Marshall Bar Code and Seriel Number Dating Scheme
Posted: 22 Jan 2013, 20:11
How old is my Marshall?" is a common question asked by owners. While the age of an amp has no bearing on how good or bad it sounds, it can have an impact on the selling or purchase price of a Marshall rig. Using the information in this section, you can attempt to dial in the possible dates of manufacture more closely than by sheer estimation alone.
Does it have a bar code?
Yes (read on) | No (scroll down to the seriel nuber section)
Marshall began using a nine-digit bar code label beginning in 1992. If your amp or speaker enclosure sports a black-ink-on-white-background barcode label on the chassis or back of the cabinet, then you know that the product was manufactured somewhere between 1992 and the present.
How to read the bar code
Ignore the bar code on the first line. Look at the numbers on the second line. The first two digits are the year. The last two denote the month. The five digits in between are the serial number.
[align=center]I I I I I II I I III I I I II I
975555503[/align]
In the example above, the amp was produced in March (975555503) of 1997 (975555503).
Have an older Marshall without a bar code? Those are discussed below.
Serial Numbers
Does it have a serial number stamped on the chassis?
Marshall amps began featuring aluminum back panels in 1969.
Serial numbers began appearing on the back panels in July 1969.
Note that some models produced from 1979-81 had serial numbers stamped on the front panel (to the left of the power switch).
How to read the serial number (1969-1983)
Marshall used a coding system that provided (a) model, (b) serial number, and (c) manufacture date. This (a)(b)(c) sequence began in 1969 and was valid through 1983.
How to read the serial number (1984-1992)
In 1984, the order of the serial number components changed to (a)(c)(b), but the method used to determine the values for (a) and (c) remain the same. This system was used until 1992, when a bar code system was introduced.
(a) Model - The first part of the serial number grouping determines the model of the chassis. Possible values are shown in the table below.
(b) Serial number - The second part of the alphanumeric grouping is the five-digit serial number itself.
(c) Manufacture date - The last character determines the date of manufacture. Since A was used in both 1969 and 1970, Marshall decided that 1971 would start with C. To avoid confusion with the numerals 1 and 0, Marshall elected to skip the letters I and O. Also, for reasons not explained, there are no Q-dated amps. Z was used for two years, allowing time to convert to the bar coding scheme started in October 1992. Here are the date codes:
Does it have a bar code?
Yes (read on) | No (scroll down to the seriel nuber section)
Marshall began using a nine-digit bar code label beginning in 1992. If your amp or speaker enclosure sports a black-ink-on-white-background barcode label on the chassis or back of the cabinet, then you know that the product was manufactured somewhere between 1992 and the present.
How to read the bar code
Ignore the bar code on the first line. Look at the numbers on the second line. The first two digits are the year. The last two denote the month. The five digits in between are the serial number.
[align=center]I I I I I II I I III I I I II I
975555503[/align]
In the example above, the amp was produced in March (975555503) of 1997 (975555503).
Have an older Marshall without a bar code? Those are discussed below.
Serial Numbers
Does it have a serial number stamped on the chassis?
Marshall amps began featuring aluminum back panels in 1969.
Serial numbers began appearing on the back panels in July 1969.
Note that some models produced from 1979-81 had serial numbers stamped on the front panel (to the left of the power switch).
How to read the serial number (1969-1983)
Marshall used a coding system that provided (a) model, (b) serial number, and (c) manufacture date. This (a)(b)(c) sequence began in 1969 and was valid through 1983.
How to read the serial number (1984-1992)
In 1984, the order of the serial number components changed to (a)(c)(b), but the method used to determine the values for (a) and (c) remain the same. This system was used until 1992, when a bar code system was introduced.
(a) Model - The first part of the serial number grouping determines the model of the chassis. Possible values are shown in the table below.
- a.jpg (20.4 KiB) Viewed 8919 times
(c) Manufacture date - The last character determines the date of manufacture. Since A was used in both 1969 and 1970, Marshall decided that 1971 would start with C. To avoid confusion with the numerals 1 and 0, Marshall elected to skip the letters I and O. Also, for reasons not explained, there are no Q-dated amps. Z was used for two years, allowing time to convert to the bar coding scheme started in October 1992. Here are the date codes:
- b.jpg (25.75 KiB) Viewed 8919 times