I read your story on your web page; that's an impressive collection! I actually took comfort in that my obcession with mainly Bass guitars is a shared affliction! Thankfully I have a wife who understands to a large degree...somehow.
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I read your story on your web page; that's an impressive collection! I actually took comfort in that my obcession with mainly Bass guitars is a shared affliction! Thankfully I have a wife who understands to a large degree...somehow.
I decided today was a nice day to take a few glam shots of my pilot.
There is a long story behind this bass. My uncle bought it new. I bought it off of him when he stopped playing. This was my first “real” bass.
I abused it. Heavily. I added a kahler tremolo. Then took it off, I filled the hole from the trem with plywood.(don’t judge me I was 19 and dumb). I then gave it to a friends brother who was learning to play sometime around 99-00.
Years went by. My uncle passed away in 2007. I started searching for his old bass. I found it. Here on TB.
An unusual Guild Pilot?
Yes I painted it that speckled granite color, I did say before I abused it.
I retrieved it from Connecticut. Turns out the kid I gave it to years ago, gave it to his boss at his first job. The kid I got it from was the bosses nephew. Mind blown. I had found my uncles pilot!!
I sent it to Brian Barrett at the low end and he painted it back to its original black. I changed all the pickups, hardware and brought it back to better than new.
About three years ago or so, I decided to make it my pilot, not that it wasn’t, but painted black it would always be my uncles pilot.
So, I sent it to my friend Steve McDonald in WV. I had him add the spalted maple top, black limba back, Nordstrand pickups and preamp, ziricote fingerboard.
Now she’s mine. All mine.
There is a long story behind this bass. My uncle bought it new. I bought it off of him when he stopped playing. This was my first “real” bass.
I abused it. Heavily. I added a kahler tremolo. Then took it off, I filled the hole from the trem with plywood.(don’t judge me I was 19 and dumb). I then gave it to a friends brother who was learning to play sometime around 99-00.
Years went by. My uncle passed away in 2007. I started searching for his old bass. I found it. Here on TB.
An unusual Guild Pilot?
Yes I painted it that speckled granite color, I did say before I abused it.
I retrieved it from Connecticut. Turns out the kid I gave it to years ago, gave it to his boss at his first job. The kid I got it from was the bosses nephew. Mind blown. I had found my uncles pilot!!
I sent it to Brian Barrett at the low end and he painted it back to its original black. I changed all the pickups, hardware and brought it back to better than new.
About three years ago or so, I decided to make it my pilot, not that it wasn’t, but painted black it would always be my uncles pilot.
So, I sent it to my friend Steve McDonald in WV. I had him add the spalted maple top, black limba back, Nordstrand pickups and preamp, ziricote fingerboard.
Now she’s mine. All mine.
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thanks!! The way it all happened was kind of weird and exciting!
You've shared fotos of this very unique Pilot before, nalapit13 - but this is the first time that I know of where you have shared the story behind it as well...Thank you for it - it's a very moving history...
I'm still trying to get my head around the bass though - I can't make up my mind about it...Is it really still a Pilot or is it something else now - even the Fender truss rod stripe up the back of the neck screams at my eyes and makes them cross and dizzy...
The new top and back must have added extra weight - is it a shoulder killer now or...?
Can we please see the headstock...?
the skunk stripe was an accident. My buddy while installing a new truss rod had a router slip. It went all the way through the neck, so that is what it is, and he made the best out of a bad situation. The stripe is also ziricote like the fretboard. No weight was added, the top and back were planed down. The headstock is a cake cutter. You can call it whatever you’d like, but it will always be my uncles Pilot.
Okay, so it's the original neck just with a "repair", that's good...
It's just such a radically changed bass - very magnificent, very unique...I have never seen such a complete makeover before...
Okay, so it's the original neck just with a "repair", that's good...
i abused it pretty well in its younger years. But it’s evolution is a part of me.
Hello everyone...
Waaay back in 1991 or 1992, I removed a volume pot from one of my 602's which I later sold on...
I cannot remember exactly what year that Pilot was, but I still have that volume pot...! Unfortunately I cannot find the serial number of the Pilot anywhere...
I know that some of you "hardware specialists" are quite good at deciphering the information on control pots and I am hoping that someone can tell me what year - perhaps even which month - this pot was made...
I know it won't give the birthdate of the Pilot it came from, but it will help me narrow it down some...
Have a great weekend...
Waaay back in 1991 or 1992, I removed a volume pot from one of my 602's which I later sold on...
I cannot remember exactly what year that Pilot was, but I still have that volume pot...! Unfortunately I cannot find the serial number of the Pilot anywhere...
I know that some of you "hardware specialists" are quite good at deciphering the information on control pots and I am hoping that someone can tell me what year - perhaps even which month - this pot was made...
I know it won't give the birthdate of the Pilot it came from, but it will help me narrow it down some...
Have a great weekend...
Not sure, but I don’t think that serial numbers on electronic components Which are largely stamped out and assembled by machines work the same way as crafted items like guitars. I’m pretty sure that those numbers will just identify the part and maybe it’s plant of origin.Hello everyone...
Waaay back in 1991 or 1992, I removed a volume pot from one of my 602's which I later sold on...
I cannot remember exactly what year that Pilot was, but I still have that volume pot...! Unfortunately I cannot find the serial number of the Pilot anywhere...
I know that some of you "hardware specialists" are quite good at deciphering the information on control pots and I am hoping that someone can tell me what year - perhaps even which month - this pot was made...
I know it won't give the birthdate of the Pilot it came from, but it will help me narrow it down some...
Have a great weekend...
8844 could be the year 1988 and 44th week. Pretty common way to stamp a date code...if that is a date code.
Week 44 Oct. 31, 1988 Nov. 6, 1988
Week 44 Oct. 31, 1988 Nov. 6, 1988
No, I'm pretty sure that the pot's construction year and month us part of that info - I know that my very brainy friends in the B.C. Rich community often date their control pots from the info stamped into them...But, it could be a brand-specific trait...Hmmm...
Here's some useful info. I used pot codes and general cosmetic details to figure out the dates of some of my old Ampeg amps.
Potentiometer Dating Decoder GuitarInsite
Potentiometer Dating Decoder GuitarInsite
Hello everyone - I hope you all are well and safe from the corona virus...
Just checking in and letting you know that a very minty black SB-602 is in the post and should arrive at my home sometime in the coming week - I'll share fotos when it arrives...
And, I am STILL looking for a minty 4 string Pilot Advanced if anyone has one they want to sell...
Just checking in and letting you know that a very minty black SB-602 is in the post and should arrive at my home sometime in the coming week - I'll share fotos when it arrives...
And, I am STILL looking for a minty 4 string Pilot Advanced if anyone has one they want to sell...
As a lifelong Little Rhody resident and proud owner of a primeo early 80s Pilot,my weapon of choice during my heavy gigging days, I'd love to find one of those "made in Westerly R.I."neck plates.I bet they're super rare.
They seem to be...
I wonder why that neckplate was discontinued in favor of the simple black neckplate - okay, it certainly cost more, but those few dollars more could have been tacked onto the cost of the bass...
I WISH they had been on from the start of the Pilot series until it's sad, unnecessary end...(up yours, Fender.)
So, my "new" 602 (BE103238) showed up yesterday and it has something I have never seen on a Pilot before - tiny white "position dots" on the control knobs...!!! When I saw them on the seller's fotos, I thought they might be "self-applied" or that the knobs were not original...But, after a closer inspection under magnification, the 3 dots look pretty "stock/original" to my eyes and the knobs do appear to be the correct type, for sure...Does anyone else here have the same white dots or was (one of) my Pilot's original owner(s) very, VERY clever and talented...?
