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Guild Pilot bass club?

#42
alexofc69 said:
Why did Guild stop making these? I almost bought one new about 4 years ago? I liked it a lot.
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probably because it was too much competition for Fender/Squier...I liked the Dearmonds, not as much as my Guild, but I would have bought one (or two, or three). Personally, I hope they bring them back, as well as the Guild Starfires......:hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper:
 
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#44
HELL YEAH I PLAYED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

i came home and put some new strings on it and it was AMAZING!!



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#47
the serial number is definetely the order of production. necks and bodies change all the time. so i guess technically you are right. but the numbers start at BE100001 and go to BE104434 than the pilot changed to the pro4 and the serial numbers changed. if you go to guildguitars.com you can look up the serial numbers. they have them in numberical order separated by the years. and in 1983 the first year of the pilot they numbers went from BE100001 to BE100050.
 
#48
nalapit13 said:
the serial number is definetely the order of production. necks and bodies change all the time. so i guess technically you are right. but the numbers start at BE100001 and go to BE104434 than the pilot changed to the pro4 and the serial numbers changed. if you go to guildguitars.com you can look up the serial numbers. they have them in numberical order separated by the years. and in 1983 the first year of the pilot they numbers went from BE100001 to BE100050.
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Yes, I've been to that site numerous times. The serial number may indicate the order of production for the neck only, but not the assembled instrument. Like other factories components could have produced in lots, stored, binned, and used as necessary but not necessarily in the order the neck was produced.

Then there's the question of when in the production process the necks were stamped. Were they stamped as they were made, in order? If so then yes, that number means it is the XXth neck produced. Or were the necks binned in lots and then moved to a stamping station? For example, if the "bin" was a vertical stack of necks (as I've seen in production photos at another plant) then the most recent production would be on top and the earlier ones on the bottom of the stack and the more recent necks on top would be pulled first and get the "earlier" serial number.

If they were binned in lots then no real conclusion can be drawn as to whether the neck picked from the bin by the stamping operator was, for example, the 1st or the 50th of that lot to be produced. The only conclusion that can be drawn was that the neck was the 19th neck stamped but not necessarily the 19th neck produced. Though that's certainly an early production neck and bass.

Granted, it seems like splitting hairs but claims for specific production dates and/or order are sometimes used to set the value of and instrument and these things need to be clarified.

Also, some necks may never be joined to a body in the factory. Case in point, the headstock on my Pilot warped after several years and I purchased a replacement from Guild with the then current headstock and it's own serial number stamped. I have no idea if it was a neck set aside for use as a replacement or plucked from the production line after I contacted them. So that particular neck never went on a body in the factory.
 
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#49
however you want to put it the one i purchased is an early model. look at the headstock and the logo. it is not like any other i have seen for a pilot. mine was definetely made or stamped before they went to the "foot" style headstock.

i am trying to get a hold of mark dronge(i think that is his last name) he is the owner or creator or something like that of DR strings. he is the man who created the pilot for guild. i am also going to ask matt on myspace. Link Removed. he is the one who explained to me about the serial numbers and how they work.
 
#50
nalapit13 said:
however you want to put it the one i purchased is an early model. look at the headstock and the logo. it is not like any other i have seen for a pilot. mine was definetely made or stamped before they went to the "foot" style headstock.

i am trying to get a hold of mark dronge(i think that is his last name) he is the owner or creator or something like that of DR strings. he is the man who created the pilot for guild. i am also going to ask matt on myspace. Link Removed. he is the one who explained to me about the serial numbers and how they work.
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No doubt your's is very early, it's just whether the serial number is a direct and precise indication of instrument assembly order or not. You made the claim that you have the "19th Pilot ever made" I'm just wondering of that claim is accurate and justified based on possible production scenarios. Maybe it is or it could be one of a lot made one week that happens to have the neck with the 19th serial number.

Any real information regarding the production process could be useful in clarifying the issue.

Take Fender for example, their "serial numbers" aren't really very serialized at all but their's was apparently a different production process regarding numbering.
 
#56
alexofc69 said:
Why did Guild stop making these? I almost bought one new about 4 years ago? I liked it a lot.
Click to expand...

Fender bought Guild in 95' (Years of the Pilot Pro 5... 94-95)... only kept Guild Acoustic going... moved it to Cali (I think). :mad:
Started making Pilots under the DeArmond name... made them neck-thru... but .... just not the same. :(
 

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