Hello Valley Arts Enthusiast, I can shed some light on the very early Valley Arts Guitar serial numbers, I ordered mine in October of 1983 and received it in January of 1984. The serial number on my Valley Arts is VA 0107. Mike McGuire was the builder. Mike sent me a picture of an early Valley Arts Guitar he was building for Steve Lukather right around the same time as mine was being built. The serial number on Steve’s guitar was VA 0102. As I was looking at the picture Steves guitar, and was comparing it to mine, I noticed a small detail which can help you in establishing the authenticity of the guitars that Mike built: 1.

The Squier brand was developed in 1982 and early on all production was based in Japan. The first Squier guitars to emerge from Korea started as early as 1986. You can determine if your Squier was made by Samick was through its serial number that began with an “S” or “S9” followed by six digits. Samick began production of Squiers in 1989. Bass Number 74 Samick P-Bass. I say this because it has only the one split pickup, where as I believe that since the early 2000s they also have a J pickup in the bridge position. I bought it from some kid with Profile gig bag for 20 bucks. It was beat up and needed some restoration. Nothing serious.

The serial number on the “back of the head stock” is engraved directly into the wood. No plates or stickers.

Just carved directly into the wood. It is carved as follows: VA 0107 No hyphens 2. The serial number as engraved on the “metal plate” where the neck attaches to the body is simply #0107. The metal plate excludes the letters “VA.” The # sign then the number- #0107. This information should clear up any questions about the Valley Arts serial numbers and establish the dates of some of the early guitars.

I don’t have any information on the guitars that might exist below VA 0102. Other characteristics of Mike’s guitars that may help establish authenticity are as follows: The guitar itself is one piece quilted maple, not laminated, just one solid piece of quilted maple. The neck is made of a single piece of birds eye maple. The fretboard is ebony. The fret wire is Dunlop 6100 Jumbo Wire, which was what Mike recommended at the time. Electronic set ups were another unique characteristic of of Mikes guitars. Prior to the period of Mikes use of EMG pickups, he pioneered some wiring setups and pickup combinations (Mostly Seymour Duncans) from which he derived some of his classic sounds from that time period.

These included Larry Carltons hit Sleepwalk, and many other of the famous Southern California Jazz/Rock sounds of the late 70’s to the mid 80’s. Philips spc900nc 00. The wiring techniques that Mike created during those early days included pickup coil splitting and pickups combinations that he took with him when he became head of the Gibson custom shop. I would use these specs and characteristics to help verify that you have an authentic Mike McGuire built Valley Arts Guitar. The pictures of some of his other builds given to me by Mike at the time, along with comparison to my Valley Arts.

N.B: This is a work in progress. I'd like everyone to contribute. Your help adding to this thread will help many players and guitar enthusiasts. Last updated: July 17 2007. Okay, you've just found a junk pile acoustic in your basement.

It has a mark on it which is either wet damp setting in or Bo Diddley's signature. Your pretty sure it's Bo's signature though, so you turn to the net to confirm. Which brings us to you being here. Patrioticheskie nazvaniya komandi.

Is your guitar worth 44 cents or 44 thousand? Chances are it's not even worth 44 cents or his signature, but rather a good sign the foundations of your house are about to cave in. Nevertheless, if you like turning a blind eye to reality (and who doesn't), here's how to find out: Visit eBay Search for your guitar on eBay. This will give you an idea of what the market is willing to pay. Blue Books Comprehensive information and up-to-date pricing on plenty of guitars.

VintAxe Multitudes of guitar catalogs. Online Appraisal 50 bucks for an appraisal from Gruhn Guitars out of Nashville, TN. Dating your guitar If all else fails Ask us here in the forum.

But please remember to provide pictures and as much information as possible. It takes us a fair bit of time to research the guitars people ask us about, so we can't check everyone. Users who post often to the forums and make such requests are more likely to be helped out.