hansmoust
Enlightened Member
Hi folks,
I did get a couple of messages after answering Matsickma's question re. the regular Guild truss rod cover on a DE-500:
and I answered: You will find the regular Guild truss rod cover without the Duane Eddy name on guitars with 1963 serial numbers. That doesn't mean that they are 1963 guitars, but towards 1964 most Duane Eddy guitars had the regular Guild cover.
Now the 'That doesn't mean that they are 1963 guitars' part caused some confusion among some of the readers. Because I just posted something on the same subject on another forum, I thought I should post it here too:
Guild guitars were made in batches of 6, 12 or 24 etc. From a manufacturing standpoint it was easier to make them in batches because of the change of tooling necessary to produce the different models. When the superstructures were completed they were serial numbered, which took place in the 'finishing' dept. After that the finish was applied and the guitars were hung to dry. After sufficient drying they would be buffed and placed in racks, where they would stay till an order came in. Obviously, if they started production they already had orders, but not always for the complete batch. Only the guitars they had orders for (plus the guitars that could be put in inventory because they were ordered on a regular basis) would be taken to 'final assembly', where the superstructure would get all the necessary parts to become a musical instrument and where it would be set up. Now the order in which they were taken from the racks was random, so it was possible for a higher serial number to come through 'final assembly' before a lower number. A lower serial number could stay on the racks for a very long time while a later serial number would already be hanging on a dealer's wall. I have several instruments in my collection that have serial numbers of which I know they were applied in a specific year; I also know that some of the hardware on these instruments was introduced years later, which shows that these instruments stayed on the racks for a very long time before they came through 'final assembly'. This usually happened with instruments that were not very popular during a specific period or with instruments that were already discontinued.
So the serial number on a guitar doesn't automatically tell you when a guitar was completed and in some cases this explains some of the quirky stuff you might come across.
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
I did get a couple of messages after answering Matsickma's question re. the regular Guild truss rod cover on a DE-500:
matsickma said:
and I answered: You will find the regular Guild truss rod cover without the Duane Eddy name on guitars with 1963 serial numbers. That doesn't mean that they are 1963 guitars, but towards 1964 most Duane Eddy guitars had the regular Guild cover.
Now the 'That doesn't mean that they are 1963 guitars' part caused some confusion among some of the readers. Because I just posted something on the same subject on another forum, I thought I should post it here too:
Guild guitars were made in batches of 6, 12 or 24 etc. From a manufacturing standpoint it was easier to make them in batches because of the change of tooling necessary to produce the different models. When the superstructures were completed they were serial numbered, which took place in the 'finishing' dept. After that the finish was applied and the guitars were hung to dry. After sufficient drying they would be buffed and placed in racks, where they would stay till an order came in. Obviously, if they started production they already had orders, but not always for the complete batch. Only the guitars they had orders for (plus the guitars that could be put in inventory because they were ordered on a regular basis) would be taken to 'final assembly', where the superstructure would get all the necessary parts to become a musical instrument and where it would be set up. Now the order in which they were taken from the racks was random, so it was possible for a higher serial number to come through 'final assembly' before a lower number. A lower serial number could stay on the racks for a very long time while a later serial number would already be hanging on a dealer's wall. I have several instruments in my collection that have serial numbers of which I know they were applied in a specific year; I also know that some of the hardware on these instruments was introduced years later, which shows that these instruments stayed on the racks for a very long time before they came through 'final assembly'. This usually happened with instruments that were not very popular during a specific period or with instruments that were already discontinued.
So the serial number on a guitar doesn't automatically tell you when a guitar was completed and in some cases this explains some of the quirky stuff you might come across.
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
