Can anyone help with my new guitar

[Deep Blue]

Hello. Just bought a Guild D55e. It is supposed to be from 2019, it has what looks like a hand written COA, but what worries me is that the serial number is not on the guitar any where. Any advice much appreciated. I can't find any other reason to assume it's fake - it's just not got a serial sticker.

Been up all night worrying

 

[LesB3]

Hi, no need to worry, it should be on your neck block (look into the soundhole towards your neck). It should start with "C19..."

 

[chazmo]

Hey, Deep,

Just what LesB3 said. No reason to be worrying about that.

There will also (unfortunately) not be any imprinted serial number on the back of the headstock.

When Guild moved (back) to California they dispensed with paper labels (mostly) and they have been using a cover over the neck block (visible from inside the body, that is) which has all the details. If that's not there then please post some pictures of all the gear and we'll weight in. Besides, we want to see pictures of your NGD (new guitar day)!

 

[chazmo]

Oh, and heck... WELCOME ABOARD!

 

[Default]

Welcome, and we love pics!

 

[Deep Blue]

Thank you so much for the help gents. I have been inter webbing for hours together with a rather fast beating heart and sweaty hands. So much info..

1) Should be an orange label
2) They don't always have serial numbers
3) Guild Web site serial checker - no such number

I looked inside the guitar last night and saw nothing. However the comments on here made me look again. The battery pack was velcrod onto the number plate. The number is C 183026 am I right in assuming it might bd a 2018.

Anyway thank you for reducing my heart rate considerably. Pics to follow

Regards Mark.

 

[SFIV1967]

1) Should be an orange label
2) They don't always have serial numbers
3) Guild Web site serial checker - no such number

I looked inside the guitar last night and saw nothing. However the comments on here made me look again. The battery pack was velcrod onto the number plate. The number is C 183026 am I right in assuming it might bd a 2018.

Welcome to LTG!

"1) Should be an orange label"
Not correct.
"2) They don't always have serial numbers"
Not correct.
"3) Guild Web site serial checker - no such number"
Not sure what site you refer to, the Guild website has no serial number lists after 1997. (Well they show years for Tacoma and New Hartford.) Also many serial numbers in the 1980's and 90's are wrongly dated or missing there.
"The number is C 183026 am I right in assuming it might be a 2018."
That is correct. "C" for California (Made in Oxnard) and "18" for 2018.

Ralf

 

[Cougar]

....it's just not got a serial sticker.

Yeah, that freaked me out when I got my Oxnard-built F512. Where's the paper serial number label?? Well, come to find out, Oxnard doesn't put in a paper label. Instead they "etch" the serial number on the neck block. I kind of like paper labels in guitars but, well, times change!

BTW, welcome to the boards! Good choice on your D55e! Major congrats! Got pics?

 

[GGJaguar]

Welcome to LTG and congrats on your D-55! It's a classic! We'd love to see some photos - we love pix!

 

[chazmo]

Deep Blue,

As Ralf said above, your are getting some very poor information elsewhere. Please stay with us here and we will help you get through your jitters. Everything seems fine. I didn't know they were doing certificates of authenticity for D-55s, but if you could take a picture of that (and several of your guitar) and post it here, we'd like to see it. Again, as Ralf said, your guitar was made in 2018 at the Guild (Cordoba Music Corporation) facility in Oxnard, CA.

Now get some sleep and stop worrying!

 

[SFIV1967]

Instead they "etch" the serial number on the neck block. I kind of like paper labels in guitars but, well, times change!

Well, Martin did this for ever...so yes, for Guild it changed but others never did it different...Well, it's a bit different as Martin has the serial number directly in the neck block whereas Guild used a wooden plate glued to the neckblock as far as I know.
Now I just realize that Martin actually switched to wooden plates for lower end models as well.

First Oxnard shipped guitar (D-20) vs a traditional Martin vs. a lower end Martin



Ralf

 

[chazmo]

Ibanez has been doing something similar in recent years, although I didn't have a picture handy. The plate is attached to the neck block by a velcro pad.

 

[adorshki]

First Oxnard shipped guitar (D-20) vs a traditional Martin vs. a lower end Martin



Ralf

According to Guild's site on the M20 Natural page.:
"Guild’s iconic M-20 was the first guitar off the production line in 1967, when the company had grown so much that they relocated to a new factory in Westerly, RI. Nearly 50 years later, history has repeated itself in a brand new, state-of-the-art facility in California.

 

[SFIV1967]

Nearly 50 years later, history has repeated itself in a brand new, state-of-the-art facility in California.

Guild...

Ralf

 

[Deep Blue]

All good now, the battery pack was stuck over where the serial number plate lives

Big thank you for the generous help

 

[chazmo]

Have you gotten any sleep yet, Blue?

 

[West R Lee]

Welcome to LTG!

"1) Should be an orange label"
Not correct.
"2) They don't always have serial numbers"
Not correct.
"3) Guild Web site serial checker - no such number"
Not sure what site you refer to, the Guild website has no serial number lists after 1997. (Well they show years for Tacoma and New Hartford.) Also many serial numbers in the 1980's and 90's are wrongly dated or missing there.
"The number is C 183026 am I right in assuming it might be a 2018."
That is correct. "C" for California (Made in Oxnard) and "18" for 2018.

Ralf

And Ralf. now I'm curious. So is the "3026" last 4 digits designate the 3026th D55 built there? Any significance or meaning in those last four numbers?

West

 

[D30Man]

Welcome Deep Blue. Congrats on your Oxnard D-55E. I have the early Rosewood jumbo version of this guitar. Nice guitars for sure.
I for one, love the neck block stamp. Paper labels over the years endure water damage or can just come off over time.

 

[chazmo]

Jim, the C<NN> which starts the serial number in Oxnard (California, that is), is a two digit code for the year. 18 = 2018, 19 = 2019, etc. The numbers that follow represent (I think) a sequential increment on number produced in that year. I.e., not a date code or anything. So, C160001 above would be the first built in 2016. I'm not sure if we've confirmed that "decoding" of the serial number, but the C<NN> part seems to be correct with an 87.5% correctness rating.

 

[West R Lee]

Jim, the C<NN> which starts the serial number in Oxnard (California, that is), is a two digit code for the year. 18 = 2018, 19 = 2019, etc. The numbers that follow represent (I think) a sequential increment on number produced in that year. I.e., not a date code or anything. So, C160001 above would be the first built in 2016. I'm not sure if we've confirmed that "decoding" of the serial number, but the C<NN> part seems to be correct with an 87.5% correctness rating.

So not numbers of a particular model, like Guild did at Westerly, but numbers of guitars built in a particular year? Thanks Charlie.

West