Fender champion lap steel serial number location

Fender champion lap steel serial number location full#
Fender champion lap steel serial number location code#

What's more, guitar companies sometimes took a very long time to use the potentiometer in question, and they may be considerably older than the guitar itself.

Pots in an older guitar may have been replaced, and this should be considered, especially if the date suggested does not fit with other features of the guitar. But remember this is the date that the potentiometer was produced. Pot dates can be a useful tool in dating guitars.

Fender champion lap steel serial number location code#

For example, a pot labelled 'TL 1MО© LOG 462' had the numeric date code 462 (46th week of 1962 NOT 4th week of 62), and the alphabetical code TL (T = 1962, L= November). Interestingly, some examples even had both a numeric and letter-based codes on the same pot.

Year codes for the relevant period ran S-X (1961-1967). The month code differed from Egen, above, in that the letter I was skipped - to prevent confusion with the number 1 - so it ran A-M (Jan-Dec). However these were in the format YM (but, as with the Egen codes, they occasionally switched the letters to a MY format!). Interestingly, these pots used more than one dating system, sometimes using numerals in the format WWY (typically early 1960s), and sometimes, a letter-based format, similar to the Egen codes above. Although they do not have an EIA manufacturer code, they are quite distinctive - small (about 3/4' diameter), with a brown plastic back with Morganite in raised lettering. Morganite pots were commonly fitted to British Vox guitars. These are some of the simplest codes to read, and it is therefore unsurprising that this system has become standard. For example 1346120 is a Centralab pot (134) produced in the 20th week of 1961. These often run on from the manufacturer code. CTS, Centralab, StackpoleДate codes were usually in three or four digits, one or two digits giving the year (for many US pots one digit refers to the 1950s, two digits to the 1960s), and two giving the week of the year. Sometimes these are simple, sometimes exceptionally complicated (for no useful reason!). Other companies from around the world used different systems using letters to denote differing years and months. Each company had it's own dating system, although there was some consensus, particularly in American parts. Production dates regularly appear on potentiometers, though usually encoded to some extent. Other worldwide manufacturers just used the company name rather than a code. Although many others were used, these are by far the most important, as they were widely used by the likes of Gibson, Fender, Guild and Epiphone. American pot manufacturers had their own numerical EIA (Electronic Industries Alliance) codes, for example 134 = Centralab, 137 = CTS and 304 = Stackpole. There are very many electronic companies worldwide producing potentiometers, but most American vintage guitars of the 20th Century used pots by just a few manufacturers. You can look up Gibson potentiometers by their part number in the Gibson pot index on this site. Many pots do not have part numbers, but the larger guitar manufacturers did list pots by part number in their spare parts manuals. Once decoded, the writing on the back or sides can be very informative in dating your guitar Part numbers

But read on, dating a vintage guitar with pot codes is sometimes more reliable than dating with serial numbers!ДЄn early 1960s pot from a Gibson guitar.

There are many exceptions and variations to the general rules described below, some of which are highlighted in the examples at the end. Finding them is not always easy this is obviously not something for the faint-hearted, but once performed a few times, nowhere near as daunting as it might at first seem. Codes can be faded, worn, obscured by solder and other components, or simply very small. So reading them will require opening control cavities, removing scratchplates, or in the case of a semi acoustic, removing the pots entirely. So where are these codes? Normally they are stamped or inked onto the back or sides of the pot. Many pots don't carry all of this information, but the better quality guitars produced in America usually do. Better quality pots are often stamped with a number of codes typically part numbers, date of production, manufacturers codes and resistance values.

Fender champion lap steel serial number location full#

The pots, or potentiometers to give their full name, are the variable resistors that control volume and tone. If you've been reading articles about dating a vintage guitar, you may well have come across mention of pot codes, and the concept of using pot codes to date your guitar.