Anybody else here has a Guild Jetstar bass from the 60's? Let's see them please. Here is mine (from 1965):
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60's Guild Jetstar bass
- Thread starter ukulelelab
- Start date
Chef
In Memoriam
I love those old guilds... wish they would reissue the starfireII, along with some of the solidbodies.
Very cool! I can see the inspiration for the Lakland Decade from the pickup forward. The upper and lower horns, etc.
Very cool!
It seems like Guild had a similar 2+2 headstock design as the Gibson EB's did but I don't hear much about them exploding/breaking. Is it because there were less of them? I know 60's-70's Guild acoustics are appreciated by some guitarists for their "endurance" over the years. Is this also true with the basses?
Not a knock on Gibson, just a question.
It seems like Guild had a similar 2+2 headstock design as the Gibson EB's did but I don't hear much about them exploding/breaking. Is it because there were less of them? I know 60's-70's Guild acoustics are appreciated by some guitarists for their "endurance" over the years. Is this also true with the basses?
Not a knock on Gibson, just a question.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,591
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
I love that bass design! Especially the headstock! The guitar version (the Thunderbird) had a built in retractable stand - when I first saw that I thought it was a great idea (still do!)
am i imagining things or did they reissue these for a short while during the late 90's early 2000's? sorry if i am derailing your thread! not my intent.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,591
- 221,980
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
I bet the darkstar pu on the originals sounds great!
I used a Dearmond Jetstar guitar body and made my own T-bird bass
I used a Dearmond Jetstar guitar body and made my own T-bird bass
All I know is the following from that blog: http://guitargarage.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/1966-guild-jetstar-bass-bringing-peter.html
'..Its difficult to tell how many Jetstar basses were actually built by Guild, but the numbers were not very large. Using Guild's serial number system and company records, it appears that there were 243 Jetstar Basses built between 1965 and 1967 - with serial numbers ranging between SD 101 and SD 243. There probably were some additional Jetstar Basses built in 1964 and early 1965 under an older Guild serial number system, but there is no way to break out how many from Guild's production records from that period. Does anybody out there have a Jetstar Bass with a non- SD serial number ?
The initial Jetstar Bass built between 1964 and 1965 had an asymmetric headstock with a 2 X 2 tuner configuration. A similar headstock was used on the Guild S-50, S-100 and S-200 guitars. This bass was also fitted with the large Hagstrom BiSonic pickup, as used on the Guild Starfire basses. It doesn't appear that very many examples of this style were built - probably less than 100 and maybe as few as 8. I have never seen one in person, though I do recall seeing a video by the band Cibo Mato where Sean Lennon (John's son) was playing one.
In 1966, Guild switched to a 4-inline tuner configuration, more akin to the Gibson Thunderbird in appearance. Guild also switched to a simpler and smaller DeArmond single coil pickup, often referred to as the "Mickey Mouse pickup", though the initially the Jetstar basses were still routed for the much larger Hagstrom Bisonic pickup. Its not clear if any 4-inline Jetstar Basses came with Bisonics, but it's certainly possible...'
Mine has the older 'non-SD' Guild serial number system with 5 numbers. Someone else at the LTG forum has a transitional one from 66 with the 4-inline tuners and bisonic pickup
