Guitar year

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Renown
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Guitar year

Post by Renown » Fri Jun 21, 2019 7:06 pm

What year was my Tracer made? I tried searching on the net with no luck
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Peavey Nitro 3 custom
Mesa Rectoverb 50 combo

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tele twister
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Re: Guitar year

Post by tele twister » Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:55 pm


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Renown
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Re: Guitar year

Post by Renown » Sat Jun 22, 2019 6:06 am

I already found that.. I was hoping to find someone that know how to read the serial numbers to find out the exact date... But thanks anyway
Peavey Nitro 3 custom
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JamesPaul
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Re: Guitar year

Post by JamesPaul » Sat Jun 22, 2019 9:42 pm

Exact date? That's a tall order. I don't know of many normal production items which can be tied to an exact date. Custom items, that's a different story.
Enzo wrote:I find if the amp is working, that is a good point to stop fixing it.
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VSW
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Re: Guitar year

Post by VSW » Sat Jun 22, 2019 10:58 pm

JamesPaul wrote:
Sat Jun 22, 2019 9:42 pm
Exact date? That's a tall order. I don't know of many normal production items which can be tied to an exact date. Custom items, that's a different story.
Really!

A question occurred to me. When in the manufacturing process were the serial numbers stamped into the necks?

Scenario A:
Were the numbers stamped after being milled but prior to fretwork and/or installation of hardware? Were they stamped after the necks were completed but still prior to being affixed to bodies?

It seems to me that it would be easier to stamp the heads without tuning machines installed, easier to lay flat. Then these stamped necks would have gone into a stock of completed necks that would later have been combined with bodies, electronics, and strings. From a manufacturing point of view, I can see advantages to this.

Scenario B:
Or was there a master craftsman who after all assembly, tuning, and inspection were completed; finally deemed each individual guitar worthy and then stamped on the numbers? (Sounds romantic, like the notion of one master craftsman getting lumber, drying, shaping the pieces, and finally assembling instruments...prior to the hand-finishing.) Seems unlikely in the modern, efficient manufacturing process that Peavey brought to the industry.

I don't know how it was done. A case certainly can be made for either scenario. My question is, if Scenario A was the method used and necks with serial numbers were built to stock, how would you even have decided on a specific "built-on" date in the first place? Much less tried to keep track of it?
Vaughan

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JamesPaul
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Re: Guitar year

Post by JamesPaul » Sat Jun 22, 2019 11:31 pm

I own a couple Fenders whose necks were made and stamped the year before they were attached to a body and shipped. Not sure how Peavey guitars are assembled.

I also own a bunch of Seymour Duncan Custom Shop pickups. They all came in a box which was signed and dated by the person who built and wound them. I have plenty of regular production SD pickups that have none of that info.

Stock production is just production and years are usually the granularity.

Ultimately, if it sounds good - who cares when it was made?

And the OP question was what year was my Tracer made?
Enzo wrote:I find if the amp is working, that is a good point to stop fixing it.
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VSW
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Re: Guitar year

Post by VSW » Sun Jun 23, 2019 1:01 am

JamesPaul wrote:
Sat Jun 22, 2019 11:31 pm
...

Stock production is just production and years are usually the granularity.

Ultimately, if it sounds good - who cares when it was made?
I agree with you.

My "question" was mostly rhetorical. The topic just started me thinking about what all was involved in manufacturing large quantities of musical instruments.
JamesPaul wrote:
Sat Jun 22, 2019 11:31 pm
And the OP question was what year was my Tracer made?
Yes it was, wasn't it?
Vaughan

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JamesPaul
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Re: Guitar year

Post by JamesPaul » Sun Jun 23, 2019 1:34 am

I'm with you, brother!
Enzo wrote:I find if the amp is working, that is a good point to stop fixing it.
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tele twister
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Re: Guitar year

Post by tele twister » Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:52 am

By means of hypothetical interpolation,
I have determined that the OP's production guitar was built on the 23rd of January, 1991 ;-)

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JamesPaul
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Re: Guitar year

Post by JamesPaul » Mon Jun 24, 2019 10:21 pm

Ahhhh, finally, closure at last.
Enzo wrote:I find if the amp is working, that is a good point to stop fixing it.
James Paul's Peaveys
Decade, Classics, Ecoustic, Windsors, VYPYR, Triple XXX, XXL, VKs, Bandit, JSXs, VIP, Piranha and a Penta.

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