The Electra Forums

There is a black endorser on ebay and its said to be an anniversary model I believe. Werent those models from 1980? And it has a peace sign logo whereas my endorser has a phoenix. Wouldnt that put the endorser on ebay older than mine? Someone on here said my serial number was the earliest they had seen. I wonder what the serial number for the one on ebay is? It might be interesting to know because it might help with dating these instruments. I really dont remember when I got mine, but the serial number would suggest it was made in Dec of 82 I think. I thought I got mine in 1980 but I could be wrong. That was a long time ago though and Im older than dirt. I think I will ask the seller what the serial number is and I will post it here if I find out. It might be interesting to know. I just dont know the meaning of the different logos. I have an anniversary model bass that has the tag on the back and it has the peace sign logo. And I did get the endorser after the bass I believe. Maybe someone on here already knows the difference in the logos.

The Cherry Sunburst Endorsers were made from Late 1982 through September or October of 1983. The Blackburst or Transblack Endorsers came out in mid 1982, and have a some differences from the later 'Bird' logo models. Here is a thread about a 'Anniversary' Blackburst:

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3844

And here is a thread about my Blackburst with all the differences listed:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3654

You can see my Blackburst shares consecutive serial numbers with one of my Cherry Sunbursts, pretty cool. Yours is the earliest serial number I've seen on a Cherry Sunburst, but that is not very conclusive. I often wonder if there are any Cherry Sunbursts with the Peacesign logo? That would be the earliest, if they even exist.

By 1983 Electra was transitioning into 'Electra/Phoenix' and the logo changed. By 1984 they would be known as Westone, and any reference to Electra would be dropped. The 1982 'Anniversary' plates had a serial number on them, but they are useless for dating purposes, and most of the guitars with the plates did not have the seven digit serial number stamped on the headstock (although there are some that do... go figure). I hope this helps, Mike.

_________________
Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

Thanks for the response. My x635 bass has the anniversary tag and 0174 as a serial number Im guessing. I didnt know the black endorsers came before the cherry did. Was it you that I gave the serial number of my brothers black endorser to? It seems like his number was higher than mine. What is the lowest serial number of a black endorser that you know of? So I guess the peace sign was there until the anniversary then the pheonix logo came after that? Also, if mine is dated as Dec of 81, wouldnt that make it older than the anniversary models? I thought the anniversary was 1980 but I was wrong I guess. I thought I got my bass in 1980 and it has the anniversary tag. Im just confused because if my endorser is a 1981 and it has a phoenix logo, then there were phoenix logos before the peace sign logos were gone.

Ok, I just realized that I messed up the date of mine in the previous post. Someone on here said mine should have been made in Dec of 1982 not 1981. I messed up there. I did just also realize what has me so confused about the date of mine though. I was married the first time in Dec of 1982. I know I had my endorser before I got married. I couldnt afford to buy a guitar when I got married because we were expecting a baby. And she was born in July of 1983. The first guitar I got after I was married was in the early 90s and that was through a trade. It seems like I had talked to someone at SLM that worked there for a long time and he said that serial numbers back then didnt necessarily mean thats when they were made. I think I made a post on here when I talked to that guy.

I have some poor clues from my "Purple rain" and "x640 and variant" threads.

On the purple guitar there is a SLM 60th anniversery sticker from 1982 and it has the phoenix logo on the headstock.

On the 640 basses, the logos changed from 81-82 to 83 as can be seen in the pics.

The sticker you refer to is just a 'Final Setup by' sticker, not the anniversary plate/serial number tag that clewi writes about.... two different things.

_________________
Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch