I have a D-25 (archtop rear with I think a mahogany body and top) with a serial number (on the headstock and the sticker in the body) that reads 1l0121. The second character is somewhat nebulous. If it is the number one, per the Guild dating PDF that puts the manufacturing date as 1974. That sounds about right as I purchased it in 74 or 75. I did a lot of research on this forum and could not find a definitive answer as to what the second character should be. One person suggested a lower case L, but got a reply that it was an uppercase I. Neither of those letter possibilities works in the serial number PDF. Could it be a separator? Any guidance would be helpful. Thanks.
D-25 Serial Number circa 1974
- Thread starter Jpoak747
- Start date
GardMan
Enlightened Member
Your D-25 is from 1974. We had a discussion about this several years back... According to Hans Moust, there was a period during the early 70s when the second "1" in the SN stamped on the headstock was replaced with a "l." The hand written SN on the label should just look like 110XXX (but hand written). I can't remember all the details, and don't recall whether it is an upper case "I" or lower case "L" stamped into the headstock (might not be a way to know unless you knew the actual font face). I have a D-25 with the same 1l0XXX SN on the headstock.
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hansmoust
Enlightened Member
Hello Jpoak747,
Welcome! The serial number of your D-25 is # 110121. The second digit is actually a letter, but it was used as a number. The use of that particular letter took place shortly after the change from 5 to 6-digit serial numbers, when Guild didn't have the extra digit for the 6-digit numbers yet.
There's a posting from me somewhere in the archives that explains it all complete with photos, but I'm not sure that I would be able to find it real quick.
Meanwhile, rest assured that your D-25 is from 1974.
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore