AS 80 Year and pickups (Korean)

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Edit Profile

Author Message 335clone Username: 335clone Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Saturday, October 07, 2006 - 5:17 pm:    Can anyone tell me what year my AS80 was made?And what type of pickups.Serial number is 00019301 Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Saturday, October 07, 2006 - 9:51 pm:    Partsman I'm struggeling with the same problem on a AS120, a handwritten number consisting of 8 digits. In Captain Ibanez, Defender of the Truth there is a thread called HOW TO READ SERIAL NUMBERS, where I found this discussion between Partsman and the Captain: "Username: Partsman Registered: 07-2005 Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 01:18 am: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ok, i've got one here, it's an AS120 Artstar made in korea the serial # is 9129422 no letter prefix, is this a 91? thanks, Mark Captainibanez Username: Captainibanez Registered: 01-2004 Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 02:39 am: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Partsman, 91= 1991 2= Feb 9422=9,422th guitar built for that month. This would be total units for that month across the entire range not just one model. Captain Ibanez" So you might think, that you know how it works and that the first two digits would represent the year. WRONG! The Captain was fooled by the question: is it a 91? He says yes, and continues that the 2 stands for February. And that's impossible. You need two digits to compose a date. February would have been 02. This AS120 was made in... DECEMBER (12). And the year is NOT 1991 but 1999, because there were no AS120 in 1991 at all. So, they used for a certain period only 1 digit for the year. Why? Jim Donahue explains, he ordered that, because there were no letter stamps available in that particular factory at that moment. The AS80 was a cheaper chrome version of the AS120, and made in the same period. Knowing this, we take a look at the serial number 00019301. If they would have chosen to use the first digit for the year 2000, the month would be 00, which would be nonsense. What if they, from the year 2000 on, chose to use the FIRST TWO DIGITS for the year? The month would be 01= January. That makes sense. Let's check: was there an AS80 made in 2000? Yes, it was. So the year makes sense too. And 9301 would be the overall production number of all models in the month of January 2000. (So this counting system allows a maximum production of 9.999 guitars per month, and they got pretty close). I don't know if I have overlooked something, but would it be possible to upload a picture of the serial number of your AS80? If it's the same terrible handwriting, it might help decipher my AS120 serial number. The problems in this handwriting are for example: how does this guy write a 1 compared to a 7? how a 4 compared to a 9? etc... Really, this handwriting drives me totally nuts. I can't read the f...... serial number of my best thinline bluesguitar! And then I start solving other people's problems, because I can't solve my own... It's some sort of Jesus complex I guess, and no I can't get off this cross myself. I need some comparison material (close-up PICTURES) of Korean Artstar guitars from the late nineties and early 2000s (before 2003) with HANDWRITTEN serial numbers on the inside label. Greetz, Ginger BTW, 335clone, your pickups are IBZ Super 58. They're really good. Don't change them.

Add Your Message Here Post: -Color- Black Red Green Blue Yellow Purple Orange Cyan Gray White -Font- Arial Courier Symbol Times Verdana -Size- Smallest (-2) Small (-1) Normal Large (+1) Largest (+2) Enter Item number: Username: Posting Information: This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here. Password: Options: Enable HTML code in message Automatically activate URLs in message Action: