Very easy to check, the serial number will tell you what you need to know.
As an example, we’ll use a random number: TJ 037 016.
• The first letter “T”, identifies the guitar as being made at the manufacturing facility in Tacoma, Washington.
• The second letter identifies the year of manufacture and is based on a dating system introduced by the Tacoma guitar manufacturing plant in 1998 that associated the letter “B” with that specific year. Successive years are associated with the alphabet in sequence. Using this system, the letter “J” would stand for the year 2006.
• The first three numbers of the serial number are derived from the “Julian” calendar which associates each day of the year to a respective number from 1 to 365 in numerical sequence. These three numbers identify the month and day of manufacture by their respective numerical order. In this case, the numbers 037 identify the instrument as being made on the 37th day of the year, which according to the Julian calendar, is February the 6th.
• The final three digits of the serial number refer to the unit number built on that specific day. In this example, 016 identifies this serial number as being from the 16th instrument built on that day.
• To recap this example: T (Built in Tacoma), J (Built in 2006), 037 (Built on February 6th), 016 (The 16th instrument built on that day)
The same dating system described above also applies to Guild instruments made in the New Hartford, CT factory. However, the first letter signifying the location of the manufacturing facility has been changed to “N” to signify “New Hartford”.
Ralf
