Before collectibility and value can be determined about a Gibson guitar (and before you emailme asking, 'what kind of Gibson guitar do I have?'),several things need to be identified:
This masterfully hand-crafted acoustic guitar follows in the footsteps of the classic Hummingbird, but features a stunning quilted maple back and sides and a beautiful, hand-rubbed, bright cherry sunburst finish. Right: 1977 Gibson decal serial number applied on a Les Paul Artisan. Gibson Serial Numbers, 1975-1977. All models, decal, 2 digit prefix followed by 6 digits. The decal can also states the model name/number. Prefix Year- - 99 19 06 1977 1976 Gibson serial number with '00' prefix. Gibson Serial Numbers, 1977 to present.
- The type of guitar (flattop, archtop, solidbody, lapsteel, etc).
- The exact model within the type.
- The year it was made (or approximate year/era).
- Oringinality (have any of the parts been changed or modified?).
First Determine the Type of Guitar and the Model.
Sometimes there is a tag inside the guitar stating the 'style' or model.If the model is hollow, look on the inside for any tags and madenote of any ink stamps (sometimes the model is ink stamped inside the guitar).But unfortunately, especially on the low to mid line models,usually there is NO tag or label inside the guitar specifying what it is.If this is the case, start at the beginning and first determine whattype of guitar you have.These are several different types of Gibson guitars made.Once this is known, go directly to the section aboutthat type (listed in the blue table of contents text above),and look at the model pictures and descriptions that matches your guitar.
Sometimes there is a tag inside the guitar stating the 'style' or model.If the model is hollow, look on the inside for any tags and madenote of any ink stamps (sometimes the model is ink stamped inside the guitar).But unfortunately, especially on the low to mid line models,usually there is NO tag or label inside the guitar specifying what it is.If this is the case, start at the beginning and first determine whattype of guitar you have.These are several different types of Gibson guitars made.Once this is known, go directly to the section aboutthat type (listed in the blue table of contents text above),and look at the model pictures and descriptions that matches your guitar.
Here are the general types of Gibson guitars:
- Electric Solid body Gibsons: body is a solid piece of wood(no soundhole or cutouts), 1.5' to 2' thick, pickups and knobs routed into the top of the guitar.
- Flattop Acoustic Gibsons: single round sound hole under the strings, body 3.5' to 4.5' thick with a flat top, usually not electric(but often owners add a sort of bolt-on electric assembly).
- Acoustic Archtop Gibsons: two 'f' hole stylesound holes cut in the top, body 3' to 4.5' thick, slightly arched top, acoustic with no pickups (but sometimes these models have bolt-on electic assembly added later by players).
- Electric Archtop Gibsons: same as above ('f' holes, arch top)but the factory installed electric pickups into the guitar with volume/tone knob(s).
- Electric Thinline Archtop Gibsons: same as above (electricwith two 'f' holes in the top), but the body is thinner at 1.5' to 2' thick. These are always electric from the factory.
- Electric Lapsteel Gibson: a small solidbody guitar (no cutoutsor sound holes) that is playedin the lap, Hawaiian style, with a metal slide bar, pickup and knob routed into the top.
Once the type of guitar is determined, figuring out the exact model isMUCH easier! (just go to one of the above six linked webpages that describes your guitar, and compare each model specs to your guitar, until you find the one that matches).
Next Determine the Year or Approximate Year.
Gibson guitars usually have a FON (Factory Order Number), a serial number, or both(but sometimes neither!) Various serial number systems were used by Gibson,and often the same serial number could be used in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.See the serial number/FON section for details.Duplicate or no serial/FON number doesn't make things easy, but there are other traits that allow theserial number to make sense (see the General Specs sectionfor more details). Also mid to top end instruments usually have a label insidethe guitar with the serial number. Guitars with no label are usually lower end instruments(or are a solidbody guitar!)
Gibson guitars usually have a FON (Factory Order Number), a serial number, or both(but sometimes neither!) Various serial number systems were used by Gibson,and often the same serial number could be used in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.See the serial number/FON section for details.Duplicate or no serial/FON number doesn't make things easy, but there are other traits that allow theserial number to make sense (see the General Specs sectionfor more details). Also mid to top end instruments usually have a label insidethe guitar with the serial number. Guitars with no label are usually lower end instruments(or are a solidbody guitar!)
Probably the first thing when trying to determine the year on an old Gibsonis whether the guitar was made 'pre-WW2', during WW2, or 'post-WW2'. This is easy to do, as Gibsonused different peghead logos for pre-WW2, 'wartime', and post-WW2 (see the General Specs section for more details). Knowing the general era of the Gibson guitar will make Gibson's rather complicatedserial number/FON systems less tangled.
Next Determine the Exact Model.
There are several general questions which can be asked in determining a guitar's model,once the type of guitar (flat top, arch top, etc.) has been determined:
There are several general questions which can be asked in determining a guitar's model,once the type of guitar (flat top, arch top, etc.) has been determined:
- What is the color of the top of the guitar? Common top colors include 'sunburst' (a yellow center that fades to a darker red or brown around the edges),black, natural and 'cherry red' (a translucent red which shows the wood grain).
- What is the color of the back of the guitar? Common back colorsinclude translucent dark brown, translucent light brown, sunburst, cherry red, etc.
- What is the body size? (measure the guitar across the top at the widest point, which isthe guitar's 'hips'). This is really important for all model types except solidbody electrics.
- What is the style of fingerboard inlays? (dots, blocks, trapezoids, double parallelagrams, etc.)
- What is the style of 'Gibson' peghead logo? That is, is it white silkscreen,gold silkscreen, or pearl inlay? Also if the logo is pre-WW2, wartime, or post-WW2 (see above).Also fancier models can even have some sort of pearl inlaid decoration (a 'crown' or longskinny 'diamond') on the pegheadjust below the 'Gibson' logo.
- What is the style of binding? Binding is the whitish/yellowish/tortoise 'band' that goesaround the edges of the body. Most Gibsons have some sort of body binding.Often binding is multi-layers (white/black/white, etc).Some guitars also have binding on the neck. The more binding a guitar has, the fancierthe model.
Gibson Hummingbird Serial Number Lookup Yellow Pages
Gibson Guitar Serial Numbers And Value
Finally Determine the Originality.
Originality of an instrument is very important. Modifications (any modifications),are a bad thing in the eyes of a collector. This will greatly influencevalue. Modifications can often be determined by looking at the modelspecs for a particular year guitar in this web page (after the approximate year is determined), and compare to your instrument.
Originality of an instrument is very important. Modifications (any modifications),are a bad thing in the eyes of a collector. This will greatly influencevalue. Modifications can often be determined by looking at the modelspecs for a particular year guitar in this web page (after the approximate year is determined), and compare to your instrument.
Vintage Gibson Serial Numbers
Gram Parsons '61 Hummingbird…
This 15 3/4-inch-wide Square Shoulder Dreadnought weighs just 4.60 lbs. and has a wide nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Mahogany back and sides, fine-grain spruce top, one-piece mahogany neck with a nice medium profile, and single-bound rosewood fretboard with 20 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl split-parallelogram position markers. Black headstock with inlaid pearl 'Gibson' logo and pearl crown inlay. Two-layer black on white plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover. Individual gold-plated single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with single-ring Keystone plastic buttons. Brown celluloid pickguard with hummingbird, butterfly, and flowers etched in white and yellow. Rosewood tailpiece with two pearl dots and adjustable rosewood bridge.
The top has seven-ply binding, the back has five-ply binding, and the soundhole rings are in three groups of three, seven and three. Inside the soundhole is the orange label with Style 'Guitar' / Gibson 'Humming Bird' / Number '40620' stamped in black. The serial number '40620' is also stamped in blind on the back of the headstock. The 'A' tuner button has shrunk a little but is stable and the 'E' tuner has been changed for a matching, but slightly later (ca. 1964) Kluson double-line deluxe version. Housed in the original Gibson black hardshell case with orange plush lining (9.25).
'The Hummingbird is numbered among those elite guitars that look like no others, that are unmistakably individual and unique. Of all the models in the history of Gibson acoustic flat-tops, probably the venerable J-200 alone is more immediately identifiable than this peerless 'bird of paradise…Gibson introduced the Hummingbird, their first square-shoulder guitar, in 1960. Their goal: an instrument designed for vocal accompaniment, one whose warm and honeyed tone would complement the voice, not overpower it. In reaching this goal Gibson employed a radical design that resulted in an instrument more boxy than its round-shoulder predecessors…The price and quality of this new model were appropriate for a guitar second only to that of the J-200 among Gibson flat-tops…The new model was not only more visually stunning than the competition of the time (especially that of other guitar companies), it offered superior playing capabilities. The Hummingbird certainly gave the public what it wanted: sales jumped to 595 in 1961 from 156 the previous year. In fact, the model was selling so well that Gibson expanded the Hummingbird concept, creating the Dove, which was based on the same body as the Hummingbird, but had maple back and sides, a long-scale neck, and different external components. The Dove cost approximately 35 percent more than the Hummingbird and filled the price slot between it and the top-of-the-line J-200…By 1965 the Hummingbird had been relegated to number five in the Gibson lineup, according to price, behind the J-200, Dove, Heritage, and Everly Brothers guitars. Also in this year many changes were made in the Hummingbird. One of the more unusual involved triangles or rectangles of black paint on the guitar's sides, next to the neck heel…That year also saw a neck change, in which the peghead angle was reduced to 14 degrees from 17 and the neck was made more narrow, two modifications that affected the entire flat-top line at that time. Also, chrome plate supplanted nickel that year…During 1967 and 1968, in a short-lived experiment, pickguards were attached by tiny screws rather than glued; also, some nickel-plated tuners were found on the 'birds. In 1968 the top-belly bridge was replaced by a squarish bottom-belly design; the adjustable saddle was retained. At this time some Hummingbird tops were also finished with the traditional dark brown sunburst instead of the trademark cherryburst. The last year for the ultra-light Hummingbird construction that produced such excellent sound was 1968. Near the end of that year Gibson initiated major changes intended to increase production while keeping warranty work to aminimum. Thus, the braces on both top and back became large and bulky, as did the solid-wood bridge pad' (Eldon Whitford, David Vinopal, & Dan Erlewine, Gibson's Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars, pp. 111-114).
'Keith Richards has used Hummingbirds quite frequently throughout his career, alongside other acoustic guitars. His Hummingbird can be heard in many Rolling Stones songs, such as 'Let it Bleed', 'Love in Vain', 'No Expectations', and 'Dead Flowers'. Other notable Hummingbird players include Jimmy Page, Brian Jones, Marc Bolan, Sheryl Crow, The Edge, Bono, Sarah Harmer, Mick Jagger, Alan Sparhawk, John McLaughlin, Gram Parsons, Ryan Adams, KT Tunstall, Lefty Frizzell, Stoll Vaughan, and currently Michelle Branch is using one' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Hummingbird).
This 15 3/4-inch-wide Square Shoulder Dreadnought weighs just 4.60 lbs. and has a wide nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Mahogany back and sides, fine-grain spruce top, one-piece mahogany neck with a nice medium profile, and single-bound rosewood fretboard with 20 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl split-parallelogram position markers. Black headstock with inlaid pearl 'Gibson' logo and pearl crown inlay. Two-layer black on white plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover. Individual gold-plated single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with single-ring Keystone plastic buttons. Brown celluloid pickguard with hummingbird, butterfly, and flowers etched in white and yellow. Rosewood tailpiece with two pearl dots and adjustable rosewood bridge.
The top has seven-ply binding, the back has five-ply binding, and the soundhole rings are in three groups of three, seven and three. Inside the soundhole is the orange label with Style 'Guitar' / Gibson 'Humming Bird' / Number '40620' stamped in black. The serial number '40620' is also stamped in blind on the back of the headstock. The 'A' tuner button has shrunk a little but is stable and the 'E' tuner has been changed for a matching, but slightly later (ca. 1964) Kluson double-line deluxe version. Housed in the original Gibson black hardshell case with orange plush lining (9.25).
'The Hummingbird is numbered among those elite guitars that look like no others, that are unmistakably individual and unique. Of all the models in the history of Gibson acoustic flat-tops, probably the venerable J-200 alone is more immediately identifiable than this peerless 'bird of paradise…Gibson introduced the Hummingbird, their first square-shoulder guitar, in 1960. Their goal: an instrument designed for vocal accompaniment, one whose warm and honeyed tone would complement the voice, not overpower it. In reaching this goal Gibson employed a radical design that resulted in an instrument more boxy than its round-shoulder predecessors…The price and quality of this new model were appropriate for a guitar second only to that of the J-200 among Gibson flat-tops…The new model was not only more visually stunning than the competition of the time (especially that of other guitar companies), it offered superior playing capabilities. The Hummingbird certainly gave the public what it wanted: sales jumped to 595 in 1961 from 156 the previous year. In fact, the model was selling so well that Gibson expanded the Hummingbird concept, creating the Dove, which was based on the same body as the Hummingbird, but had maple back and sides, a long-scale neck, and different external components. The Dove cost approximately 35 percent more than the Hummingbird and filled the price slot between it and the top-of-the-line J-200…By 1965 the Hummingbird had been relegated to number five in the Gibson lineup, according to price, behind the J-200, Dove, Heritage, and Everly Brothers guitars. Also in this year many changes were made in the Hummingbird. One of the more unusual involved triangles or rectangles of black paint on the guitar's sides, next to the neck heel…That year also saw a neck change, in which the peghead angle was reduced to 14 degrees from 17 and the neck was made more narrow, two modifications that affected the entire flat-top line at that time. Also, chrome plate supplanted nickel that year…During 1967 and 1968, in a short-lived experiment, pickguards were attached by tiny screws rather than glued; also, some nickel-plated tuners were found on the 'birds. In 1968 the top-belly bridge was replaced by a squarish bottom-belly design; the adjustable saddle was retained. At this time some Hummingbird tops were also finished with the traditional dark brown sunburst instead of the trademark cherryburst. The last year for the ultra-light Hummingbird construction that produced such excellent sound was 1968. Near the end of that year Gibson initiated major changes intended to increase production while keeping warranty work to aminimum. Thus, the braces on both top and back became large and bulky, as did the solid-wood bridge pad' (Eldon Whitford, David Vinopal, & Dan Erlewine, Gibson's Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars, pp. 111-114).
'Keith Richards has used Hummingbirds quite frequently throughout his career, alongside other acoustic guitars. His Hummingbird can be heard in many Rolling Stones songs, such as 'Let it Bleed', 'Love in Vain', 'No Expectations', and 'Dead Flowers'. Other notable Hummingbird players include Jimmy Page, Brian Jones, Marc Bolan, Sheryl Crow, The Edge, Bono, Sarah Harmer, Mick Jagger, Alan Sparhawk, John McLaughlin, Gram Parsons, Ryan Adams, KT Tunstall, Lefty Frizzell, Stoll Vaughan, and currently Michelle Branch is using one' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Hummingbird).