Identifying a guitar (the state of the information)...

[GokartMozart]

The tl;dr version - I have an Epiphone Les Paul that I've been trying to origin. Not for any specific reason- it's not rare, it's not old and it's not especially unique, but just because I've tried and generally failed.

What I know - Epi LP Std, LE, TransBlack. Everything seems to agree that it was made in the QingDao factory (EE serial), which people seem to agree is 'good enough for the girls I run with', so... probably means too good for me ... ...and that's about it for what I know.

Epiphone Wiki only has 2001 for TransBlack LE, serial decoder page pointed to the first two digits as year (05), but I've also seen a specific sale post for an '01 LE with a serial starting EE07... Which makes me skeptical that mine was made in December of '05 (EE0512) like the serial decoder says.

So.... Thoughts on what am I missing with this?

 

[Eagle]

The serial number is correct. Don’t go on the colour.

 

[GokartMozart]

The serial number is correct. Don’t go on the colour.

I'm not going on color, was just mentioning it as a reference to the overall lack of credible information that's available. It's a wiki and like all wikis, is subject to the accuracy of the editors.

According to serial numbers, mine would have been made in 2005, which I'm skeptical of but don't have any real reason to be... Except...

Except for the inventory listing of a reputable music store (that just happens to be not far from me) has one advertised as a 2001 that the serial decodes to being made in 2007...

Which... I guess I could call them (or stop in) and ask 'whats up with that?'...

 

[Eagle]

I'm not going on color, was just mentioning it as a reference to the overall lack of credible information that's available. It's a wiki and like all wikis, is subject to the accuracy of the editors.

According to serial numbers, mine would have been made in 2005, which I'm skeptical of but don't have any real reason to be... Except...

Except for the inventory listing of a reputable music store (that just happens to be not far from me) has one advertised as a 2001 that the serial decodes to being made in 2007...

Which... I guess I could call them (or stop in) and ask 'whats up with that?'...

What makes you think the shop has any information that would go against the serial number system used by the factory? They will have made a mistake. Nobody has a vested interest in keeping records beyond serial numbers for this type of product because it will never be remotely collectible.

 

[GokartMozart]

What makes you think

Was kinda hoping that maybe a response along the lines of 'oh, yeah... Serials for Epis from the multiple factories can get a bit wonky sometimes'

Nobody has a vested interest in keeping records beyond serial numbers for this type of product because it will never be remotely collectible.

Which was kinda my point. It doesn't matter to anybody but me, available infos can be dodgy, etc. But I know that people have put effort into such things for likely similar reasons to mine (personal curiosity).

the shop has any information that would go against the serial number system used by the factory?

Exactly the reason I came here, registered, and posted my question. I was wondering if maybe they knew something that would cause them to write an incorrect year into the description.

I was about to accept mine as a 2005 and go about my life, but then I saw a thing that didn't align with what brought that acceptance.

 

[Eagle]

Was kinda hoping that maybe a response along the lines of 'oh, yeah... Serials for Epis from the multiple factories can get a bit wonky sometimes'


Which was kinda my point. It doesn't matter to anybody but me, available infos can be dodgy, etc. But I know that people have put effort into such things for likely similar reasons to mine (personal curiosity).



Exactly the reason I came here, registered, and posted my question. I was wondering if maybe they knew something that would cause them to write an incorrect year into the description.

I was about to accept mine as a 2005 and go about my life, but then I saw a thing that didn't align with what brought that acceptance.

It’s what the SN says it is. Most shops are clueless.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

Yeah go by the serial number. A lot of shops are clueless when it comes to cheaper, used products. They're probably listing it as 2001 because the (also clueless) customer who sold them the guitar told them that's what it was and they didn't even bother checking.

There's no point for shops to research manufacturing dates for cheap guitars since it doesn't affect the resale price at all. So most of them just go with whatever information was given to them, or sometims they even just take a guess.

If anything, email Epiphone customer support, they'll be able to clear that up for you based on the serial number.