historic serial # ???

Hi all,
Can someone tell me whether a 58 reissue with serial # 881026 is actually a historic collection model. I was under the impression that Historic 's started in 2000. This one has the Historic stamp on the warranty card and the checklist is dated 12/02/98...so any assistance would be sweet....

It seems there was a limited run of 58 historics pre 2000, which does explain the date anomoly....is anyone familiar with these pre historic historics ?

'58 Historics date back to '95 or so. 'Pre Historics' are pre-1993.
They made '58s in at least 1997 amd 1998, though few if any in 1999 or 2000.

Your serial number would jibe with a 1998 Custom Shop, but not Historic, guitar. The Historics would have a number like 8 XXXX, instead of a 6-digit number, for that period.
There's a chance it still could be an Historic though.

I just bought a 2000 R9 and the serial number is 90XXXX. At first, I too was a little questionable about that serial number as I have seen Classic Premiums and Premium Pluses with serial numbers similar to that. But I talked with Jeff Sterling at Gibson and he confirmed that my guitar is a Historic R9. The reason for the 6 digit number with no space is because my guitar was produced later in the year and 999 instruments had already been produced, so the rollover to 1,000+ instruments created a six digit serial number.

To apply this to your situation: The first number indicates the last digit of the reissue series. 8 = 1958. The second digit indicates the last digit of the year of production 8 = 1998. And it was the 1,026th instrument produced.

To be 100% sure though, I would call or email Gibson. Also, be sure and tell them that you think the guitar is from the Historic line. I at first just gave them the serial number alone and it matched up with a 1990 Epiphone Flying Vee, which scared the crap out of me. But when I told Jeff it was a Historic, he went to a different database and everything jibed up.

P.S. Ed may know more than I do about this and maybe they WERE only using a X XXXX numbering system in 1998.

Chad, to my knowledge they didn't have to break out the extra digit in '98.
And i've seen some guitars from that year with late December dates on their warrantee cards, and they have the standard numbers. I was assuming that since the late December '98 guitards I'd seen all had the 4-digit suffixes, this particular one was a Custom Shop instrument.
But, it being a December guitar, it could be either.
Rocky, is there a Custom Shop logo on the BACK of the headstock?