Anonymous 1980 F-100

ere's a close-up of the bridge plate from a well-worn F-100 I used to own, #G000536. It's is a very "low" serial number when you consider that the numbers started at 500. However, the low number actually implies nothing about the production date of the guitar; in fact, this guitar was built in November 1980, several months after the first F-100's rolled off the production line!

The story has it that G&L basically would make up a bunch of bridges, stamp them with serial numbers, and throw them into a bin. They would then pick bridges semi-randomly out of this bin when building guitars; hence, the serial numbers are for the most part a complete jumble, and certainly not an accurate mechanism for dating the guitars. See the FAQ on this site for more information regarding instrument dating.

This photo appears courtesy another former owner, Tim Pershing.