assist in dating andor identifying instruments manufactured or distributed by gibson guitar corp.
Unfollow gibson guitar book to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Gibson initially called the new style o special grand concert, but it was the only grandconcertsized guitar 16. The gibson es335 along with variants like the es345 and es355 has proven to be one of the most versatile and successful electric guitar models ever produced. The guitar dater project gibson serial number decoder. When originally introduced in 1958, it was intended as a crossover between the large, hollow body jazz guitars of the 40s and 50s, and the fairly recently developed solidbody. With the les paul standard, gibson moved up the aesthetic value of the guitar by designing a stylish and sleek work of art. Gibson 403 breedlove 4 seagull 1 collings 128 guild 67 epiphone 50 santa cruz 26 ovation 18show more.
The maple block provides the es335 with a hybrid solidhollow body perfect for jazz and blues musicians. Gibson is a manufacturer of acoustic guitars, and the vintage models produced by gibson are widely sought for their tone, action, look, and durability. Gibson l00, gibson l0, gibson l1, gibson l2 flat top guitars available. Based on overall value, gibson is generally regarded as the premier guitar builder of the 1950s and 1960s. A 1952 gibson les paul guitar can be worth between 15,000 and 20,000 dollars. Finding free guitar values online how to research a vintage guitars value.
In a similar vein, many guitar collectors seem to be willing to pay almost any price to get their calcified fingers on a real, authentic 1959 gibson les paul standard. Gibson has a 24hour, sevendaysaweek customer service phone number for anyone with questions about their instrument. Certain guitar models built in the late 1970s can be used to demonstrate the oldstyle, sixdigit serial numbers. Whether you are looking for a fender guitar value, a gibson guitar value or a. Next to it is the ugliest pre1970 gibson knob, known as the amp knob, used from late 1966 to the mid1970s but not on all models. Gibson l00 guitar gibson l0 guitar gibson l1 guitar gibson l2 guitar. If you already own an older edition of this book, you can not get a current price, simply by adjusting for inflation.
Please note that most of this information relates to serial numbers used from 1975 to present. Product registration customer service repair and restoration report counterfeits serial number faq gibson guitar specs 20152019 our brands. The less a guitar has been messed with, the better. Vintage guitar collecting, like anything else is subject to fashion. The musthave book on gibsons killer acoustic guitars, now updated. The following websites act as a guitar blue book online. Inspired by slash, built by gibson, and now, played by you. For some manufacturers, serial numbers overlapped in some decades, or were used for more than one type of guitar. How to find out the age and value of a guitar with pictures. This is a list of the top 5 quality guitar brands that have horrible resale value. These price ranges utilize a combination of expert research, external market data, and realtime reverb transactions to estimate the current value of items in used but original condition. If you cant determine the year it was built, write down the serial number. Guitar values can range from practically nothing to an astronomical sum for the right guitar and to an untrained eye, guitars at either end of the spectrum can look very similar. Once you have correctly identified your guitar, you can look up a suggested value in the books above.
Note the model of the guitar, year it was built and the overall condition mint, excellent, badly scratched, etc. A lot of the guitars in this list is from personal experience and from what i. It is estimated that gibsons kalamazoo plant continued to use the sixdigit serial numbers through 1978 and 1979. Please post any comments, particularly bugs in the user feedback. All im saying is that the blue book for acoustic guitars does not have a listing for the pr350 be. Good, as long as you know what your guitar is, you can probably get a number of vintage guitar valuations for free. If you want a completely accurate evaluation of your gibson, my advice would be to go to the experts at blue book of guitar values. Within the past 20 years or so i can think of only one gibson that has increased in value. The blue book of acoustic guitars and blue book of electric guitars are the two leading reference and value guides in. If you cannot provide sufficient information concerning your guitar or amplifier i cannot provide a true fair market value, other than estimatingguessing based upon the books contents and my best judgement of the particular guitar or amplifier being offered for evaluation. Gibson guitars resale value ed roman king of guitars. From here, you can make additions or subtractions to the value based on damages, imperfections, and aftermarket additions to the instrument. These price ranges utilize a combination of expert research, external market data, and realtime reverb transactions to estimate the current value of items in.
Epiphone kramer steinberger krk cerwin vega stanton dj. The company was formerly known as gibson guitar corporation and renamed gibson brands, inc. I would suggest contacting epiphone through their website at vai the contact us option and asking them about the guitar model and which model it. Any value you find in the blue book or any of the other guides is merely a suggestion. Most major guitar manufacturers, including fender, gibson, and.