Guild Pilot bass club?

[gearHed289]

Do they have screws, or are they the normal Pilot push-on type? They look just like the ones on a Spector NS-2A I just sold, and those had (2) screws for mounting on smooth shaft pots. When I bought my black Pilot around 1988 (sold years ago), I used a small drill bit to make my own dots.

 

[EWH]

Do they have screws, or are they the normal Pilot push-on type? They look just like the ones on a Spector NS-2A I just sold, and those had (2) screws for mounting on smooth shaft pots. When I bought my black Pilot around 1988 (sold years ago), I used a small drill bit to make my own dots.

Nope, no screws - they are the normal, standard Pilot knobs...
These look so symetrical, so clean and neat that if they were done as a bit of personal customizing, whoever did it was quite talented indeed...

 

[Thundar]

Those look very similar to the knobs that Kramer used on the Spector NS-2A's..in fact, I just looked at my NS-2A and my NS-2C., and they are exactly like those.

oops! Nevermind...I was late to the reply party
Actually, the ones on my Spectors do not have screws

 

[EWH]

Those look very similar to the knobs that Kramer used on the Spector NS-2A's..in fact, I just looked at my NS-2A and my NS-2C., and they are exactly like those.

oops! Nevermind...I was late to the reply party
Actually, the ones on my Spectors do not have screws

Can you please share a few fotos of yours...?

 

[Thundar]

Can you please share a few fotos of yours...?

You got it!

 

[Thundar]

 

[EWH]

View attachment 4083435 View attachment 4083436

Ahhh, okay - so previous owner switched the knobs out with these Spector-versions...
The good thing about this is that aside from the white dots, the knobs are IDENTICAL to OEM Pilot knobs - I will go right ahead and assume that the Pilot and Spector knobs are made by the very same manufacturer then...

I wonder if (and where) I can buy more of these knobs - loose, as evt. spare parts, etc...

Thank you very much for your help, gearHed and Thundar...

 

[kevmac]

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...?View attachment 4083289 View attachment 4083290

Those are nice control knobs,I like the knerld (forgive spelling) sides and it's always helpful to have the reference point .That also just look prettier than the stock knobs on mine.

 

[EWH]

Those are nice control knobs,I like the knerld (forgive spelling) sides and it's always helpful to have the reference point .That also just look prettier than the stock knobs on mine.

kevmac, do you have an early model (pickguard) Pilot with noticeably different control knobs from the knurled type pictured above...? If not, perhaps your original knobs were changed out at some point because the majority of Pilots came with 2-banded knurled sides with a smooth rounded top - the same as the ones above, just without the white position dot...

 

[kevmac]

kevmac, do you have an early model (pickguard) Pilot with noticeably different control knobs from the knurled type pictured above...? If not, perhaps your original knobs were changed out at some point because the majority of Pilots came with 2-banded knurled sides with a smooth rounded top - the same as the ones above, just without the white position dot...

I was told by a forum member that according to the serial number mine is an early 80s.I bought it from a pawn shop in the mid 90s and was told it was over 10 years old.I'm fairly certain these are stock knobs.This bass is my favorite of all the ones I've owned throughout the years.I still own 20 and have gone through probably 10 I've sold.But never will I part with my Guild beauty.

 

[EWH]

I was told by a forum member that according to the serial number mine is an early 80s.I bought it from a pawn shop in the mid 90s and was told it was over 10 years old.I'm fairly certain these are stock knobs.This bass is my favorite of all the ones I've owned throughout the years.I still own 20 and have gone through probably 10 I've sold.But never will I part with my Guild beauty.

According to the late Brian Bowdren's Pilot history article, the knobs you have *may* be stock as they do resemble the "witches hat" knobs he describes...
The only foto I have is the one attached and it's not very high def to see details and I always thought them to be like the "Tophat" knobs found stock on most 80's B.C. Rich basses and guitars...
Can you please take a couple more fotos in better light showing more detail and share them with us...?

 

[Flashback Bass]

According to the late Brian Bowdren's Pilot history article, the knobs you have *may* be stock as they do resemble the "witches hat" knobs he describes...
The only foto I have is the one attached and it's not very high def to see details and I always thought them to be like the "Tophat" knobs found stock on most 80's B.C. Rich basses and guitars...
Can you please take a couple more fotos in better light showing more detail and share them with us...?
View attachment 4092257 View attachment 4092258

They don't look the same to me, but then again it is Guild!

But perspective can do weird things!

 

[EWH]

They don't look the same to me, but then again it is Guild!

View attachment 4092395

But perspective can do weird things!

They really don't look the same to me either...

I'm going to go right ahead and ass-u-me that these knobs are *not* the OEM versions and are a previous owner's replacements...

 

[kevmac]

According to the late Brian Bowdren's Pilot history article, the knobs you have *may* be stock as they do resemble the "witches hat" knobs he describes...
The only foto I have is the one attached and it's not very high def to see details and I always thought them to be like the "Tophat" knobs found stock on most 80's B.C. Rich basses and guitars...
Can you please take a couple more fotos in better light showing more detail and share them with us...?
View attachment 4092257 View attachment 4092258

If the previous owner did in fact replace them I don't know.They're ok but I would have chosen better ones.And as Flashback noted "that's Guild",and as I've read they may have been in the assemblers draw that day.As for the lighting, forgive me, it's the best I can do at the moment.

 

[EWH]

If the previous owner did in fact replace them I don't know.They're ok but I would have chosen better ones.And as Flashback noted "that's Guild",and as I've read they may have been in the assemblers draw that day.As for the lighting, forgive me, it's the best I can do at the moment.

Thanks for the extra fotos, kevmac...

Maybe the knobs on your Pilot are OEM after all...The single foto Brian Bowdren shared with us waaay back then isn't the best quality and might just have been a screenshot he chose to use of a knob reminicent of the "witch hat" knob used on Pilots...He also stated he'd never actually seen these knobs on any Pilots himself...
You might just have yourself a bit of a Unicorn there...!

 

[kevmac]

Thanks for the extra fotos, kevmac...

Maybe the knobs on your Pilot are OEM after all...The single foto Brian Bowdren shared with us waaay back then isn't the best quality and might just have been a screenshot he chose to use of a knob reminicent of the "witch hat" knob used on Pilots...He also stated he'd never actually seen these knobs on any Pilots himself...
You might just have yourself a bit of a Unicorn there...!

Cool! I lucked out when I stopped to check out that pawn shop.She was hanging on the wall calling me like a siren.I took out the plastic and took it on the spot.I played a ton of gigs with her.

 

[EWH]

Well, it's dark outside these days...Even during the few hours of "daylight" here, the skies are grey and boring...So, no real light to take any really good fotos of my newest Pilot - a black 602 dating to 1988, one of the 817 units produced that year, according to the Guild SNr. page...
With the exception of the knobs (as discussed above), a few tiny, unnoticeable, dings and a discolored nut (nicotine?), this Pilot is right up in the area of extremely minty, bordering on mint...Oh, and the seller had no case - so, it's down in a Gator ABS "universal" bass case for now...
It got a thourough onceover and new strings and it works as awesome as it looks...
As a few of us have been banging on about control knobs these days, I decided to put Calrad "Tophat" knobs on this bass - normally found pretty much only on B.C. Rich instruments...I think they look great on this bass, mostly because it's a solid color - I can't really see them popping as well on any trans finishes...

I hope you like it and have a great weekend, everyone...!

And by the way - does anyone have an original Pilot case for sale...???

 

[deepender]

Well, it's dark outside these days...Even during the few hours of "daylight" here, the skies are grey and boring...So, no real light to take any really good fotos of my newest Pilot - a black 602 dating to 1988, one of the 817 units produced that year, according to the Guild SNr. page...
With the exception of the knobs (as discussed above), a few tiny, unnoticeable, dings and a discolored nut (nicotine?), this Pilot is right up in the area of extremely minty, bordering on mint...Oh, and the seller had no case - so, it's down in a Gator ABS "universal" bass case for now...
It got a thourough onceover and new strings and it works as awesome as it looks...
As a few of us have been banging on about control knobs these days, I decided to put Calrad "Tophat" knobs on this bass - normally found pretty much only on B.C. Rich instruments...I think they look great on this bass, mostly because it's a solid color - I can't really see them popping as well on any trans finishes...

I hope you like it and have a great weekend, everyone...!

And by the way - does anyone have an original Pilot case for sale...???

View attachment 4094956 View attachment 4094957 View attachment 4094958 View attachment 4094959 View attachment 4094960 View attachment 4094961

Nice.

 

[58kites]

Nice.

Really nice.

 

[EWH]

Hello everyone...

I've been very, VERY excited for the past couple of days - with the help of a friend in the USA who I know from the B.C. Rich world, I will *FINALLY* get my hands on an SB902 Advanced Pilot - one of my "Holy Grail" basses...!!! It is in AMAZING shape and has it's original case as well...
It should get sent off to me by the end of May and it should arrive here by mid to late June...When it arrives, I will share fotos with you...

I have one question for the Pilot Experts here - as far as I have been able to learn, there were only ever a total of 195 SB902 Advanced Pilots ever made - is this information correct...?

1989: JE000001 - JE000186 (186 units)
1990: JE000187 - JE000195 (9 units)

Thank you in "Advanced" for any further information, input or thoughts anyone may wish to share...