I created a new profile so that my login is correctly spelt. Is there something written that shows what the letters are of guitar serial numbers SMC is located in Gallatin, TN, just a short distance from downtown Nashville. A 200,000square foot warehouse sits alongside our twostory Colonialstyle office. So, a serial number like D810040 would indicate that the guitar was manufactured in April 1981. What is it worth This is the most frequently asked question on the. The V. C. Squier Company manufactured strings for violins, banjos, and guitars. It was established in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan. Samick Guitar Serial Numbers' title='Samick Guitar Serial Numbers' />Westone Guitarsthe Home of Westone. The guitar legacy of Matsumoku Industrial Co. Ltd. Westone guitars and basses were made by Matsumoku or Uncle Mats as we affectionately refer to it in Japan and subsequently in Korea  for St. Louis Music during a period of 1. Here, you will find information, history, pictures and specifications of these amazing instruments. We are also gathering information on the range of Westone Prestige guitars designed by renowned British luthier Sid Poole  and built by Status Graphite in England in the late 1. Korean. While you may find a few early post Mats Korean made instruments listed here, we do not feature them, concentrating primarily on the Japanese made Matsumokus. German. For a brief period, roughly late 2. Information guide to the piano marketplace, including reviews of various brands of pianos, new and used. One thing to bear in mind is that the piano world is always. Serial numbers Here are the answers to your Questions F7 Means 1987 in 1997 they added F 97 and the CE designation. SungEum is E because S was used by Samick. Hondo II the First Name In First Bands. Marketed as ideal beginnerinstruments, Hondo II was the US brand name for certain guitars built by the Korean Samick. Westone brand was revived by a German company, Musik Meyer, which is still in business but no longer selling Westone guitars. The products in no way resemble the MIJ or MIK post Mats models, but were copies of traditional guitar configurations. Our Best guess is that they were likely made in China but under relatively good quality control. Chinese. Chinese made Westones are also seen occasionally but are mostly copies of traditional American styles. They are considered to be inferior instruments and are definitely not covered here. Our advice is to avoid them Indian. Were also aware of the Westone brand currently being used on an Indian site selling guitars of dubious quality. These are cheap and somewhat gaudy looking acoustics and bear absolutely no resemblance to a Mats made instrument whatsoever. This site also sells similar poor merchandise under bastardized versions of well known brands such as Givson and Fendar. Avoid Addendum April 2. Weston brand no eWe have seen instruments stamped with the Westone bird logo accompanied by the word Weston. We speculate that this was to avoid any potential copyright infringement at the time. These tend to be Super Strat type copies rather than original designs and as near as we can determine the majority of better made guitars and basses were Korean made. Dates and manufacturer are unknown but some may have been made by Samick. Korean instruments are identified by checking the neck for a scarf joint. They also tend to have position markers beyond the 1. The Weston brand also appears on some poorly made Chinese copies which appear to be post Korean era builds. Quality is dubious and it is best to avoid these instruments. B/A/BAJ6J68H29VG9KBU1RU9LPAMC8W2BPB8.jpg' alt='Samick Guitar Serial Numbers' title='Samick Guitar Serial Numbers' />Westone Guitar Forum. If youre an active collector, player or enthusiast be sure to visit the Westone Guitar Forum the definitive authority on the current state of all things Westone. There, you can discuss your instruments, recommend places to buy them, and learn how to look after them. Whether you have a missing trem arm, or need to completely rebuild your guitar, the Westone Guitar Forum is the place to goIf you love Westone, become a member today How old is my guitar This is one of the two most frequently asked questions on the Forum. Most Matsumoku Westones can be dated by the serial number, usually found on the back of the headstock, but some early 8. The first digit the year it was made. For example a serial number beginning with 2 indicates a guitar made in 1. Samick Guitar Serial Numbers' title='Samick Guitar Serial Numbers' />It is possible that the second and third digits give the month. Addendum November 2. Several Westone forum members have recently presented guitars with 6 digit numbers. Although not as common they do exist. Looking at dating information compiled by our friends at the Matsumoku Forum  we note that 6 digits was in use until mid to late 1. We presume that the interpretation for those instruments is the same for early Westones, until the 7 digit scheme was applied The first digit 0 or 1 the year. The next 2 digits the month. The first two digits the year. The last two the month. It is important to note that these are not really serial numbers, just production dates, and are not unique8. These appear from late 1. NN NN NNNN eg 8. We think that the first two digits the yearthe second two the month. Any guitar with this sort of number was probably made in Korea. Later models 1. 98. These are also Korean  made. Letters in the serial number. Many early 8. 0s models are also seen with a letter prefixing the number. These represent the production month and are interpreted as A Jan. D Apr. G July. J Oct. B Feb. E May. H Aug. K Nov. C Mar. F June. I Sept. L Dec. So, a serial number like D8. April 1. 98. 1. What is it worth This is the most frequently asked question on the Forum, and one we wish people would stop asking, for two reasons Were Westone enthusiasts and players were not merchants. Fundamentally, theres no real answer to the question. If you are selling Try selling it. When someone buys it, youll know how much it is worth If you are buying How much are you prepared to pay There are too many variables to be able to give an accurate figure. The value depends on the desirability of the model, how many are available, the condition of the guitar, whether or not it has been modified or has parts missing, what country  the seller is in, etc. A rough idea can be obtained by searching completed listings on Ebay. These prices are what people actually paid. Even then, that will only give you a very rough idea. The best you can hope for is a range of prices. There is really no way to predict a price for any model So please dont ask. Squier Wikipedia. The V. C. Squier Company manufactured strings for violins, banjos, and guitars. It was established in 1. Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan. In 1. 96. 5, the company was acquired by Fender. By 1. 97. 5, Squier became defunct as a manufacturer and a brand name for strings, as Fender opted to market its strings under the Fender brand name. In 1. 98. 2, the Squier brand was reactivated by Fender to become its brand for lower priced versions of Fender guitars. Squier guitars have been manufactured in Japan, Korea, Mexico, India, Indonesia, China, and the United States. HistoryeditV. C. Squier Company 1. Jerome Bonaparte Squier, a young English immigrant who arrived in Battle Creek, Michigan, in the latter part of the 1. European art of violin making. He moved to Boston in 1. Victor Carroll Squier. To this day, their violins are noted for their exceptional varnishes, and they command high prices as fine examples of early U. S. instrument craftsmanship. Indeed, J. B. Squier ranks among the best known U. S. trained violin makers and is often referred to as the American Stradivarius. Victor returned to Battle Creek, where he opened his own shop in 1. As his business grew, Squier moved the company to 4. Lake Ave. and eventually to 4. Capitol Ave, S. W. Battle Creek. With a limited market for violins in Battle Creek, however, Squier astutely sought relationships with national music schools and famous violinists. Up to 1. 90. 0, the best violin strings were made in Europe. Victor Squier started making his own hand wound violin strings, and the business grew so quickly that he and his employees improvised a dramatic production increase by converting a treadle sewing machine into a string winder capable of producing 1,0. Squier violin strings, banjo strings and guitar strings became well known nationwide and were especially popular among students because of their reasonable price. In the 1. 93. 0s, Squier began making strings for the eras new electric instruments the company also sold pianos, radios and phonograph records until divesting itself of all string related products in 1. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation entered the picture in the 1. V. C. Squier Company began supplying Southern California inventor and businessman Leo Fender with strings for his unusual new electric guitars. The V. C. Squier Company became an official original equipment manufacturer for Fender in 1. Fender acquired the V. C. Squier Company in early 1. Fender itself was acquired by CBS in May of the same year. By the mid 1. 97. Squier name was retired as the strings had taken the Fender name. Squier Guitars 1. Before the Fender Squier line of guitars was introduced in 1. Fender was making lower priced guitars such as the Fender Lead series at its Fullerton, California plant. Until the introduction of the Fender Squier series, Fender had never produced lower priced guitars based on its main Stratocaster and Telecaster models and had always used different model designs for its lower priced guitars. In the late 1. 97. Fender was facing competition from lower priced Japanese made guitars. The higher priced Fender guitars were made in the United States and could not compete with the lower prices of Japanese made Fender copies. In the early 1. 98. Japanese labour and production costs were much lower than in America and to compete with the Japanese made guitars, Fender moved the lower priced Fender guitar production from America to Japan. Fender was also losing sales in Japan to Japanese guitar brands such as Tkai, Greco and Fernandes and the establishment of Fender Japan would benefit Fender sales in Japan, as well as overseas. Fender began negotiations with several Japanese musical instrument distributors and reached an agreement with Yamano Gakki and Kanda Shokai to establish Fender Japan. Yamano Gakki was known for once being part of Epiphone Japan. Kanda Shokai owned the Greco brand name and one of the conditions of the Fender Japan agreement was that Kanda Shokai cease production of its own Greco Fender copies. This arrangement benefited Fender because it removed the Greco Fender copies from the Japanese market, which were selling in Japan at much lower prices than the American made Fenders and it also benefited Kanda Shokai because Kanda Shokai could then distribute Japanese made Fender branded guitars in Japan. Further negotiations between Fender and Japanese guitar factories took place. Casa De Sanatate Bihor Program there. Tokai was seriously considered to start building the first Japanese made Fenders, but after a breakdown in negotiations, Fuji. Gen Gakki was chosen instead. The initial Squier models were launched on JulyAugust 1. Over time, the Squier series slowly evolved to include original model designs and production has moved from Japan to various other Asian countries such as Korea, China and Indonesia. Instrument modelsedit. Jazzmaster Telecaster guitars Jaguar bass. Example of a Serial Number on a Precision Bass made for Fender by Young Chang in Korea in 1. Squier Duosonic with custom painting. Super Sonic by Tokai Gakki. Acoustic guitarsedit. A Squier SA 1. 05 acoustic guitar. Electric guitarseditOriginaleditFender CopieseditElectric basseditAmplifierseditInstrument serieseditSquier JV SQ serieseditThe first Fender Japan models introduced in May 1. Fender Stratocaster models ST5. ST5. 7 8. 5, ST5. ST6. 2 1. 15, ST6. ST6. 2 6. 5 and the Precision Bass models PB5. PB5. 7 7. 0, PB6. PB6. 2 7. 5. These models were Fender models and not Squier models. The stratocasters had Fender USA pickups installed and were made for the Japanese market only and not for export. Fender soon added a less expensive export Squier series based on the Fender Japan 1. JulyAugust 1. 98. Fender logo with a smaller Squier logo and had a zinc rather than a steel tremolo block and again the stratocasters had Fender USA pickups installed. The Squier series were also made available for the Japanese market in October 1. Squier series. The large Fender logo of the export Squier series was soon changed to a large Squier logo. The first Fender Japan guitars are known as the JV Fenders and JV Squiers, with JV standing for Japanese Vintage to reflect the guitars were made from the original blueprints of the vintage US guitars, were made by the Fuji. Gen Gakki factory in Japan, using technical support from Fender. The SQ Squier series was introduced in late 1. The SQ Squier series was based more on 1. Fender models and also had USA made pickups installed. Squier Vista SerieseditIn 1. Squier began to manufacture the Vista Series, which saw them introducing their own unique guitar designs independent from the Fender mother company for the first time. Made in the same factory as the Japanese Fenders of the era, they were known as high quality guitars. The series included the Supersonic guitar, the Venus guitar co designed by Courtney Love, the Jagmaster a hybrid of the Fender Jaguar and Jazzmaster models, and a re issue of the Musicmaster Bass. Later, in 9. 7, a guitar version of the Musicmaster Bass was added, though it should be noted this was based on the bass design, and not the Fender Musicmaster guitar design of the 1. By 1. 99. 8 the Vista Series was discontinued. Squier Affinity SerieseditThe Squier lineup was augmented in 1. Affinity series guitars and basses.