Dating by features

When a serial gives a wide range, or none, physical features narrow it. Each feature below sits in a window, and the useful move is to overlap windows. This is how to use them well, and where they mislead.

How a feature window works

A feature has a start and an end. A part that appears from 1954 cannot be original on a guitar built in 1952. A part that ends in 1969 can still be on a later guitar built from old stock, or fitted in a repair. So a feature is strongest as a boundary on one side. The timeline lists every feature in the tool with its dates and its confidence, and lets you filter to the year you are testing.

Martin

Brazilian rosewood back and sides on standard models, until 1969.
Herringbone purfling, 1931 to 1946.
Scalloped top braces, 1938 to 1944.
Adjustable truss rod, from 1985.

The braces need a mirror and a torch. The purfling is on the top edge of the body.

Gibson

P-90 pickups, 1946 to 1957.
Tune-o-matic bridge, from 1954.
“Patent Applied For” pickup stickers, 1957 to 1962.
Patent-number stickers, 1962 to 1973.
“Made in USA” stamp, from 1970.

Pickup stickers are often lost or replaced, and a pickup can move between guitars. Check that the pickup, cover and wiring look original to each other.

Fender

Blackguard finish and pickguard, 1950 to 1954.
Slab rosewood fingerboards, 1959 to 1962.
Large script F neck plate, 1965 to 1976.
Serial on the headstock face, from 1976.

The neck plate and headstock tell you where the serial should be. A serial on the wrong part is a reason to read it more cautiously.

Gretsch

Labels change with time: pencilled numbers early on, a white label 1949 to 1957, then an orange oval label 1957 to 1965. A label is easy to move or replace, so treat it as a clue and not a conclusion.

Other makers

Rickenbacker: the jackplate code, two letters for year and month, 1961 to 1986.
Epiphone: Kalamazoo-built and Japan-built periods.
Guild: Hoboken and Westerly, the two factory locations.
Danelectro: lipstick pickups.
Kay: the gold K logo.

Putting features beside the serial

Read the serial and note the range and the confidence word.
List features you can see, and the window of each.
Find the overlap. A range of 1958 to 1962 and a feature from 1960 on gives 1960 to 1962.
If a feature falls outside the range, consider replacement before you doubt the number.
Write down the disagreement. Do not resolve it by guessing.

Where features mislead

Features follow stock, not calendar. Makers used up old parts and introduced new ones before the old ran out, so both can appear in one year. Players change parts, so a feature shows what is on the guitar now. Finishes age, and a worn finish can look older or younger than it is. And the windows in this tool come from published collector sources, not factory records, so they carry some uncertainty at the edges.

Check this next

Pick the single feature you are most sure is original, find its window on the timeline, and compare it with your serial’s range.

Features date parts. They do not value an instrument or prove it is genuine.