Magnatone renumbered its whole line whenever the cabinet covering and shape changed, so the model number plus the covering is the dating key. The company fitted serial plates but never published a mapping, and the one dedicated vintage resource has been lost, so the model series, the cosmetics and EIA component codes do the work.
Country
USA
Active since
1937
Coverage
1946–1967 · 3 code systems
Dating tier
Codes only
In the archive
0 series · 3 code systems · 10 models
Years documented
1946–1967
Eras
1946–1954
M-series and the slant front
The early M-numbers encode the tube count — M-199-3T for three tubes, M-192-5D for five and M-198-8D for eight. Mother-of-toilet-seat covering with window-screen grilles and a slant-front cabinet inherited from Dickerson mark the earliest years.
1954–1957
The 100 series
By 1954 the line had been renumbered into the 100 series: the Starlet 107, Varsity 108, Model 109, Melodier 110 and Model 112 (the former Troubadour). MOTS gave way to light brown leatherette around 1955.
1957–1967
200 series and true vibrato
The 200 series arrived in 1957 with pitch-bending vibrato and a dark brown cabinet whose baffle is tipped in 15 degrees under the top; the non-vibrato 100 series was updated to match in 1958 and 1959. The Custom 280 dates from 1957 into the early 1960s.
1964 to today
Late models and revival
The last original models include the M7 and the MP-1, and the Magnatone name later returned as a modern brand with its own numbering.
What dates this maker
Model series and renumbering eras: the early M-numbers, then the 100 series, then the 200-series vibrato family.
Covering and cabinet shape: MOTS through the mid-1950s, light brown leatherette from about 1955 to about 1959, dark brown with the tipped baffle from 1957–58.
EIA component codes on speakers, capacitors and transformers.
Cross-check: no dark brown amp had tremolo, no light brown amp had vibrato and no MOTS amp had either effect.
Watch out
Two amps of the same model in different years are indistinguishable by model number alone, so component codes have to pin the unit.
The covering and the effect type must agree; that is a cross-check rather than a date.
Honest no_data: Magnatone has no published serial-number table. The company (Estey/Magna Electronics, then the modern revival brand) fitted serial plates but never published a mapping, and the one dedicated vintage resource (magnatoneamps.com) has been lost to domain parking. Dating therefore runs on the MODEL SERIES era history (100-series, 200-series vibrato family, the M-xxx early models — see code-tables.json) plus EIA component codes on speakers/caps, and cosmetics: covering material and cabinet shape bracket the era strongly (MOTS through the mid-50s, light brown leatherette ca.1955-ca.1959, dark brown cabinets with the 15-degree tipped baffle from 1957-58).See the component codes →
Code systems in this archive
Model series and re-numbering eras (M-xxx -> 100 series -> 200 series)1946-1967 · 14 rows · Medium confidence
Covering and cabinet shape as an era marker1946-1962 · 4 rows · Medium confidence
The company fitted serial plates but never published a mapping, and the one dedicated vintage resource has been lost to domain parking; the canon records this as honest no-data.
What do the M-numbers mean?
In the early M-series the final numeral is the tube count: M-199-3T has three tubes, M-198-8D has eight.
How does the covering help?
MOTS covers the early years to the mid-1950s, light brown leatherette runs about 1955 to about 1959, and dark brown cabinets with the 15-degree tipped baffle arrive with the 200 series in 1957–58.
Can covering and effect date an amp on their own?
They bracket an era, and the useful cross-check is that no dark brown amp had tremolo, no light brown amp had vibrato and no MOTS amp had either.