Aristocrat SN Location.

[matsickma]

Hi All,

I have an old Aristocrat that is being refurbished. ( It has been a on-going project for a few years!) The serial number marking on the guitar is not in the normal location on the back of the headstock. Rather it is on the bottom under the bridge stop where the screws hold the stop to the base of the guitar. I have seen this unusual marking feature one time before on a blond Aristocrat for sale on ebay around 5 years ago.

Has anyone ever seen this marking scheme on other Aristocrats or other Guilds?

Thanks,

M

 

[hansmoust]

Hi All,

I have an old Aristocrat that is being refurbished. ( It has been a on-going project for a few years!) The serial number marking on the guitar is not in the normal location on the back of the headstock. Rather it is on the bottom under the bridge stop where the screws hold the stop to the base of the guitar. I have seen this unusual marking feature one time before on a blond Aristocrat for sale on ebay around 5 years ago.

Has anyone ever seen this marking scheme on other Aristocrats or other Guilds?

Thanks,

M

Helo Mike,

Yes, I've seen several of those but not just on Aristocrats. Actually, I've seen most of them on other guitars than Aristocrats. I have a collection of Aristocrats but I must admit that I did not take off the tailpieces from all these guitars to see if there was a number underneath. So far, all the guitars that I've seen with that feature seem to date from the period before 1956 during which Guild did not stamp the back of the headstocks yet (except for the Aristocrats). If they were from a later period, they were instruments that were built on superstructures of older instruments as described in the chapter on scale lengths on page 22 of The Guild Guitar Book.

What's the number on your Aristocrat?

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[matsickma]

Hi Hans,

Thanks for the info. The SN is 2755. The numbers are stamped around the lower half of the 3/8 inch diameter hole that allows the ground wire to come out of the body and short to the harp.

M

 

[hansmoust]

Hi Hans,

Thanks for the info. The SN is 2755. M

Serial # 2755 fits in with my findings so far. The change to serial numbers on the back of the headstock took place a little past serial # 3000, around the time of the move to Hoboken, NJ. It might be a coincidence but it would make sense if they started the new method of number stamping in the new location.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl