Legend Photo (some with hyperlinks) Year on the Label Country Builder Photo Credits below Comment

This gallery shows only those instruments which are labeled with the maker's name, country of origin, and year of construction. Unfortunately, most period guitars have lost their label, or their label does not indicate a date, and the only way to guess at their identity and year is to compare them with labeled instruments. Experts can only guess if the label does not indicate the date, or if the label is missing, and their guesses often vary by a wide range. The guitars shown here are, to the best of my knowledge, authentic and verified. I cannot vouch for their authenticity, in fact, some of them look wrong for the year as noted in the comments - please write to me if you have ideas about any specific instrument shown here. Labels are sometimes fake. This will hopefully be a useful tool for anyone to guess at the age of their undated guitar by comparing to these examples. Viewers, PLEASE submit photos of your guitars for this site! Guitars must be prior to 1870, and most importantly must be labeled and the label must state the date. Photos of replicas of dated, labeled guitars are also accepted.