Anyone know their stuff on Ampeg Serial Numbers?

[Cat Burrito]

From what I can gather,

Post-1984
The modern Ampegs of the St. Louis Music era were all made after 1985. The amps made since 1988 have a 10-digit serial number which is encoded for model, country, date, and year. The serial number can be broken down as follows:

Digits 1, 2, 3 = Model

Digit 4 = Country Code where:
U = U.K.
D = domestic U.S.
W = worldwide
Y = Europe

Digit 5 = Year where:
A = 1988
B = 1989
C = 1990
D = 1991
E = 1992
F = 1993
G = 1994
H=1995
I=1996
J=1997
K=1998
L=1999
M=2000
N=2001 etc

Digit 6 = Month where:
1 through 9 = January through September
0 = October
A = November
B = December

Digits 7, 8, 9, 10 = serial number

[b]SO[/b] my question relates to a 1x15 cab that I picked up off Zombywoof from these pages. The serial number starts 115EI4**** which in my reckoning means the 115 reflects the model. The E is what? A variation on Europe? And is this an April 1996 model? Any pointers gratefully received.

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='WarPig' post='614377' date='Oct 1 2009, 11:34 PM']E doesnt mean Europe, most likely Enclosure or something [url="http://www.ampeg.com/products/classic/index.html"]http://www.ampeg.com/products/classic/index.html[/url][/quote]

Yep, that makes sense as it is that model. Therefore the serial number doesn't fit the theory on serial numbers as it doesn't list a country of manufactor as the fourth digit so I wonder if it's pre-84 or how I can guess the age. Any ideas anyone?

[WarPig]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='614382' date='Oct 1 2009, 11:39 PM']Yep, that makes sense as it is that model. Therefore the serial number doesn't fit the theory on serial numbers as it doesn't list a country of manufactor as the fourth digit so I wonder if it's pre-84 or how I can guess the age. Any ideas anyone?[/quote]

Deleted my comment because it was incorrect. I tried searching for serial numbers for you to no avail.

Have you tried emailing Ampeg?

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='WarPig' post='614601' date='Oct 2 2009, 10:34 AM']Deleted my comment because it was incorrect. I tried searching for serial numbers for you to no avail.

Have you tried emailing Ampeg?[/quote]


I appreciate the effort. Thanks. I took your advice and emailed Ampeg... to my surprise they got back to me inside of 6hrs to confirm 1996. However they didn't comment on the "E" part of the serial number. I was surprised at the speed of their reply - especially as I hadn't bought from new.