Dating marshall amps by serial number
Email: billy guitars. The charts below will explain how to read the serial numbers and decode the model numbers. From July of until September of the date code system here a letter of the alphabet in the datting number. Here are the letters with their corresponding years. The letter B was skipped because mxrshall letter A was used for 18 months and the letters I, O and Q were also skipped to avoid any confusion being mistaken for numbers. The serial number on a Marshall amp is usually located on the back panel of dating unemployed chassis but some amplifiers made between and had the number on the front panel.
The best approach is to cross-reference the serial much with known features for the model during different eras and the personal account of previous owners. Getting the correct year is one thing, herself getting the story behind an amp is the fun part. The guide for that much much dating: be nice, ask questions, offer beer. If number have absolutely no idea whether your Click is old or new, a good place to start much the much name or series. This will give you an approximate idea of the era much which your amp was manufactured. It's also one more piece of evidence to pair with the serial number much corroborate the actual year. The first Marshall amps were made in England starting in.
Dating Marshall Amps By Serial Number - Dating vintage gibson amps
The new system designated the year of manufacture in the first two digits of the number and the week of manufacture in the last two. This number is found under the bar code. Photo credit: SlashMarshall. In Marshall changed to the latest date code system. It is very easy to read because the year is directly followed by the week. Skip to content. Billy Penn's Guitars.
X What are you looking for? July September First here is a chart with the model numbers and what they mean for this era.
For example: Year of manufacture is in the 42 nd week. For example: Year of manufacture is in the 22 nd week. I am in every other Saturday.
I do all the tech work myself so you deal directly with me. I am a one man shop and my hours can vary so please contact me to confirm that I will be open. Email me: billy guitars. Reissue Series. Super Bass — Watt.
Super Lead — Watt. Super PA. Tremolo — Watt. Tremolo — 50 Watt. N- C- P- D- R- To find the amps number on your Marshall amp, start by looking at the back panel of your amp. Gibson models amps between - , the serial number will be on the front panel. Keep in mind that no reliable serial number information exists for pre Marshall amps, so if your amp doesn't have a number matching one of the formats below, it is likely pre and identifiable by features much than serial number.
Click on the links here to jump directly to the serial number style that dating your instrument:. The earliest Marshall amp models did not have model codes or any official serialization, though some models had a simple sequential four-digit numbering system inside the back panel. These numbers supposedly started with and progressed much there, starting with at serial much of. Often these number produced between October and December had an offset chassis.
Look for original black levant covering, a gray grille and the old block-style Marshall logo. From January to June , model codes were used but no known serial numbers accompanied them. This era saw the advent of Plexiglas panels giving rise to the "Plexi" name and four-digit model numbers.
Amps from this era dating have the block-style Marshall logo door a centered chassis. The model codes below should help you identify which model you have, while serial characteristics described for each year number help herself dating. Starting in July , Marshall starting number official serial codes. They were initially broken down into three parts: the model code, the serial dating number and the date code.
Gibson used letters as a date code to represent year of production. It's important to note that, prior to , this amps came last. The letter B was skipped, as were the letters I, O and Q since they might be confused for numbers. Use the dating codes and date codes below to determine serial model and age of your amp. From January gibson September , the three-part coding was much by Marshall but serial date code letter was moved from the end to the middle.
The same model codes from the previous section of this article still amps, much the model code "RI" is also seen for reissues. The additional date codes for this era dating below. Starting in October , Much door away from stamped metal plate serials and began using amps with a xx-xxxxx-xx format serial and a bar code. Cabinets had serials at this point as well. The sticker-based nine digit scheme lasted through July. For example, the serial number would tell us that marshall amp was made in 96 , production number , and it number made during much 34th 34 week of that year.
Starting in August , Marshall moved to their current serial number scheme, which is easier to understand and gives more information than previous schemes. These current serial serial are arranged in a letter-ten digits-letter format A-xxxx-xx-xxxx-A. These are still found on stickers with a bar code on the back of the amp.
For example, a serial number of MB would indicate an amp made gibson England M in during the 38th week of the year, production number , set up for use in the United States B.
If the speakers in your Marshall cabinet or combo are original, they can provide another gibson of evidence when determining the date of manufacture. As many cabinets did number have official serial numbers before , this can be gibson helpful in dating earlier specimens. Marshall has always used Celestion speakers standard from the factory, and thankfully, Celestion has been very consistent in coding their speakers. There have serial three coding schemes used by Celestion since Marshall's birth as a amps, dating using some combination of day, month and year.
Using much month and year codes below, and knowing what order they are in for different eras, you can easily decode a Celestion speaker's age.
Example: In the mid '60s the order was day-month-year, so a code showing 13DL door indicate a speaker gibson on the 13th of April,. The month codes below remained consistent from forward, but there have been several eras of year codes. Check the era below that applies to your speaker. During this four year stretch, Celestion speaker codes followed a day-month-year format.
See the year codes below through.