Decoding Heritage Serial Numbers

[FredZepp]

Good evening all, i'm new to the forum and not an owner. But tonight I was visiting a relative and he pulled out an H-140M that has never been played, with a serial number of A03603 and the going story is that it was one of the first ones produced as soon as the factory restarted. I pulled off the back plate to find that it was hand signed by Marvin Lamb, B. Paige, Michael K, Tom Duyek, Jim something and there is one more but I cant make it out...but anyway...The enclosed receipt in the case stated that the guitar was picked up was 4-23-85. The only thing that I've been able to figure out on my own is that it is a real early model. It has a very light burst, unlike some of the ones I googled from that era. So i'm not sure what I'm looking at.....I'm an early Ibanez collector, so this is a little out of my expertise.

 

Anyone have any insight as to what this may be?

If you have more pics... you should start a thread in the Heritage guitar section and post them... we'd love to see some details.

 

It's an H-140 made before the company was incorporated, so yes very early. The M indicates the mahogany top that we usually see on these.

 

That one was made in November 1984.. oddly I keep coming up with Nov 25, a Sunday ( it was a leap year ) Is one of the numbers perhaps blurry and hard to read?

[SouthpawGuy]

Yes please post a new a thread and share some more photos. The pickups seem to have two mounting screws each, are they Schallers ?

[mikehiras]

Yes please post a new a thread and share some more photos. The pickups seem to have two mounting screws each, are they Schallers ?

I'll post a new thread tonight with all the pics I took. Thanks for the responses. I'm not sure if they are Schallers, I'll try to pull one and see if there are any markings on it.

[holyroller]

Thanks !!! Mine didn't come with paperwork ,so now I know mine is a - 2001 made in march and was the 4 th made that day. Yea!

[Morty]

Hi guys!

I'm new here and i don't know much about Heritage guitars:)

I'm trying to find some information on my guitar.

I believe it's a H 140, serial nr. S358004.

 

Can anyone help?

Morty

[Morty]

Hi guys!

I'm new here and i don't know much about Heritage guitars:)

I'm trying to find some information on my guitar.

I believe it's a H 140, serial nr. S358004.

 

Can anyone help?

Morty

[Billgelder]

Hi guys!

I'm new here and i don't know much about Heritage guitars:)

I'm trying to find some information on my guitar.

I believe it's a H 140, serial nr. S358004.

 

Can anyone help?

Morty

It is a 2002 any photos?

[TalismanRich]

Hi Morty.

 

The easiest way to find out what guitar you have it it check the label. For solid body guitars with a cover on the back, remove the control plate and there should be a label inside. For archtops, you'll usually find it on the inside of one of the F holes.

 

The H140 is a takeoff of the standard Les Paul platform. Its a bit thinner, lighter and the original ones have a sharp cutaway. Series 2 models have the rounded horn.

 

An S serial number indicates 2002.

 

Post pictures if you can, it helps with identification.

[Morty]

Ok, thanks! I'll check it out

Tryed to post some pictures but the uploader don't agree with my phone

[Morty]

This is a picture of the sticker on the backside.

[Morty]

This is a picture of the sticker on the backside.

 

 

 

This is the guitar

[Yooper]

OK, as long as this thread is active, I submit for your consideration:

 

 

Which number is the official one?

 

I suppose this one is:

 

 

I vote for Y 05501.

[TalismanRich]

This is the guitar

 

Ok what you have there is a standard issue H140 with Schaller pickups, in Chestnut Sunburst. The only thing that it doesn't have the the standard pickguard. Looks like it was removed.

 

Hardware at the time was Schaller tailpiece and roller bridge.

 

Personally I think those are great guitars. I've got an '87 in cherryburst. The only think I've done is change the pickups to SD Alnico Pro IIs.

 

[Wildlife1234]

I have a K18503 Bought it from a friend that has many guitars and doesn't know how to play He picked it up a long time ago. Paid $1000 I think more than fair great shape never gigged or from what I can see even played. Sounds great. P.S. I like it better than my PRS.

[H]

I have a K18503 Bought it from a friend that has many guitars and doesn't know how to play He picked it up a long time ago. Paid $1000 I think more than fair great shape never gigged or from what I can see even played. Sounds great. P.S. I like it better than my PRS.

Yours is the *only* K18503 - that's the serial number. The model type will be written on the label inside the control cover (if it's a solid body) or visible through the F-hole (for hollows and semi-hollows).

 

Post a pic or two and we'll try to tell you what it is. The serial number indicates a summer 1994 guitar.

[Morty]

Ok what you have there is a standard issue H140 with Schaller pickups, in Chestnut Sunburst. The only thing that it doesn't have the the standard pickguard. Looks like it was removed.

 

Hardware at the time was Schaller tailpiece and roller bridge.

 

Personally I think those are great guitars. I've got an '87 in cherryburst. The only think I've done is change the pickups to SD Alnico Pro IIs.

 

Ok,tanks for info

Yes i removed the pickguard.

Sorry about bad pictures

Do you know how much the 140 is worth?

[TalismanRich]

An H140 will generally run in the $1000 to $1500 range, depending on year, condition and if it's a special edition, like a 10th Anniv model.

[Morty]

Ok, thanks again.

[tdrommond]

 

Am I reading this correctly? 2000, a leap year, built on the 289th day of the year, first guitar of the day. The 289th day of 2000 was October 15th, a Sunday. I saw another post about them working Sundays, but thought I'd ask if I had the date right.

[cheese]

I noticed 2 guitars on ebay today that have hand drawn serial numbers on the headstock, not stamped. Is this a new protocol for Heritage, or does have another more significant meaning like less quality?

 

[H]

I noticed 2 guitars on ebay today that have hand drawn serial numbers on the headstock, not stamped. Is this a new protocol for Heritage, or does have another more significant meaning like less quality?

 

It's a fairly recent change - perhaps enforced by their stamping machine not having the capability of the double letter required since the Z prefix?

 

The previous stamp was a little unreliable - witness the various posts in this thread where we've attempted to work out what letter a smudge might be

 

No quality worries - the guys and gal are producing some of their best work ever.

[big bob]

I noticed 2 guitars on ebay today that have hand drawn serial numbers on the headstock, not stamped. Is this a new protocol for Heritage, or does have another more significant meaning like less quality?

 

Are you the same cheese that has a Terminator?

[duhvoodooman]

Am I reading this correctly? 2000, a leap year, built on the 289th day of the year, first guitar of the day. The 289th day of 2000 was October 15th, a Sunday. I saw another post about them working Sundays, but thought I'd ask if I had the date right.

Yeah, that's how I figure it, too. Made on a Sunday

 

General question to all here: I use Microsoft EXCEL a lot in my job, so I put together a small spreadsheet that lets you enter your Heritage serial number and it automatically calculates and displays the manufacture date and the day of the week. It even recognizes and adjusts for the extra day in leap years. I can post it on my website and provide a link to it here, if there's any interest in doing that. Obviously, you'll have to have MS EXCEL to be able to use it....

[tdrommond]

Yeah, that's how I figure it, too. Made on a Sunday

 

General question to all here: I use Microsoft EXCEL a lot in my job, so I put together a small spreadsheet that lets you enter your Heritage serial number and it automatically calculates and displays the manufacture date and the day of the week. It even recognizes and adjusts for the extra day in leap years. I can post it on my website and provide a link to it here, if there's any interest in doing that. Obviously, you'll have to have MS EXCEL to be able to use it....

Thanks for checking. Those are some dedicated cats, working on Sundays.

[duhvoodooman]

Here are links to a couple of versions of the EXCEL spreadsheet I referred to a couple of posts prior. As mentioned above, you just enter your Heritage serial number and it automatically calculates and displays the manufacture date and the day of the week, and is accurate even for leap years.

 

For 2007 & newer versions of EXCEL (.XLSX extension): http://duhvoodooman.com/files/Heritage_SN_Decoder.xlsx

 

For EXCEL 97 & 2003 (.XLS extension): http://duhvoodooman.com/files/Heritage_SN_Decoder.xls