Can a Premier be dated by serial number?

No. Premier was the house brand of a New York retailer and its Multivox subsidiary, and no serial-to-year system was ever published.

How do I date one instead?

By the model number and its production window in the reference listing, by construction details such as the two-part snap-together cases, and by EIA component codes.

What is the difference between Premier and Multivox?

Nothing: the amplifiers were sold under both names and the models are exact copies of one another.

When did Premier stop making amplifiers?

Amplifier production ran until the late 1960s, official guitar production ended in 1973–74 and no more amplifiers were made after that.

The maker's archive

Premier (Multivox) amps.

Premier was the house brand of a New York retailer-wholesaler, the Peter Sorkin Music Company, and the amps were built by its manufacturing subsidiary Multivox. There is no serial dating system: production ran from the late 1930s to the late 1960s, so the model number and its construction details carry the era, with EIA component codes as the second witness.

Country: USA
Active since: 1937
Coverage: 1937–1974 · 3 code systems
Dating tier: Codes only
In the archive: 0 series · 3 code systems · 12 models
Years documented: 1937–1974

Eras

1937–1945

Before the war

Premier began producing amplifiers in the late 1930s, and Multivox was founded in the mid-1940s. World War II halted production of any products for the duration.

1947–1957

Comeback with push buttons

The company returned and advertised the Premier Multivox amplifier with push-button tuning at the 1947 NAMM show. The models 76, 88, 120, 71 and 110, with two-part cases that snap together, belong to the 1950s.

1960–1969

Reverb-era models

The 1960s brought the reverb-equipped and bass models: Twin 12-R, 100R-C, G2R, B-160 and B-220, plus the 75W piggy-back head and cabinet. Amplifier production continued into the late 1960s.

1969–1974

End of production

Amplifiers were made until the late 1960s; official guitar production stopped in 1973–74 and no more amplifiers followed.

What dates this maker

The model era table: the early models 76, 88 and 120, the 1950s two-part cases and the 1960s reverb and bass variants, each with its window in the reference listing.
Construction details: two-part cabinets that snap together as wedges or as two tall boxes, wood-grain vinyl and push-button tone systems.
EIA component codes on pots, transformers and Jensen speakers.
Company branding, since Premier and Multivox models are exact copies of one another.

Watch out

Model numbers were reused across decades and Multivox designs were re-badged, so a number alone does not place an amp.
The Premier and Multivox brands cover the same amplifiers, which makes the branding useless as a date.

Honest no_data: Premier amplifiers have no serial-number dating system. Premier was the house brand of the New York retailer/wholesaler Peter Sorkin Music Company, and the amps were built by its manufacturing subsidiary Multivox (founded mid-1940s); production ran from the late 1930s until the late 1960s (official guitar production ended 1973-74). Dating therefore rests on the MODEL (76, 88, 120, 50, 71, 110, Twin 8, Twin 12-R, B-160, B-220 ...) with the production windows in the Blue Book listing, on cosmetics and construction (two-part wedge/snap-together cabinets, wood-grain vinyl, push-button tone systems), and on EIA component codes on pots, transformers and Jensen speakers.See the component codes →

12 Premier (Multivox) models are catalogued with their production years, specs and safety notes.