Collecting pictures of inked serial number Tokai LP clones, Les Paul Reborns through Love Rocks.
There seem to be at least three types of inked serial numbers.
The first two types started with the earliest Les Paul Reborns in 1978. These were likely made at the Hamamatsu factory.
1. The "1" on some of the early Hamamatsu built guitars has a short horizontal line at its base,
2. But apparently not all of the Hamamatsu built guitars use this style "1".
3. The third type of inked serial numbers are what are known as “inkies” and were made in Nagano beginning in 1980?
Fortunately, they have a different serial number system than the Hamamatsu guitars and use a “1” as the second digit, so they are easier to distinguish.
Also, The Nagano inkies tend to look much more crisp, like the ink does not migrate as much as it seems to on the Hamamatsu examples. As though the Hamamatsu serial numbers were applied on the wood, and the Nagano on top of the finish.
To add to the confusion, it’s possible that what appears to be dark ink on the Hamamatsu guitars, at least in some cases, is actually stain showing up as dark down in the impressed areas of the serial number.
There seem to be at least three types of inked serial numbers.
The first two types started with the earliest Les Paul Reborns in 1978. These were likely made at the Hamamatsu factory.
1. The "1" on some of the early Hamamatsu built guitars has a short horizontal line at its base,
2. But apparently not all of the Hamamatsu built guitars use this style "1".
3. The third type of inked serial numbers are what are known as “inkies” and were made in Nagano beginning in 1980?
Fortunately, they have a different serial number system than the Hamamatsu guitars and use a “1” as the second digit, so they are easier to distinguish.
Also, The Nagano inkies tend to look much more crisp, like the ink does not migrate as much as it seems to on the Hamamatsu examples. As though the Hamamatsu serial numbers were applied on the wood, and the Nagano on top of the finish.
To add to the confusion, it’s possible that what appears to be dark ink on the Hamamatsu guitars, at least in some cases, is actually stain showing up as dark down in the impressed areas of the serial number.
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