King Serial Numbers

[DonO.]

I am curious about what year my King 2341 was actually made. But information about King serial numbers online is sketchy at best. Mine is quite recent I think, but the online databases don’t have any information past circa 1985, including the Conn-Selmer site. I would be willing to bet this is due to changes of company ownership, lost records, etc. Nevertheless, on the off chance someone here might be able to help me, I thought I would toss it out there and see what happens. My serial number is 615xxx. Thanks for any help you can offer.

[LeMark]

Looks like late 70's to me, but that's the closest it can be narrowed down

[DonO.]

No, I guess I didn’t make myself clear. This is a “new style” King 2341 of recent manufacture. The King serial numbers appear to have reached 999,999 around 1985-1986, then the “started over” with 100,000. Thus, there probably is a 1970’s horn with my 615xxx serial number, but not necessarily a tuba. My tuba could be 2019, 2020, or even 2021, in that neighborhood. I just was hoping to narrow it down. Not a big deal if it’s not “knowable”, but just curious I guess.

I am also involved with the guitar collecting world, and by golly, guitar makers are often able to not just tell you the year but the month, day, and sometimes more based on the serial number.

[bloke]

Andy Smith has been the parts person for Conn-Selmer for a year or two, having taken over from Sonia Rochie, who retired.
He is bright, polite, and responsive.
Find him on Facebook (he’s there), and ask him if he can help you out or hook you up.

[greenbean]

The serial #'s from the past several decades are in deed "unknowable." It would be great if that changes.

[DonO.]

I have sent an e-mail to Conn-Selmer customer service. I will let everyone know what they say. It seems silly. What good are serial numbers if they tell you nothing at all about the instrument? Only thing I can think of that they would be useful for proving ownership in case of theft. But nothing beyond that.

[bloke]

From what I've seen (generally - and with exceptions),

manufacturers (of most types of instruments) are not those who publish serial numbers/dates lists, but it is individuals (having done research) who tend to be those who do so. York serial number lists (as a set of examples) represent a compilation of a tremendous amount of research, whereby individuals (who just happen to know "when their Grampa bought his E-flat tuba", etc...) offer their own anecdotal information towards a researcher's collection of anecdotal information - thus - bit-by-bit - connecting serial numbers with date ranges.

Further, I don't see manufacturers are having any interest in people buying their manufactured instruments USED.
Quite obviously, their only interest is in people purchasing them NEW.

If I made gig bags (just as an example), I wouldn't particularly be interested in people seeking those which I made from 1995 - 2007.
Rather, I would be particularly interested in people seeking those which I would be making NOW.

[windshieldbug]

Serial numbers tie a particular instrument to a particular shop order while it’s being built and distributed.
They are not necessarily sequential. They only need to be unique for the time it’s in production.

[MelodyMan]

Hello all! Recently I purchased my first king trumpet at a pawn shop for $79! Upon researching this trumpet model and serial number I am making a guess here it was manufactured somewhere between 19 30 and 35 am I correct?


Serial 166529

King 601

[MelodyMan]

Hello all! Recently I purchased my first king trumpet at a pawn shop for $79! Upon researching this trumpet model and serial number I am making a guess here it was manufactured somewhere between 19 30 and 35 am I correct?


Serial 166529

King 601