I compiled these from researching Redline and Linn Kastan over a 6 year period, also from comparing pictures, frame styles, serial numbers I found online and from numerous interviews I've read that Linn Kastan had done.
These are not exact but the closest year breakdown of early Redline serial numbers I’ve been able to come up with.
74
100 to 260
75
260 to 800
76
800 to 5300
77
5300 to 10000
78
10000 to 20000
early 79
20000 to 24000?
late 79
340000 to 343000
There are also some frames built in Australia that has no serial number and some with serial numbers in the 30000 range that were also built in Australia.
These are not exact but the closest year breakdown of early Redline serial numbers I’ve been able to come up with.
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I’d really like to get this broken down to more exact numbers so if you have any info that would help please post it up. Pics would be great, as well as any printed info you may have that helps set a time line on years and model changes.74
100 to 260
75
260 to 800
76
800 to 5300
77
5300 to 10000
![Number Number](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126465820/410608905.jpg)
10000 to 20000
early 79
20000 to 24000?
late 79
340000 to 343000
There are also some frames built in Australia that has no serial number and some with serial numbers in the 30000 range that were also built in Australia.
O.k. this post should probably be called Godin guitar serial numbers rather than Seagull guitar serial numbers – because it applies to all guitars under the Godin umbrella (Seagull, Art & Lutherie, Simon & Patrick, Norman and La Patrie) but it certainly applies to Seagull guitars.
Redline Serial Number Decoder Free
Get your concentrating hat on because they haven’t made this simple!
What you can Find out from your serial number?
Your Godin serial number will tell you different things depending on the time period. There are 3 distinct time periods for Godin serial numbers.
- Pre-1993
- 1993 to 2007
- 2008 to present
Note: Seagull starts their year on August 1. So if the year is 2005, then it starts August 1 2004 and ends July 31 2005.
Pre-1993
You can’t really tell anything from this serial number. You’ll need to contact Godin and tell them your serial number and they can tell you when the guitar was made.
1993 to 2007
- The year the guitar was made;
- The week of the year it was made;
- The day of the week it was made; and
- The unit number of the guitar
I’ll go into more detail about how you can decipher this in a bit.
2008 to present
- The model number
- Whether your guitar is a factory second or not
- What number of that particular model yours is
I’ll go into more detail about how you can decipher this in a bit.
How to Decode Your Serial Number
Again how you decode your serial number depends on the time period.
Pre-1993
This is simply a matter of contacting Godin, telling them your serial number and asking them about it. There is no secret code in these numbers!
1993 to 2007
O.K. now we get into some secret code ?
Between 1993 and 2007 Godin used an 8 digit serial number. This serial number is broken up into 4 different parts.
Let’s use an example serial number to illustrate this. We’ll use – 05034148
Digits 1 & 2
The first 2 digits represent the year that the guitar was built. But this is not the calendar year. Godin’s year runs from August 1st to July 31st. So the first 2 digits, technically represent the “year ended”.
In our example we have 05 as the first 2 digits.
- 05034148
What this determines is that the guitar was built sometime in the year from August 1st, 2004 and July 31st 2005.
The next 2 digits will narrow this down further.
Digits 3 & 4
Digits 3 & 4 represent the week of the year that the guitar was built – remember that the Godin year is August 1st to July 31st. So week 1 is the first week of August.
In our example the week is 03.
- 05034148
This means it was built in the 3rd week of the year ended July 31st, 2005. So it was the 3rd week of August 2004.
So the guitar with this serial number was actually built in 2004 even though the first 2 digits are 05. With me so far?
Digit 5
The 5th digit represents the day of the week that the guitar was built, starting from Monday.
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
3 = Wednesday
4 = Thursday
5 = Friday
6 = Saturday
7 = Sunday
So in our example we have a 4 so the guitar with this serial number was built on a Thursday.
- 05034148
The last 3 digits
The last 3 digits represents the order in which this guitar was produced in that week.
So, in our example, it was the 148th guitar built that week.
- 05034148
So, overall we can tell that this guitar was the 148th guitar built in the 3rd week of August in 2004 and it was built on a Thursday. So we can work out that it was built on Thursday the 19th of August, 2004.
This a bit complicated but usually people only want to know the year that their guitar was built – so you can work that out a bit easier.
Extra Info
If there’s an “AA” or “AAA” in the serial number this represents the grade of wood. Not all serial numbers have this – I think it’s just for maple top guitars.
If there is an “F” in the serial number, this signifies that the guitar is “B-Stock”.
2008 to present
In late 2007 Godin switched to a 12 digit serial number.
The present system doesn’t actually tell you anything about when the guitar was built, which is a bit of a pain, as working out the year of your guitar is often the only thing people want to know from their serial number.
Anyway, this is what the serial number tells you.
I mean I guess serial numbers are really meant for internal purposes for Seagull and for anti-theft measures but sometimes you want to be able to find out the year of production. I imagine if you were to contact Godin they would have this information.
Let’s use another example serial number – 029396000123
First 6 digits
This represents the model of your guitar. You probably already know this but if you’re not sure for whatever reason you can find out.
In our example the first 6 digits are 029396 – this is the model number of the Seagull S6 Original.
- 029396000123
If you follow this link – Seagull S6 Original – it will take you to the S6 Original on the Seagull website. Underneath the title you will see “SKU: 029396”. If you want to find the model number for your guitar go through the models until you find the number that matches your guitar. You should be able to narrow this down reasonably quickly as you should know at least which series your guitar is from.
7th Digit
This digit represents whether this guitar is a “Factory Second” or not.
A “0” represents that it’s not a factory second and a “9” represents a factory second. Note that a “Factory Second” does not mean that the guitar has a functional defect – rather that it just has a cosmetic flaw. These guitars are usually priced a little bit lower and if you can find one you should be able to get a good deal on an otherwise perfectly fine guitar.
In our example the guitar is not a factory second.
- 029396000123
The last 5 digits
The last 5 digits represent the number of that particular model built since switching to 12 digit serial numbers.
In our example the serial number represents the 123rd S6 Original built since Godin changed to 12 digit serial numbers.
- 029396000123
So, overall from our example serial number we can tell that the serial number belongs to an S6 Original that is not a factory second and that it was the 123rd S6 Original to be shipped since Godin began their 12 digit serial number system.
Final Thoughts
This is definitely the most complicated serial number system I have come across so far (I have previous to this written serial number posts explaining Martin’s and Taylor’s serial number systems).
But as I said earlier, it is perhaps the fact that serial numbers are mainly for internal company purposes and for identifying stolen property. But, it would be nice to be able to quickly tell what year your guitar was built from the serial number as well.
This information was compiled from the following – Godin don’t post information about their serial numbers:
Photo Credits
By Jason (Flickr: Mina & Guitar III) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons