How does one date a PRS if the Serial number was removed?

kickaxeguitars

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I recently purchased a PRS Custom 24 from a friend at a local pawn shop. I got it on the cheap because it looks as if the back of the headstock has been repaired and the serial number was stripped during the repair. I sent the W.O. number to Customer support but was told that the only way they could track the age of the guitar was via the serial number.
I know on vintage Gibson and Fender there are pot code dates present and dates usually stamped in the neck pocket, pickup cavity etc. However, on this Custom 24 there is a white bar code sticker under the bridge pick up- with a long code and a work order number present, but no dates.
With my minimal PRS knowledge and a little bit of common sense, I deduced the guitar is somewhere between 1994 and 2001. The 5 way rotary switch has a sticker with a date of Oct 1994. I'm assuming this was a standard production date for MANY 5-way rotary switches bought in batches by PRS and probably can be found in many production year guitars (This is only an assumption and I'm hoping maybe one of you experts that are more well versed in PRS can clarify) And also this guitar has the first generation "Wing-nut" tuners which I believe made it until the 2001 production year.

I used this sites "MODCAT" decoder and learned this guitar is 100% original with no mods. Unfortunately, the codes used in production do NOT include production year so I can't figure out the exact year of production.The work order number is 758XX but i have no idea if they are sequential, random or?? I also have no idea if there is any tell-tale give away in the actual work order number to indicate model year.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
At least one of my guitars has the serial number duplicated inside the pickup cavity along with the modcat and initials of many employees who worked on building that guitar. You might look in there for all or part of the serial number (the serial number minus the first two numbers representing the year).
 
If you post some pics, that might help. Even if it doesn't help, we want to see pics anyway ;).

I don't know what can be determined from the work order number, but here is some data, FWIW. I used to own a 2000 CE24 which I bought used. Here are photos of the serial number, and the stickers in each pickup cavity. Notice that the work order numbers are different. If I had to guess, one sticker was from the original production of the guitar and the other was from the time a previous user sent it in PRS to install some 57/08 pickups. I would guess that the latter work order number is from sometime after 2008. Neither w/o number seems to correlate to the serial number or the year. I have no idea if they are produced sequentially, or if anything can be derived from them.

PRSCE24purpleserial_zps564b3df2.jpg


PRSCE24purpleneckpickupcavity_zpse0385266.jpg


PRSCE24purplebridgepickupcavity_zpsa978215c.jpg
 
WEDGE, TFC posted pics of his CE24 as an example of the way WO #s can differ, I don't think the OP posted any pics? I can't see any, at any rate.

OP, can you post pics of your guitar? Maybe there is some other tell-tale sign we can spot?
 
Well assuming thats the original serial # , it is a 1994.

The details don't add up, though.

Large heel (maaaybe a transition guitar, since '94 is known as the last year of the small heel CU24)
Non-shared-screw tuners (could've been replaced during the refin)
MODCAT sticker (*Alarm bells going off* the MODCAT system did not yet exist in 1994, started sometime early '00's)

Given those details and the ebony tuner buttons, I'd say it's an early '00's guitar, and someone was trying to misrepresent it as older for who knows why.
 
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Oh yeah, the Phase II tuners came out during '02 (I remember vividly because my HBII that was ordered early in the year got non-lockers, but the ones from later in the year got Phase II), so I'd say it's no newer than that and no older than when the MODCAT system started. 2001 is a safe guess.
 
Oh yeah, the Phase II tuners came out during '02 (I remember vividly because my HBII that was ordered early in the year got non-lockers, but the ones from later in the year got Phase II), so I'd say it's no newer than that and no older than when the MODCAT system started. 2001 is a safe guess.

Thanks for all the info gentleman.

One question for you.. What do the pot codes stand for on a PRS? Can I identify the year by the pot codes?
 
I think I might have narrowed it down.. I found this '2000 PRS on Ebay ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-PRS-Cu...149?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2351d2aad5 ) It has a W/O number within 300 numbers of mine.. It has the same ebony tuner keys, non shared tuners and it even has the same color as a bonus..lol.
that number after the w/o I believe is the serial number. I think the guitar may have had a checked event where serial was removed. Then next owner not knowing where to look put the one on the head stock you see. That is if I am right about the work order number in the pickup cavity.

If it was mine I would remove the serial on the head stock since it maybe incorrect. Maybe in the future you send it to ptc for a proper redo.

would have been 00 for 2000 followed by the w/o number on headstock.
 
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that number after the w/o I believe is the serial number. I think the guitar may have had a checked event where serial was removed. Then next owner not knowing where to look put the one on the head stock you see. That is if I am right about the work order number in the pickup cavity.

If it was mine I would remove the serial on the head stock since it maybe incorrect. Maybe in the future you send it to ptc for a proper redo.

would have been 00 for 2000 followed by the w/o number on headstock.

The numbers after the W/O are all the codes that identify the build details of this specific guitar-not a serial number..
 
i thought I might be wrong on that. I should have check one of my guitars before posting. Still killer guitar color.
 
Hey Wardog.. Just noticed you live in Canton. I grew up in Westland (Warren and Venoy) and went to John Glenn.. Nice to see some homies up here!
 
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