Born on Date of a Guild JF30-BL

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Hey gang...new member, new Guild owner, and first post. I'm looking for opinions/facts on the "born on date" of a new acoustic that fell in my lap.

It's a Guild JF30-BL and serial # is AJ300905

I'm finding a few hints that it was born in 1996, but also found some conflicting info also.

If you have any insights or opinions as to how old she is, I'd love to hear them.

This guitar is absolutely mint and has been stored perfectly and untouched, probably from the time it was bought by the original owner.

BONUS: It's a fun guitar to play too.

Thanks in advance.

Fender66/aka Chris
 

hansmoust

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Hey gang...new member, new Guild owner, and first post. I'm looking for opinions/facts on the "born on date" of a new acoustic that fell in my lap.

It's a Guild JF30-BL and serial # is AJ300905

I'm finding a few hints that it was born in 1996, but also found some conflicting info also.

If you have any insights or opinions as to how old she is, I'd love to hear them.

Hello Chris,

Welcome! Your JF-30-Bl. with serial # AJ300905 is a fun one as far as dating is concerned. It could be either from 1996 or 1999.

The reason is a mistake made during 1999 by the person in charge of the serial number system, which caused a limited group of already used numbers to be used again. Your serial number falls into that group, but there is a way to find out when exactly your guitar was made and you can actually figure it out yourself:

There should be an ink-stamped date on one of the beveled edges of the neck block, which should be visible through the soundhole.
This is not the manufacturing date, but the date that the rim was completed in the 'body shop'. Typical completion date of the guitar would be a couple of months after the neck block date, but sometimes more, depending on the popularity of the model during that specific period.

Maybe you could let me know what the complete date is so I can add the info to my database; that is if you can find it.*
These dates can be somewhat hard to read, so if that's the case, a little flashlight might help.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

davismanLV

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Well, Chris, you've heard from the person who can absolutely answer your question, so I'll just ad a Welcome to LTG!! Hans Moust wrote the book on Guilds (literally, The Guild Guitar Book) which covers up to 1977 I believe. We're all waiting impatiently for Volume II!!

Either way, you've got a great Guild and let us know what the neck block date reads. As he mentioned, sometimes they can be a little tricky to see, but it's there! :encouragement:
 

rampside

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Yes, welcome to the group, Chris.

We would love to see some pics of that JF-30 BL. I bet it's a real beauty!
 
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Thanks all....I really appreciate the responses. I thought that I had my preferences set so that I could see when there was a response, but haven't received any notifications so I just remembered to sign on and check.

I'll be checking for that stamp tonight....and I'll be happy to take a few pictures when I have some time and post/share.

Peace,

Chris
 
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