brand new member/Epi G400 in cherry

[buckykatt]

i recently lucked out and got myself a beautiful, brand new condition Epiphone G400 SG and i'm wondering when it might have came out of the factory. instead of the trapezoidal neck inlays like the new one, it has dot inlays, there is also no "embellishment" in the center of the headstock. however the only new epi sg that has dot inlays AND a set neck are the ones that are in a satin finish, not the really nice high gloss like mine. also it has, instead of the chrome covered pickups theyre the exposed humbuckers. i have a serial number if that helps though when at the gibson/epiphone website it said there should be a letter in the serial# at the beginning and there isnt. the serial# which is on a decal on the back of the headstock is 9092415, at the bottom of the neck where it meets the body there is a decal that has G400ch on it, assuming that that says that this is a g400 guitar in cherry. sorry for the long winded post but this is my first epi and i always like to know when and where my guitars were built.
I'm jeff, i've been playing off and on for about 35 years now and i've been in punk, jazz fusion, bluegrass and grateful dead cover bands since i was 14 or so. i have a small collection including, of course, my epiphone g400, my favorite guitar, a Danelecto Hodad with the bigsby style tremolo, a mid 70's, hardtail strat and an older fender Gemini II acoustic 6 string.

[just strum]

Your guitar was made in
Korea
September c.1989
Production Number: 2415

[buckykatt]

thanks much! looks fantastic for a 21 year old guitar, the only wear is a little scratching on the pickguard.

[Brian Krashpad]

Congrats on your SG Bucky! The reason it doesn't have a letter at the start is probably due to the age. Back then Epi didn't make near as many guitars as they do now, and I'm guessing they all came out of the same Korean factory (probably Cort or Samick). Later, Epi production was done at a bunch of factories all over Korea and owned by different companies; in addition to the 2 mentioned, there were also Unsung, Saien (Shine), etc. As a result of expanding production, Epi put letters in front of the serial numbers as a factory code.

Btw, check in at our "new guy" forum here for a welcome:

http://www.thefret.net/forumdisplay.php?f=13

Cheers and welcome.