Edwards Guitar Serial Numbers

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ESP OLD SERIALS REVEALED!!!

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  • Who is making the JV guitar? Many companies offered the different brands for Japanese market. Well, of course, the guitar industries have been doing the business. They should think about the efficiency of manufacturing. Some of them haven't got a manufacturing facilities and have asked the subcontractors to produce the guitars. This is business.
  • You have to look at the models in production that year. - sometimes in old guitars (80s early 90s) first digit is missing when is '0' and the serial is 7 digits total (ex. 3038467, means number 467) - lot of old esp's does not have any serial on the back of the headstock.
  • There's another guitar forum dedicated to MIJ guitars. On it a member from Japan that has close ties to ESP stated that the Edwards guitars started getting numbers printed on the back of the headstock sometime in 2004.
  • Mar 12, 2009  There's another guitar forum dedicated to MIJ guitars. On it a member from Japan that has close ties to ESP stated that the Edwards guitars started getting numbers printed on the back of the headstock sometime in 2004.

  • ESP OLD SERIALS REVEALED!!!

    Posted by GuitarsCollector
    Latest reply by Steve A.

    EUREKA!!!

    Hi guys! I've a great news..

    After years and years of interrogatives on how it works, after looking lot of serials, I think I've understand how works the old format of serial numbers (before the introduction of the new system in 2000). If this is true I think I'm really helpfull for a lot of people here..

    But I want the flag of 'discoverer' of this!

    Before year 2000 - 8 DIGITS stamped on the back of the headstock, I think the meaning is:

    DDMMYNNN
    DD = day of the month (01 to 31)
    MM = month (01 to 12)
    Y = last digit of the year (ex: 1992 = 2)
    NNN = production number (000 to 999) (I really don't know if there's another subdivision here)

    NOTE: year '7' can mean 1987 or 1997, '8' can mean 1988 or 1998..etc..you have to look at the model in production that year
    EXAMPLE: the code of my MX-250 25023072 means the manufacturing date is 25.02.1993 and it was the 72nd guitar producted

    For now all the guitars I've checked are right with this meaning..Let me know what you think about!!!

    I also invite you to visit my website, is still under construction..but check it!

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    • jc986wrote
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    • antikuewrote

      A worthwhile effort to be sure, just not sure at all this is true. I have two 8 digit ESP's, the first is a Jackson headstock Horizon from 80's/early 90's and the other is a made to order M-II with a flame top. Both begin with '24'. In fact I've only seen one 8-digit serial that doesn't begin with 24 or 25, and as far as I understand the Japanese dates are in MM/DD/YY format like in the US. Another problem is the inferred daily production volume - my CS M-II suggests more than 700 guitars per day - not even Fuji-gen can crank out stuff at that rate I wish this formula was correct as I would like to know more about my guitars, but even ESP couldn't date my Horizon - not even the year.

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    • GuitarsCollectorwrote

      Trust me .. I ve seen a lot of serials begin with a lot of numbers..from 01 to 31.

      I have NOT written last 3 digits are the production per day!!! Maybe is per month!!! Or year..or..I don t know..consecutives..

      But the very important thing is to know the year!!!

      Please post me your serials.

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    • Jon B.wrote
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    • Marianne O.wrote

      I'm confused..my ESP has only 5 serial numbers..can you direct me to where i would discover the y ear of its origin?

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    • Djentlemanwrote

      Impressive deduction.thanks mate! Your code's spot on in registering my early 90's custom (serial #: 22101532).

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    • GuitarsCollectorwrote

      Wow!! You have an Esp MM-290!!! Very rare and very good guitar!!! The real kirk hammett esp!!!

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    • Djentlemanwrote

      Thank you so much for the info!!!! I just nabbed it about a week ago from a pawn shop and uncovering any factual info has been a bit difficult..In five minutes of researching the ESP MM-290's though, most of my questions about this guitar are now solved It really is a phenominal guitar, and the build quality out-surpasses every other guitar I own!! Also awesome job with your website.I remember stumbling upon it when trying to date an early 2000's KH2 I picked up some months ago and it was an extremely helpful resource!! If you're still expanding your KH2 serial list, mine has headstock serial (K-23123) and neckplate serial (40172).so it seems like it could date to 2002?

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    • GuitarsCollectorwrote

      Yes I think is very probably one made in 2002..but I miss data on this year..do you have any esp papers or c.o.a. to confirm 2002?

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    • Djentlemanwrote

      I wish I did.I got it second-hand with no paperwork. I emailed ESP customer support about a week ago to help verify a date and see if they'd be able reproduce a COA. Once they get back to me I'll update the thread and post any new info.

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    • GuitarsCollectorwrote
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    • Djentlemanwrote

      So it took a little longer than expected to here back from esp support and unfortuanately the best they could do was verify the kh2 is early 2000's. If i can find more info and verify the exact year i'll update and let you know

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    • GuitarHitler G.wrote

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    • GuitarsCollectorwrote

      I think your guitar is from 2001 quite for sure..

      I have proof of K-22957 and K-23078 are from 2001 (c.o.a.).

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    • antikuewrote

      Sorry for the delay, here they are.

      The Horizon came with the ESP Syn-clair bridge, swapped it for the OFR since I had one around. For preference

      The M-II on the right is a 2011 model, that is for sure.

      The middle M-II is 24078703

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      The Horizon Custom is 24108292

      It's possible they are 1998 and 1988, respectively, but the production number is suspect. I'm pretty sure the M-II in the middle is a custom order.

      (Why did the pic come out so foggy?)

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    • GuitarsCollectorwrote

      I think you're right..why you think the production number is suspect?

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    • antikuewrote

      It's just that I don't think it could possibly be a daily volume - too big a number. There's a thread on Guitars at Bmusic forum about a 1999 ESP M-II Custom, that is almost exactly like my flame top M-II and a guy close to ESP deduced it was made in 1999. The serial for that blue wonder is 25099957.

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    • GuitarsCollectorwrote

      (You are the second tell me this..please read the post before.)

      I have NOT written last 3 digits are the production per day!!! Maybe is per month!!! Or year..or..I don t know..probably are only consecutives numbers..

      The serial you telling me perfectly fitting my solution..made in 1999..as the 5th digit say.

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    • simo666wrote

      My MX-220 has a SN 14069796 so i would summise that it was made in 14 june 1989, but i am not sure about the 796 thats seems the issue here

      Mine does NOT have the step in joint but DOES have round recesed jack connector , It does look and feel right only one issue on paing on bottom of froint wing , I realy would love a black 220 they look special and i have seen a clearcote on ont he bay years ago ok

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    • GuitarsCollectorwrote

      The 796 for me is simply a concsecutive number.

      Your specs fit perfectly for an mx.220 made in 1989. No step. Look at my site for other info about your guitar and please send me pics!!! Your guitar is very rare! Are you thinking to sell it?

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    • Lasse L.wrote

      hm, that'd mean my Jackson-headstock MI Custom was made on the 70th day of a month?

      Serial is

      7018041

      My late 80ies custom shop Rhoads' serial is

      04865 (neck plate)

      My 'handbuilt in California' MII Deluxe is serial

      60504 (neck plate)

      My ealry 90ies MII Deluxes serial is something like that as well..so NONE of my pre-2000 ESPs match that serial fromat from the OP..

      bummer

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    • GuitarsCollectorwrote

      Your serials are NOT 8 digits!!! so you can not apply my method.

      For the 7 digits i think you have simply to add a 0 before. For the 5 digits on neck the serials are already known and well explained on my website. Please check it out.

      Ps. Sorry for my english..

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    • Lasse L.wrote
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    • rodrigomolinawrote

      Your serials are NOT 8 digits!!! so you can not apply my method.

      For the 7 digits i think you have simply to add a 0 before. For the 5 digits on neck the serials are already known and well explained on my website. Please check it out.

      Ps. Sorry for my english..

      Hi, I checked the 5 digits explanation on your website but couldn't find one that begins with 249 like the one it's on the bolt plate of my Viper. Also, do you think it's common not having the serial number on the headstock?

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SERIAL NUMBERS LEGENDA

Unfortunally ESP didn't keep good records of old serial numbers. Many records have been lost during years and most of all were destroyed in a fire accident on late '90s in ESP Japan factory. For old guitars we can only know the exact data reading the ESP warranty card (when there is), or unscrewing the neck (if the neck is bolt on) and read under it becuse probably theres the data write on pencil). I keep record of this data in order to try to deduce other correspondences. ESP Guitar Company says: 'Unfortunately the factories at ESP Japan have not kept a consistent and sensible serial number tracking system in place over the years. This has resulted in alot of confusion, and .. you may still come across the occasional serial number that may conflict with, or doesn't fall under any of the listed categories. For this we apologize, and we are working to maintain a more consistent system going forward. The PRE-2015 system doesn't apply to early ESP's, some of which had no serial number tracking system at all and used random numbers. Thanks for your understanding.'


NOTES ON SERIAL NUMBERS:

- Many custom orders or first new model made did not have any serial number.
- The circle logo 'ESP CUSTOM GUITARS' on the back of the headstock is not a typical feature on ESP guitars made for the Japanese market and custom order.
- Serials from 1990 to 1996 are written in a sort of 'Times New Roman' font, otherwise are in a sort of 'Arial' font.
NOTES FOR MY WEBSITE:

Edwards guitar series consist of very high quality copies of legendary guitars like the Les Paul, Telecaster, and Stratocaster, and also original ESP designs. The Edwards Les Paul, Tele, and Strat guitars are built specifically for the Japanese market, and are not sold in the US as they contravene Gibson and Fender patents; they can however be.

- For the special/custom order guitars the description on this website are based on the 'standard set' (specs, color, construction and hardware can vary).
- The truss rod cover change from rectangular with white edges and bell with white edges to black bullet style in 1993.
- some of the ESPs have black hardware in North America and Black Nickel hardware elsewhere. It all began a few years ago with the EU and a thing called the RoHS (Regulation of Hazardous Materials) and Gotoh in Japan basically changed their production to ensure they didn’t lose the European market, and that being manufacturers who shipped to Europe, which is most everyone. They changed pretty much everything for the “export” market, and export to most makers means anything but US. Kind of a long story. They have a way of producing black again now so expect it to all go back to the way most of us prefer over time.
---------- Before year 2000 ----------
(esp


Kramer Guitar Serial Numbers

7 or 8 DIGITS stamped in the back of the headstock:
(D)DMMYNNN
DD= day of the month (01 to 31)
MM= month (01 to 12)
Y= last digit of the year (ex: 1992 = 2)
NNN = production number 000 to 999 resetted every year

EXAMPLE: the code of my MX-250 25023072 means the manufacturing date is 25.02.1993 and it was the 72nd guitar producted that year.

NOTES:

- year '7' can be 1987 or 1997, '8' can be 1988 or 1998, '9' can be 1989 or 1999! You have to look at the models in production that year.

- sometimes in old guitars (80s early 90s) first digit is missing when is '0' and the serial is 7 digits total (ex. 3038467, means 03.03.1988 number 467)

- lot of old esp's does not have any serial on the back of the headstock. If you are lucky you can find a serial written on pencil where the body is bolted to the neck (or in the neck also) or in the pickup cavity.


SERIAL UNDER PICKUPS:

Number
#MMYNN

For example my MX-220 have serial '#80129' that means was made the 08-1991 number 29)


5 DIGITS punched in the bolt plate (for the bolt on versions).

NOTE:Follow this reference may not be accurate because probably they printed a certain number of plates and then put on guitars in a random manner, without noticing consecutive numeration. This is the reason why we can easilu find guitars with the bolt plate referring to a year or two before or after respect the serial printed on the back of the headstock. To have an exact dating of this guitars you have to unscrew the neck and look at the date could be written below.

1988 -

1989 - 592XX

1990 - Ps3 download update 4.31.

Gibson Guitars Serial Number Lookup

1991 -

1992 - 601XX --> 618XX
1993 - 619XX --> 912XX

1994 - 166XX --> 183XX

1995 - 191XX --> 244XX

1996 - 257XX --> 261XX

1997 - 273XX --> 294XX

1998 - 301XX --> 357XX

1999 - 339XX --> 369XX

2000 - 379XX --> 387XX

2001 - 388XX --> 416XX

2002 - 402XX

2003 - 4170X

from 2004 - NO SERIAL punched on the bolt plate


---------- From 2000 to 2015 ----------

PPYYWWDNN (stamped on the back of the headstock).
PP = place of manufacture:

K = ESP Kiso Factory (Japan) / set-neck and neck-thru only;

S = ESP Sado Factory (Japan) / bolt-on only;

T = ESP Takada Factory (Japan) / ESP Custom Shop

SS = ESP Standard Factory / Signature Series or Standard Series

CH = Craft House

CS = Craft House (used rarely)

TH = Technical House

N = Nagano Factory

YY = last two digits of the year
WW = week of the year (max.52)
D = day of that week: 1 = monday, 2 = tuesday,.. (max.7)
NN = number off the line that day (max.99)
EXAMPLE: the code of my MX-250 K0604202 means the manufacturing date is 24.01.2006 and it was the 2nd guitar built that day.



8 DIGITS stamped in the back of the headstock:
BNNNNYYP
NNNN = ????
YY = last two digits of the year
1 - ESP Custom Shop
3 - ESP Standard Factory