How do you date a Guild guitar from 1965 to 1969?

In that era Guild gave every model its own two-letter prefix and its own number run, so the prefix identifies the model and the number identifies the year within that model's range. AJ is a D40, AL is a D50, AG is an F20 and EK is a Starfire. A number alone cannot be dated without the prefix.

What do the letters on a post-2005 Guild serial number mean?

The first letter is the factory: T for Tacoma, Washington and N for New Hartford, Connecticut. The second letter is the year, starting at I for 2005 and continuing alphabetically. The next three digits are the day of the year and the final three are the unit number built that day.

Can you date a Guild made between 1979 and 1997?

Not reliably from the serial alone. Guild returned to per-model prefixes in that period and their published tables contain duplicated values between models, malformed entries and gaps. Guild themselves state that some documentation was lost or destroyed.

Guild Serial Number Lookup

Q: Why can a Guild serial number give two possible models?

Guild reused some prefixes. AI was used for the F30 from 1965 to 1969 and also for the A150 in 1968 and 1969, and EK is listed identically for the Starfire II and Starfire III. The overlap is in Guild's own published tables, so the serial alone cannot separate them.

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What year is my Guild?

Enter the serial number. Guild changed its numbering six times, and for two long stretches the same digits mean different years on different models, so a plain chart will often mislead you. This reads all of it.

How Guild serial numbers work

Guild is the hardest of the major American brands to date, and it is worth knowing why before you trust any answer, including ours. Guild changed its numbering system six times in seventy years, and twice abandoned a single running sequence in favour of giving every model its own separate number run. In those years the serial cannot tell you the year unless you also know which model you are holding. Guild themselves say some of the paperwork was lost or destroyed and that the surviving records contain, in their words, anomalies, inconsistencies and outright dating errors.

That is why most Guild lookups you will find are either a flat chart that ignores the model-specific years, or a database that quietly fails on most serials. This tool encodes all 197 of Guild’s published 1965 to 1969 model ranges across 50 prefixes, both full sequential eras, and the post-2005 factory and Julian-date code. Where Guild’s own data is ambiguous, it tells you so instead of picking one and sounding certain.

1953 to 1959 — plain numbers, approximate

Guild publishes only an approximate last-number-per-year for these years and describes the records as sketchy. Any answer here is an estimate. The company was in New York City, then Hoboken, and volumes were small.

1960 to 1964 — plain numbers, exact

A single running sequence from 12,036 to 38,636, with published first and last numbers for each year. These date cleanly.

1965 to 1969 — two-letter model prefixes

The hard era, and the one this tool exists for. Guild dropped the single sequence and gave each model its own prefix and its own numbering. AJ is a D40, AL is a D50, EK is a Starfire, AG is an F20, and so on across roughly fifty prefixes. The same number under two different prefixes is two different guitars from two different years.

Two overlaps are worth knowing about, and the tool flags both rather than guessing. AI was used for the F30 across 1965 to 1969 and for the A150 in 1968 to 1969, so a low AI number is genuinely ambiguous. EK is listed identically for the Starfire II and the Starfire III, so the serial cannot separate those two models at all — only looking at the guitar can.

1970 to September 1979 — plain numbers again, exact

Back to one running sequence, 46,696 through 211,877, all built at Westerly, Rhode Island. These are the cleanest Guilds to date, and this covers the era most people mean when they say a vintage Guild dreadnought.

1979 to 1997 — model prefixes again

Guild returned to per-model prefixes on a different scheme, and this is the era where their own published tables visibly break down: duplicated values between models, malformed entries, and gaps. We deliberately do not hand you a confident year from this range. If your serial has letters and does not resolve above, send us the model and the serial and we will work it out properly against several sources rather than one broken table.

2005 onward — factory letter, year letter, Julian date

Two letters and six digits. The first letter is the plant: T for Tacoma, Washington, N for New Hartford, Connecticut. The second letter is the year, running I for 2005, J for 2006 and on through the alphabet. The next three digits are the day of the year, and the last three are the unit number built that day. So NM037016 is New Hartford, 2009, the thirty-seventh day of the year, sixteenth guitar off the line.

The gaps we will not paper over

There is no reliable published scheme for roughly 1998 to 2004, and Guild’s chart does not cover the post-2015 Cordoba-era instruments. If you have one of those, the tool will say so rather than invent a year. Anyone who hands you a confident answer for those years is guessing.

Common questions

Where is the serial number on a Guild?

Usually stamped or printed on the back of the headstock. On many acoustics it also appears on the label inside the sound hole. On some older models it is stamped into the neck block.

Why does my Guild serial give two possible models?

Because Guild reused a few prefixes. AI covers both the F30 and the A150, and EK is listed identically for the Starfire II and Starfire III. This is in Guild’s own tables. Photographs settle it in seconds.

Why will you not date my 1980s Guild?

Because Guild’s published data for 1979 to 1997 contains errors we can see with our own eyes, including models sharing identical serial values and malformed entries. Handing you a confident year off that table would be worse than telling you the truth. Send us the model and serial and we will do it properly.

Does the year tell me what my Guild is worth?

Not by itself. Model, condition, originality, whether it is a Hoboken or Westerly build, and any repair history all matter more. We appraise Guilds free.

Do you have a lookup for other brands?

Yes. Try our Martin serial number lookup, Taylor, Gibson and Fender. Each brand numbers its instruments completely differently, so each tool is built from that manufacturer’s own documentation.

Bring it in

We are at 316 East 84th Street in Manhattan, open Monday to Friday from noon to 8pm and Saturday from 10am to 8pm. We buy, sell, consign, set up and repair guitars, and we are happy to look at yours whether or not you are selling. Call 646-559-8771.