Some have mentioned the start year for the Bluesmaster. I called Gibson or rather, I wrote to them. They were very helpful. They said the first Bluesmasters were the 1994 models and then of course the name change (songwriter) came a little later.

Someone had said they had a 1991 in the this thread. You're probably holding a 1994 like me because my 1994 serial number looks like it starts off, "91........" but the one ("1") is actually a "4." That's what prompted me to write Gibson.