Dating gibson guitars by pots, manufacturers codes

As the companies grew they bought more inventory and pots sometimes were mixed or lying around for a period of time before they were used.

On popular Fender models, the pot date can be very close to the actual date of the instrument. It's worth mentioning since a lot of people rely on pot dates.

Pot dates are a useful tool in dating a guitar, but should always be used in conjunction with other known factors, such as hardware changes and serial numbers. Central Lab used and CTS used codes.

Finding them is not always easy; this is obviously not something for the faint-hearted, but once performed a few times, nowhere near as daunting as it might at first seem.

CTS always started with xxx or xxxx. Most were three way switches but they also had 5 way switches.

The serial number puts it in the range But where does that leave everyone else? Return to the Main Index. There are many exceptions and variations to the general rules described below, some of which are highlighted in the examples at the end.

The source-date code found on pots and speakers gives the manufacturer and date roughly when the components were made. Central Lab always begins with xxx or xxxx.

The remaining 3 or 4 digits are the date code.

On 4 digits date codes, the 1st and 2nd digits are the last two digits of the year. The early 70s is the years when Gibson duplicated the serial numbers from the 60s and 70s numbers cannot be properly crosschecked against Gibson's records I guess you already know that Note the different position of the markings, even on pots from the same maker.

Production dates Production dates are usually in three or four digits, one or two digits giving the year for many US pots one digit refers to the s, two digits to the sand two giving the week of the year.

Denmark AJ Love said: A few bolt on neck instruments had a date ink stamped on the heel area.