Eastman serial numbers.

[Silly Moustache]

I now have three Eastmans including my 2008 AR805 archtop.
There seems to be NO pattern to the serial numbers.

For brands like Martin, Collings etc., even Harmony, you could determine models and production date but I see nothing like that n my lovely Eastmans.
Does anybody know anything about their methodology?

[pszy22]

If there is any logic to it, I can't seem to break the serial number code.   I just bought a E20P, the CoA shows a 3-11-21 date.  The serial number is M2005121.  Seems like more or less a random number with no reference to any sort of date.

Does anyone know what the date on the CoA references?  Is it a ship date?  I bought the instrument on 3-22-21 so it wasn't in the system long.

[neilca]

I am not sure Eastman knows either. I have had two HE222CE guitars with vastly different serial numbers. I emailed Eastman on each one. The first one they told me was a 2015 model and the back and sides were solid rosewood. The second one they said was also a 2015 model but the back and sides were laminated. I checked and both guitars were laminated rosewood, no idea what year they were made.

[TomC]

My understanding, for the US anyway, the COA date is the date it was finished at the Pomona, CA facility. The S/Ns have no rhythm nor reason.

[cjhorne]

If there is any logic to it, I can't seem to break the serial number code.   I just bought a E20P, the CoA shows a 3-11-21 date.  The serial number is M2005121.  Seems like more or less a random number with no reference to any sort of date.

Does anyone know what the date on the CoA references?  Is it a ship date?  I bought the instrument on 3-22-21 so it wasn't in the system long.

The SN is applied at the factory in China.  The COA is filled out in Pomona CA.

Eastman used a new SN system in 2020:
- "M" signifies an acoustic guitar.
- The first 2 digits indicate the year of manufacture, i.e. "2020"
- The rest of the number is a sequential number that indicates the order of production.  Your instrument SN M2005121 would be the 5,121st acoustic instrument manufactured in 2020.

As reference points, for the two Eastman acoustic guitars that I purchased in 2020:
SN M2005805 - Shipped from CA on 08/12/2020
SN M2018210 - Shipped from CA on 12/22/2020

Based on this, your guitar was probably manufactured around June -July of 2020.  

On the older COAs, the date on the COA indicates when it went through setup and final QC in Pomona, CA.  It would be close to the date that the guitar shipped from Pomona.  On the newer COAs, Pomona leaves the date blank and it is filled in by the dealer.  I know this because the guitar I received on 08/12/2020 had the date filled in by Eastman/Pomona, and the guitar I received on 12/22/2020 had a somewhat different COA form, indicating the date was to be filled in by the dealer (since mine was drop shipped directly to me, the dealer never had the opportunity to fill in the date on the COA, and it is blank). 

Also based on these SNs, it could estimated that Eastman manufactured about 19,000 acoustic guitars (worldwide) last year.  Not only that, but production in the first half of the year was much lower than the second half.  For comparison, Taylor manufactured about 160,000 guitars in 2019 (reference https://www.insider.com/one-of-the-bigge...us-2019-10 )

[pszy22]

cjhorne,

Thanks for that explanation.  I was trying to correlate the serial number with the CoA date.  Knowing that the CoA date can be recorded at different points along the process meaning there is no specific correlation simplifies things, i.e. the serial number is just a running counter that gets reset every year.  The entire CoA with my instrument was filled out with the same handwriting. 

It is a bit surprising to find out my guitar was built so early in 2020.  I spent a long time looking for one, and every dealer I spoke to said the Eastman pipeline was pretty much empty and that the dealers were not expecting to see deliveries until June of 2021.  I knew I was lucky to find the guitar, maybe even luckier than I first thought.  

The dealer where I bought my instrument was one of two authorized dealers in the state of Michigan, they had a grand total of three Eastmans in their inventory.

thanks again,

[cjhorne]

cjhorne,

Thanks for that explanation.  I was trying to correlate the serial number with the CoA date.  Knowing that the CoA date can be recorded at different points along the process meaning there is no specific correlation simplifies things, i.e. the serial number is just a running counter that gets reset every year.  The entire CoA with my instrument was filled out with the same handwriting. 

It is a bit surprising to find out my guitar was built so early in 2020.  I spent a long time looking for one, and every dealer I spoke to said the Eastman pipeline was pretty much empty and that the dealers were not expecting to see deliveries until June of 2021.  I knew I was lucky to find the guitar, maybe even luckier than I first thought.  

The dealer where I bought my instrument was one of two authorized dealers in the state of Michigan, they had a grand total of three Eastmans in their inventory.

thanks again,

You know, if you know what Eastman guitar you want, you do not have to find it in dealer inventory.  You can have a dealer order it for you.  That's what I did.  If you do this, it may take a while.

I am curious about your guitar.  On one hand, the SN would seem to indicate it would have been made around June, based on the dates and COAs of my two guitars.  If it was made in June, it should have had the COA form that was dated in Pomona, which apparently it does - based on you saying the handwriting is all the same.  The only part that does not add up is the 2021 date on your COA.  Just speculating - maybe it laid around in Pomona for a while before it was shipped to the dealer.  Why?  Just speculating, but maybe they were giving priority to end customer orders rather than filling dealer stock?  I really don't know.

[pszy22]

I spoke to a handful of dealers about placing an order for me, none that I spoke to were overly enthusiastic about placing an order for me.  It seemed like they all had already placed orders for their shops that they were having a hard time getting delivered.  So a couple wanted to be paid in full up front (non-refundable) with not even a promise for a delivery date.  That wasn't necessarily unreasonable, but I thought I may be just as well off to wait and see what was received by various dealers over time for the orders they had already placed.  It actually turned out better for me having done that since I do now have the instrument.  Had I placed an order, I would be waiting until at least Julyish based on the most optimistic guestimate I heard from the folks with whom I chatted.

I bought the instrument at an authorized Eastman dealer, they had a total of three Eastman instruments in their inventory.  One of the other instruments has a CoA with a 3/10/21 date and a serial number M2000230 written in the same handwriting and signature as mine.  (mine had a 3/11/21 date with a serial number in the thousands)



Interesting curiosity and the mystery deepens, but not at all concerning since I am extremely happy with my instrument

[cjhorne]

Attached are pdf scans of my two COAs.  You can see how the newer one is intended to be filled in by the dealer.

Both of these guitars were ordered online through Alto Music.  Their website said they had no stock, but it let me place an order.  I got a message from them saying they have no stock and they would have to order it.  I responded "fine...willing to wait."  They did charge my credit card upfront, but they would have let me cancel along the way.  The guitars were both drop shipped directly to me from Pomona, totally bypassing the dealer.

From the SNs, your guitar was supposedly manufactured a little before my AC422CE, but the COA is dated many months after mine.  One of life's mysteries.

---

PSZY22

OK - Mystery solved (I think)...at least the main part of it.

For the guitar 2000284, this is what I think happened.  You know how when people hand-write checks at the beginning of the year, they sometimes have a tendency to put in the prior year on the date?  Well, that is what I think happened here.  This would be the 284th acoustic guitar of 2021 (right at the beginning of the year), and either the person putting the SN inside the guitar, or the person writing the COA used the prior year in the SN. 

Please look at the SN on your actual guitar, and see if the SN is M20005121 or M21005121?  I am thinking your guitar was manufactured in 2021, and the SN is wrong, meaning someone else out there has a SN M2005121 that was made in the year 2000. 

What I do still do not understand is why my AC222CE-OV has a different COA form.  Maybe they switched to a new style and then switched back?

CJ

[pszy22]

Attached are pdf scans of my two COAs.  You can see how the newer one is intended to be filled in by the dealer.

Both of these guitars were ordered online through Alto Music.  Their website said they had no stock, but it let me place an order.  I got a message from them saying they have no stock and they would have to order it.  I responded "fine...willing to wait."  They did charge my credit card upfront, but they would have let me cancel along the way.  The guitars were both drop shipped directly to me from Pomona, totally bypassing the dealer.

From the SNs, your guitar was supposedly manufactured a little before my AC422CE, but the COA is dated many months after mine.  One of life's mysteries.

---

PSZY22

OK - Mystery solved (I think)...at least the main part of it.

For the guitar 2000284, this is what I think happened.  You know how when people hand-write checks at the beginning of the year, they sometimes have a tendency to put in the prior year on the date?  Well, that is what I think happened here.  This would be the 284th acoustic guitar of 2021 (right at the beginning of the year), and either the person putting the SN inside the guitar, or the person writing the COA used the prior year in the SN. 

Please look at the SN on your actual guitar, and see if the SN is M20005121 or M21005121?  I am thinking your guitar was manufactured in 2021, and the SN is wrong, meaning someone else out there has a SN M2005121 that was made in the year 2000. 

What I do still do not understand is why my AC222CE-OV has a different COA form.  Maybe they switched to a new style and then switched back?

CJ