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Author
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Topic: Gibson serial numbers in 1935
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basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 06 February 2003 06:26 AM
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The serial # of my EH 150 Metalbody is 207.
Now this is very strange, the one from e-bay is 170, Jack's was 118 ..... How does this relate to the 98 that they made.Do the serial numbers relate to date of manufacture or invoice or what ? Just for fun the three guitars would be numbers 8, 9 and 10 ... IF you added the numbers of the serial number together. But the notion of month numbers or week numbers doesn't seem to fit with the numbers we have.
Baz
www.waikiki-islanders.com
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quote:
Steel players do it without fretting
http://www.waikiki-islanders.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk |
Russ Young
Member From: Seattle, Washington, USA
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posted 06 February 2003 06:34 AM
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Basil:Gruhn's Guide wasn't much help on this one, although it raises a couple of questions: Is there a letter prefix before the number? Is the number ink-stamped on the label? Pressed into the back of the body? |
Russ Young
Member From: Seattle, Washington, USA
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posted 06 February 2003 06:37 AM
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Oops ... I just realized that you're talking about that beautiful metal-body guitar of yours! (Gruhn refers to it as an E-150.) So I doubt there's a label on which to ink-stamp a number. But where is the number?[This message was edited by Russ Young on 06 February 2003 at 06:39 AM.] |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 06 February 2003 06:43 AM
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Stamped on the heel where the neck meets the body... except it doesn't it's all one piece.
Baz
Check out this http://www.4stringbanjos.com/GibsonMetalbodyLapSteel.html
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Russ Young
Member From: Seattle, Washington, USA
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posted 06 February 2003 07:09 AM
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Basil -- The standard Gibson numbering practice was to use the factory order number, preceded by a letter: 1935 was "A" and 1936 was "B". It would appear that the E-150s didn't fall into that scheme. But Gruhn's Guide is my only source of information ... |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 06 February 2003 10:51 AM
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If we have a question re Fender, there's always Jody...... he was there.Is there no one on the forum that is familiar with what Gibson did in respect of the serial numbers..... I mean it's only 67 years ago, I thought the average forumite was older than that. ROTFLMAO.
Baz |
Jack Klein
Member From: Alpena, MI, USA
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posted 06 February 2003 10:53 AM
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my #118 was stamped below where neck meets body on back. Jack |
Jack Klein
Member From: Alpena, MI, USA
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posted 06 February 2003 10:56 AM
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correction-- stamped on heel of neck as pictured. Jack |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 06 February 2003 11:04 AM
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Michael Miller has could have cracked it he says quote:
Could it be they started with 150 and ran up to 248? Might make sense for a model 150.
Seems most logical..... except how do you explain ser # 118 ? Any other theories ?
Baz[This message was edited by basilh on 06 February 2003 at 01:19 PM.] |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 06 February 2003 11:07 AM
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How about some of you who have the EH 150 wooden bodied one, giving you serial numbers to compare ?
Baz |
chas smith
Member From: Encino, CA, USA
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posted 06 February 2003 11:25 AM
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I have a 10-string from, I believe, 1938 and it's F1969-1.
 [This message was edited by chas smith on 06 February 2003 at 11:29 AM.] |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 06 February 2003 11:53 AM
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That's a BEAUTIFUL guitar and there's no Prizes for guessing what tuning this baby was set up for.
Baz |
Harry Dietrich
Member From: Robesonia, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 06 February 2003 05:00 PM
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BazI have # 1319-38 stamped on the back of my EH-150. What do you think of the sound of your new "baby?" Harry  : |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 06 February 2003 05:16 PM
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Hi Harry.....
The guitar has the typical 30's tone to it... very long sustain and a tone that takes modifying with no problems. You don't have to search for the sound , just taylor it to your particular taste.
If I was to pinpoint it's "timbre" I'd say VERY close to the sound of Iona's Carefree.
I have a Gibson that has the metal plate all across the top of it and a "Charlie Christian" pick-up, I don't know the model number but I think it's from 1939.I thought that this guitar had the ultimate tone, I was wrong, th EH 150 Metalbody is far superior.
Baz(Now if only I could play as well as him i'd be getting somewhere) [This message was edited by basilh on 06 February 2003 at 05:17 PM.] |
Ron Whitfield
Member From: Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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posted 06 February 2003 05:16 PM
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Yeah, the sound, how does it sound? I've heard they are really good tone wise. OOPS, you beat me to it!------------------
[This message was edited by Ron Whitfield on 06 February 2003 at 05:18 PM.] |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 06 February 2003 05:20 PM
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Aloha Ron,It has "The Sound" if you know what I mean.
What I'll do is to take some pics of myself playing it and also some mpegs and mp3's and post them on my web site over the weekend.
Mahalo.
Baz
BTW Ron , My informed sources tell me that Bobby Nichols never played steel with Hawaii Calls.
So I figure that he must have been playing standard guitar when he was seen with the show , like you suggested.[This message was edited by basilh on 06 February 2003 at 05:26 PM.] |
John Billings
Member From: Northfield Center, Ohio, USA
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posted 09 February 2003 08:38 AM
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What a lovely guitar. 10 string Charlie"s! I love it! I have a Grande console with 2 7-string CC's that have adjustable polepieces. You never knew what Gibson was gonna do back then! |
Russ Young
Member From: Seattle, Washington, USA
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posted 09 February 2003 09:09 AM
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Baz -- The guitar that you describe sounds like it might be an EH185: a hollow body of curly maple w/ sunburst or natural finish; a CC pickup; and a one-piece metal plate that extends from the (slotted) peghead to the bridge, under a rosewood fingerboard. A gloss-black plate is probably 1939; a crinkle-brown finish would be 1940. |
Harry Dietrich
Member From: Robesonia, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 09 February 2003 12:00 PM
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BazCan't wait to hear it!! Harry : |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 17 February 2003 06:30 AM
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Here (at last) are the pics
Up for sale soon.
Baz
www.waikiki-islanders.com
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quote:
Steel players do it without fretting
http://www.waikiki-islanders.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk [This message was edited by basilh on 17 February 2003 at 06:33 AM.] [This message was edited by basilh on 17 August 2005 at 06:30 PM.]
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basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 18 February 2003 12:37 PM
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^ |
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