Anyway to approximate month of manufacture on new Martin?

[cheer tunes]

The serial number in question is 2435173, which dates it to 2020.

[coyote95667]

So, they put the SN on the neck block, presumably before they build the rest of the guitar around it. Strikes me as odd we decide what "year" a Martin is by when they stamp the neck block instead of, say, when the finish dries and it is suitable to ship to a dealer or customer. Seems like a number as high as yours could easily have not been done yet in 2020 - who knows..?

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by coyote95667

So, they put the SN on the neck block, presumably before they build the rest of the guitar around it. Strikes me as odd we decide what "year" a Martin is by when they stamp the neck block instead of, say, when the finish dries and it is suitable to ship to a dealer or customer. Seems like a number as high as yours could easily have not been done yet in 2020 - who knows..?

The SN isn’t ‘stamped’, it’s laser-etched. The obvious, easiest time to laser-etch the block is before it’s surrounded by wood, glue, lacquer, and wires. Would it be practical, or cost-effective, to laser-etch a neck-block on a fully-complete, ready-to-ship guitar?

The solution, I guess, would be to use a paper label the way many other builders do, and to put the SN on the label. But I suspect a paper label would fry the brains of many owners of traditional Martins (it would fry mine)! That said, one of the things I love about my Brook guitar is that it has a very classy paper label visible in the soundhole, with the model details and SN hand-written on it. The SN is in reverse in the format Year/Month/Sequential No., so my guitar’s SN of 918040 indicates that it was the fourth guitar completed in the month of August, 2019. Cool, eh?

[coyote95667]

never mind

[dnf777]

E-mail Martin and ask for a copy of the build sheet. You’ll have the exact dates.

[cheer tunes]

Originally Posted by dnf777

E-mail Martin and ask for a copy of the build sheet. You’ll have the exact dates.

good point Dave, i've done that. I guess I was thinking they only had sheets on customs, but it makes sense they would have something...their rep told me yesterday, just year, but we'll see...

[Misifus]

I don’t know if they still do it, or not, but Martin used to publish a list showing the last serial number for each year. Knowing the final number for 2019 and the final number for 2020, you might be able to interpolate to find the approximate build date of yours.

[beatcomber]

Originally Posted by Misifus

I don’t know if they still do it, or not, but Martin used to publish a list showing the last serial number for each year. Knowing the final number for 2019 and the final number for 2020, you might be able to interpolate to find the approximate build date of yours.

https://www.martinguitar.com/custome...er-lookup.html

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by cheer tunes

good point Dave, i've done that. I guess I was thinking they only had sheets on customs, but it makes sense they would have something...their rep told me yesterday, just year, but we'll see...

Martin only has build sheets on custom models. At least that’s what I was told by Martin when I checked a couple years ago. Production models are all built to the same specs…