So not numbers of a particular model, like Guild did at Westerly, but numbers of guitars built in a particular year?
I think so, Jim. But I'm not sure.
@SFIV1967 has there been any definitive statement about the Oxnard serial numbers decoding?
Not completely correct at least for the past but a "yes" for 2022 and 2023! Here's why:
The C16
0001 was not supposed the "first in year 2016" but the first ever finished and shipped out of California (well Oxnard). Obviously it was automatically "the first in year 2016"...
Since we talked about M-20 above, C160006 was a M-20 for instance, so that was the 6th ever built in Oxnard:
The C18
3026 however was not the 3026 guitar built in year 2018 but ever built at that point in time in Oxnard! So it was a cumulative number of guitars (independend of model) built since 2016. Basically what Martin Guitars did forever.
GGJaguar also explained this nicely in
his post from May 11, 2020.
And in the same thread he posted again on May 4, 2022
noticing that Guild reset the system in 2022 again!
First, the highest number of the old system he saw was C21
8366, which means since 2016 till end of 2021 they made at least a combined total of 8366 Guild guitars in Oxnard. (Cordoba/Hauser custom shop guitars built in Oxnard use a different serial number system).
I have a feeling they did not want to extend beyond 9999 and hence they reset that sytem with beginning of 2022 to C22
0001 again.
And now it get's interesting:
A real 2022 serial is C22
2008.
And a real 2023 serial numbers is C23
0825, so they have reset the counter in 2023 again, so it looks now that they plan to reset each year going forward.
Also if you look at 2022 and the number of at least >2000 guitars in that year, divided by 52 weeks is 38 per week and around 8 per day. As they don't produce 52 weeks and 5 days a week this means they reached or are beyond New Hartford run rates already! That's good!
In 2023 it seems to be even more they will ship.
Hope that answers all questions.
Ralf