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Gibson serial numbers 1952 to 1961, solidbody model

1. Pre Gibson Tobias Serial Numbers
2. Gibson Tobias Serial Numbers

A number stamped with ink on the back of the headstock.
Gibson's solid bodys were released in 1952. Gibson did not use serial numbers at that time but started in 1953.
The first digit of the series number is the last digit of the year. If the stamped number consists of 5 digits, there is a space between the first and second digit (a separation between the last digit of the year and the actual serial number).
If it concerns a 6-digit serial number, there is no space, because the highest 4-digit number (9999) has been exceeded and the space therefore fills up. This was the case in the years 1955, 1956, 1959 and 1960.
In 1955, Gibson forgot to reset the series of serial numbers to 0001.
So they had only set the year from 4 to 5. For this reason the series of 4 digit serial numbers was exceeded after 9999.
Hence 5 digits and no space between the year (5) and the serial number. (after 5 9999 came 510 000)
Apparently the production was high in 1956 because 6 9999 is exceeded. Also in 1959 and 1960 there was a high production, 9 9999 is exceeded to 932 000 or higher.
Thus, from the production in 1959, a 1, 2 or 3 may be the second digit.
Gibson stopped the stamped serial numbers at the end of 1960, although a few instruments were made in 1961 with a 1 as a prefix. Some lap steels and Les Paul's from 1961 have such a serial number.
Another exception to the above rules is in the fall of 1958, where some Les Paul Juniors and Specials had a four-digit serial number.

The first Gibson Tobias serial number was 1094. Actually, this date is not particularly important, because nothing changed at Tobias after Gibson bought them - at first. The California-made basses, whether pre-Gibson or post, were all made under Mike Tobias's shop, under his direct supervision There are no significant. You just have to know that Tobias with serial up to 2044 are Gibson-made. The ones up to and including 2044 were made in California. After that they were made in Gnashville by Gibson. Aug 16, 2004 #6. NOTE - Gibson USA goes to a 9 digit serial number in early July 2005. The sixth number is now a batch number- batch 0 starts at the beginning of the day, and once we stamp 699, the batch number will change to 1. The first 5 numbers remain the same, the last 3 numbers will remain the same. The only difference is the addition of this batch. Gibson serial numbers edit edit source In the 1970s, Gibson standardized the serial number system that is still in use today. The typically eight-digit serial numbers on Gibson guitars are stamped on the backside of the headstock. The first and the fifth number combined show the year that the instrument was made.

Gibson serial numbers, from February 1961 until 1970
Gibson started in 1961 with a new series numbering system.
They wanted to apply a more structured series of sequences, but in practice the opposite happened. Numbers were reused during this period, and in many cases the numbers were not strictly applied for successive years.
For all models, the serial number is stamped on the back of the headstock. A number of serial numbers were duplicated from 1963
to 1969.
From this period the 5-digit and 6-digit numbers are easy to confuse and give an incorrect year.

Tobias is a brand of bass guitar originally made by luthierMichael Tobias starting in the 1970s and later bought out by Gibson Guitar Corporation. Tobias Guitars was established in Orlando, Florida in April 1977.

History

The basses are of neck-through construction, a style of neck-body assembly where the neck of the instrument is a single piece of wood that extends through the body and had the sides of the bass glued to it rather than being bolted on. Tobias basses also were among the first to feature an asymmetrical neck, a design where the neck is thinner on the lower side than the upper.^[1]

The first serial number was 0178, instead of the usual 0001, as a reference to the month the first bass was completed, January 1978.^[2]

In 1990 Gibson Guitar Corporation purchased Tobias and moved production to Nashville. The first Tobias bass under Gibson ownership bore the serial number 1094. Michael Tobias left the company in 1992 to found Michael Tobias Design which produces a line of hand-made basses similar in spirit to the older Tobias basses. Basses below the serial number 2044 were built in the California factory headed-up by Michael Tobias; serial numbers after that were produced by Gibson with a transition period in which Tobias worked with Gibson and continued to produce basses.^[3]

Products

• Growler 4/5
• Renegade 4
• Renegade 5
• Toby Standard
• Toby Deluxe IV
• Toby Deluxe V

References

1. ↑ 'Tobias Basses - The Classics'. Gibson.com. 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
2. ↑ 'MTD History'. Mtdbass.com. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
3. ↑ 'MTD History'. Mtdbass.com. Retrieved 2012-02-03.

External links

Pre Gibson Tobias Serial Numbers

• Michael Tobias Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2005)

Gibson Tobias Serial Numbers