What Does... Production Number "0"... Mean?

[Torren61]

What does that mean when the production number of your guitar is "0"? I would understand if the production number was "1", but "0"?

 

[playloud]

Was it made by a computer? They start counting from 0

 

[StrummerJoe]

Is that the only "number" on the guitar anywhere?

 

[NumbSkull]

One thing it might mean is the guitar never made it to the production stage,
maybe they made prototypes or demos, got bad reviews and decided not to make more.
Or maybe they were only used for promos or gifts.

But without more info we can only guess.

 

[paul-e-mann]

I'm thinking prototype.

 

[fitz]

What does that mean when the production number of your guitar is "0"? I would understand if the production number was "1", but "0"?

Is this a hypothetical question, or do you have a guitar #0?

 

[Torren61]

No, I plugged in my serial number and it came back with this:

Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
on October 11th, 2012
Production Number: 0

The last three numbers are 300.

 

[NumbSkull]

Most probably a data error.
My guess is production number is a numeric field so it displays as 0 if it is unknown.
Probably only means whoever was inputting the data did not have all the info.

 

[Torren61]

One site I found said that acoustics made in Bozeman start with 1 and electrics made in Nashville start with 300

 

[Torren61]

The serial number is 128520300. So the the 285th day of 2012, batch number "0" (production number?) 300th instrument.

"In July 2005 this 8-digit system was updated by adding 1 digit. The 6th digit is now the batch number, and the last 3 digits are the sequence number of the batch. The sequence numeral runs from 500 to 699.

Example: 113142030 is the 30th instrument from batch 4 of May 11, 2014.

When 699 is reached the batch number is incremented by 1, and the sequence number is reset to 500.
This coding system was used until 2014."

Still confusing to me...

 

[NumbSkull]

You seem to have typed or read the serial number wrong ?

 

[Torren61]

It's correct. It's a 2012. I just quoted a piece of another site that explains serial number from 2005 to 2014.

Edit: Okay, I found the info I was asking about. Using my serial number: 128520300... First number and fifth number= 2012. 2nd, 3rd and fourth numbers are the day of the year... Oct 11th. Sixth number is the batch number. The day starts with batch zero and the last three numbers are the production number. So my guitar started getting built during the first batch of the day and was the 300th guitar made of that batch of all electrics made that day, not just Firebirds. When they get to production number 699, the next guitar is in the next batch so instead of zero, that number will be 1. When they get to 699 guitars of THAT batch, the next guitar is in batch 2 and so on. I think when they say "the last three numbers will remain the same", they mean those numbers will still be the production numbers not that all guitars that day will end with the same exact numbers.

From Gibson.com

"NOTE - Gibson USA goes to a 9 digit serial number in early July 2005..
The sixth number is now a batch number- batch 0 starts at the beginning of the day, and once we stamp 699, the batch number will change to 1. The first 5 numbers remain the same, the last 3 numbers will remain the same. The only difference is the addition of this batch indicator."

 

[DirtySteve]

Glad you got it sorted out.

 

[NumbSkull]

Thanks for letting us know.
I am surprised they make so many guitars in a day, I thought Gibson were proud of making handmade high quality guitars,
which takes time.
But I guess they have a big factory with lots of people.

 

[Torren61]

Glad you got it sorted out.

Thanks. It was driving me crazy, lol.

Thanks for letting us know.
I am surprised they make so many guitars in a day, I thought Gibson were proud of making handmade high quality guitars,
which takes time.
But I guess they have a big factory with lots of people.

Well, that's ALL electric guitars. I'm assuming they get a whole lot started and a whole lot gets to the stamping process in one day. Just like what you're saying.

 

[Steve Jewell]

Thanks for letting us know.
I am surprised they make so many guitars in a day, I thought Gibson were proud of making handmade high quality guitars,
which takes time.
But I guess they have a big factory with lots of people.

Wait, what? It's a Gibson Guitar. Who told you it was so unique? Where in the massive number of their instruments out there did you ever get the idea that they weren't "mass produced"? Over the years there are some that are worth a decent dollar due to unique wood used or celebrity ownership at some point in time but Gibson and Fender both have produced a lot of guitars in any given year. Maybe what you're really talking about are the "custom shop" models that do come at premium prices. These are generally put together by one builder that selects pieces and assembles them but even here the guy doing the work with be using bits and pieces that were mass produced. It's not as if he alone carves the wood, paints wood or does windings in the pick ups. He's mostly just picking pieces for assembly as he selects for his idea of a good "fit" and then after building your guitar he sets it up. It should lead to a better than average guitar (I hope so because you do pay more for this) but having played a few custom shop Fender's over the years I can't say I've noticed that they were truly BETTER than more pedestrian models I own or have owned. In the end this comes back to how no two guitars are ever exactly the same and even the custom shop builder isn't capable of knowing exactly what you like best in any one guitar's individual feel and sound when you play it.