Hey,
I was really into collecting Guild basses for a while in the late 90's, early 2000's, and have both a 301 & 302, and had a 402. The sound of the 301 and 302 is sort of a beefy version of a Fender J, with the wider pickups and middle and neck set up rather than middle and bridge of a J. Also, having a tone control on each pickup on the 302 is pretty cool, too. The 402 stood out as it had an active preamp.
I am pretty sure the has 402 had the same pickups as the 302, and mine had the same controls as in the pictures but I don't remember what each did. Mine was actually a 402A, the "A" being for Ash body rather than the standard mahogany. Mine was all ash without a top wood. Also, all of the 301's, 302's and 402's has a set neck, as did the earlier Guild basses, but unlike the earlier Guild basses, these were all 34" scale, where as 60's and early 70's Guild basses were 30 1/2" scale. I may be wrong, but I don't think there was a 401 model. The models were, if I recall, single pickup, double pickup and double pickup with active preamp, though the 402 came out near the end of the production of these instruments.
I am pretty sure these were late 70's - mid 80's basses as they preceded the Pilot series which came out while Jaco was alive. That said, active electronics were pretty new at the time, in fact the Guild 402 may have been the first USA production bass with an active preamp. Following up on the 402, every Pilot that I have seen came stock with EMG active pickups, most having the simple V-V-T setup, but the upper end Pilots (900 series, if I recall correctly) also had an EMG preamp, but those are pretty rare.
If you can find a copy of the book "Guitar Stories" my 301 and 302 are both pictured in the chapter on Guild guitars.
I was really into collecting Guild basses for a while in the late 90's, early 2000's, and have both a 301 & 302, and had a 402. The sound of the 301 and 302 is sort of a beefy version of a Fender J, with the wider pickups and middle and neck set up rather than middle and bridge of a J. Also, having a tone control on each pickup on the 302 is pretty cool, too. The 402 stood out as it had an active preamp.
I am pretty sure the has 402 had the same pickups as the 302, and mine had the same controls as in the pictures but I don't remember what each did. Mine was actually a 402A, the "A" being for Ash body rather than the standard mahogany. Mine was all ash without a top wood. Also, all of the 301's, 302's and 402's has a set neck, as did the earlier Guild basses, but unlike the earlier Guild basses, these were all 34" scale, where as 60's and early 70's Guild basses were 30 1/2" scale. I may be wrong, but I don't think there was a 401 model. The models were, if I recall, single pickup, double pickup and double pickup with active preamp, though the 402 came out near the end of the production of these instruments.
I am pretty sure these were late 70's - mid 80's basses as they preceded the Pilot series which came out while Jaco was alive. That said, active electronics were pretty new at the time, in fact the Guild 402 may have been the first USA production bass with an active preamp. Following up on the 402, every Pilot that I have seen came stock with EMG active pickups, most having the simple V-V-T setup, but the upper end Pilots (900 series, if I recall correctly) also had an EMG preamp, but those are pretty rare.
If you can find a copy of the book "Guitar Stories" my 301 and 302 are both pictured in the chapter on Guild guitars.
Last edited:
Suprisingly, sold B-302s run from $1400 to only $1600.
