Dating Guitars Using Potentiometer Codes
By Bobby Brooks
Dating your guitar accurately often requires reading the serial number, the body and neck stamps and the codes on the
potentiometers. If the pots (potentiometers) are not original to the guitar, they cannot be used to date your guitar. Guitar
collectors often use the date of your guitar to value the instrument.
Potentiometers are variable resisters that control the volume and tone of the guitar and are soldered into the electric circuitry
of the guitar. Often the potentiometers are covered in solder and make reading the code difficult and sometimes even impossible.
The codes on the potentiometers establish the name of the manufacturer and the week and year the potentiometers were manufactured.
Most pots will start with the numbers 137 signifying that Chicago Telephone Supply made the potentiometers.
The potentiometer in the image below starts with 137 indicating the manufacturer CTS (Chicago Telephone Supply) The next part of
the code will have three- or four-digits indication the week and year of manufacture. Three-digit codes will have two digits for
the week and the last digit for the year and were used in the 1950s. The four-digit codes will have two digits for the week and
the last two digits for the year of manufacture.
In the image below the potentiometer reads 1378206 signifying it was made by Chicago Telephone Supply and was made during the
sixth week in the year 1982. The number 137 signifies CTS, the number 82 signifies the year 1982, and the number 06 signifies
the sixth week of the year.
You may find that the neck stamp and the potentiometer dates do not match because neck dates were often stamped at the beginning
of the manufacturing process. If the dates are different by a year or more then it is possible the neck and body are not original
to each other. However, the potentiometer dates are often more dependable than dating the guitar through serial numbers.
Most American guitars in the 20th century used potentiometers from a handful of manufacturers. Centralab's numerical code is 134,
Chicago Telephone Supply's code is 137, and the code for Stackpole is 304.
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