Y = Single digit year of manufacture (2002-2009).F = Factory code (F = Fuji-gen, T = Terada).M = Letter code to corresponding month (A = January, B = February, etc.)Įxample: R01B0123 = Peerless Korea / 2001 / February / unit 0123.Y/YY = Year of manufacture (Single digit for some 1997 and earlier models).F/FF = Factory code (No factory designator for some 1993 and earlier models).NOTE: Pre 1994 productions also frequently omitted factory letter codes and appeared as all numbers. John Lee Hooker 50th Anniv.In 2008 models begin to appear without a factory i.d.Howard Roberts Fusion II & III (1988-1989).Only examples of these models with an 'S' prefix on the serial number were made by Samick. Note: Many of these models were not exclusively produced by Samick. The Korean factory stopped making Epiphones in 2002. However, Samick was kept on as a contractor and still builds Epiphones to this day, only at their newer Indonesian factory. After Matsumoku closed in 1987, Samick became the near-exclusive manufacturer of Epiphones (except for a few special models still made in Japan) until the mid-1990s, when Epiphone began contracting out to a number of different manufacturers. Samick began building Epiphones in 1984, as they were then being produced in Japan by Mastumoku, and the prices of Japanese guitars were increasing. To learn more about Epiphone, see The Unofficial Epiphonewiki. Because of this subsidiary relationship, many of the instruments are based upon the more expensive Gibson versions, but at a more affordable price point. Epiphone is now a subsidiary of the Gibson Corporation. The company's weakness in the aftermath of World War II allowed Gibson to absorb it. Their professional archtops, including the Emperor, Deluxe, Broadway and Triumph, rivaled those of Gibson. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Music Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos.

Epiphone sheraton serial number lookup