National/Valco serial number help

[Valveboy]

Call me anal, but here goes...
I'm just about finished with my National Model 90 refurb but I'm stuck on one detail... the serial number sticker. Like a bonehead I didn't write down the number or save the sticker before I ran the vacuum over the chassis and naturally the vacuum destroyed the sticker. But I do have a pre-vacuuming photo so I want to make a reproduction to stick on the back of my chassis. But here's the thing... the photo was at a weird angle and the sticker was curled a bit, so I'm having trouble with one digit... it is either 2-Z8642 or a 2-28642. Is it a Z or a 2? Does anyone know whether these serial numbers were all numbers or did they include letters (Z)? Pic is attached. I'm leaning towards 2. Thanks! Dave

[martin manning]

How about none of the above? It looks like that number was printed using a rubber stamp, maybe of the kind that had bands of numbers which were indexed to create the sequence. The horizontal line at the bottom of those two characters that look like 2's or Z's could be an artifact from the stamp, and they are in fact 7's... so maybe 2-78642 or even 2-78647? Zooming it in really big on my screen I'd lean toward 2-78642. The shape of the last character looks similar to the leading 2.

MPM

[pila]

Not sure about that vintage, but Valco used letters like X,V etc in their serial numbers. I think there is a Z after the dash, and it makes sense. There is a listing of Valco serials by year, and you may have to google to find it, or go on the Steel Guitar Forum and ask.

I have an old National amp, and the serial, for example is X309, and two National guitars with the same type numbers.

[defaced]

I say it's a "Z". The line weight use for the two "2"s in the picture are completely different than the character in question.

[pila]

Seeing the serial number list for National/Valco, I didn't find a prefix with a "Z" in it. Hard to say what that's all about.

[Sweetfinger]

You have to remember these were the last sad days of Valco. I've seen a couple different foil sticker serial number styles from this time period. The first digit is a 2 and the rest *should* be numbers as well. I haven't seen any serial stickers myself that have letters after the prefix. the 2 prefix is early to mid 1968 based on my reference matls. I'd guess the mystery digits are 7's

[pila]

Yes , those were sad days I think. It was Fender mania after that

[txstrat]

I'm convinced it's the number 2.
Because the sticker is curled, the "curve" on top of the number "2" can't be seen due to the curl and only makes it look like a Z.
Print out a "2" on a blanc sheet of paper and bend the top towards yourself (just like looking down on the cutting edge of the paper), you'll notice the bow will disappear and look like a straight line. Hence makes it look like a "Z".
For reference take the number "8" right next to the "2". You can't see the upper "circle" of the "8" because of the same reason.

[pila]

So, if it's a 2, it's one of Valco's last productions, according to the list.