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Guild Pilot bass club?

#1,022
EWH said:
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?)

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I've seen as many Pilot nuts that are that color as ones that are a different shade.
I think Guild made the nuts that color, or whatever material they used turned that color pretty regularly, because there are a lot of them in that exact shade.
 
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#1,023
EWH said:
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... ;)
Click to expand...
Congrats and the number seems to be correct as far as I know.
 
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#1,025
EWH said:
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)
Click to expand...

1988: JE000001 - JE000153 (153 units)
1989: JE000154 - JE000186 (32 units)
1990: JE000187 - JE000195 (9 units)

The date serial book I have listed most of the Advanced Pilots made in 1988. I edited your "units" accordingly, the book says JE000153 was the last serial in 1998. It actually says JEI000153 but I think the I is a typo...I have 3 from 1988.
 
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#1,026
RyanOh said:
1988: JE000001 - JE000153 (153 units)
1989: JE000154 - JE000186 (32 units)
1990: JE000187 - JE000195 (9 units)

The date serial book I have listed most of the Advanced Pilots made in 1988. I edited your "units" accordingly, the book says JE000153 was the last serial in 1998. It actually says JEI000153 but I think the I is a typo...I have 3 from 1988.
Click to expand...

I saw "JE000153" as well and went in the other direction, assumed it was a mistake of some kind rather than a typo and chose to ignore it, haha...No harm done, though as the total unit amount is still the same - thanks for your help, RyanOh...:)

Mine is also an '88 - serial nr. in the 50's...;)

How about sharing a fresh foto of your 3, RyanOh...?
 
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#1,027
While I get busy waiting for my newest Pilot to make it's very looong journey to me, I thought I'd share fotos of the Pilots that have made the biggest impressions on me for one reason or another...
None of the following Pilots are mine, but I certainly wish they all were...Of all of the Pilot fotos I have found and saved over the years, the following are my personal Top 5 Favorites:

1.) "The Doubleneck" - no explaination necessary. A custom shop build for someone or an employee build...? I would love to know more about this particular bass...

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2.) "The Butter Toffee" - the maple fretboard and the caramel body make this the single prettiest Pilot I have ever seen...If only the headstock matched the body and the words Guild and Pilot had been done in black. And while I'm at it, the Advanced inlays should be on this bass as well.

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3.) "The Blue Quilt" - the only quilted maple Pilot I have ever seen and the trans blue color and "hockey stick/Jackson-style" headstock make this the most unique Pilot I have ever seen.

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4.) "The Blackout" - I love maple fretboards and the simple blackout body with no frills, no B.S. single P pups makes a winning combo.

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5.) "The Candy Apple" - purely for it's trans red color - I believe this is a refin and it is the ONLY trans red (or red of any kind) Pilot I have ever seen.

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#1,028
EWH said:
While I get busy waiting for my newest Pilot to make it's very looong journey to me, I thought I'd share fotos of the Pilots that have made the biggest impressions on me for one reason or another...
None of the following Pilots are mine, but I certainly wish they all were...Of all of the Pilot fotos I have found and saved over the years, the following are my personal Top 5 Favorites:

3.) "The Blue Quilt" - the only quilted maple Pilot I have ever seen and the trans blue color and "hockey stick/Jackson-style" headstock make this the most unique Pilot I have ever seen.

View attachment 4251918
Click to expand...

Hey, that's my bass! Glad you dig it! This was certainly one of my best purchases on the used market. I had bought a DeArmond Pilot 5 when they were on blowout, and I really liked it, which caused me to look into the Guild Pilots more, and this was the first Pilot that popped up when I started looking for one. It's one of my "top 10" sounding basses (out of my 100+), and probably a top 5.

I really hope Guild does a Pilot reissue some day...
 
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#1,034
EWH said:
I know, but I HAD to try, right...? ;)

Btw, you mentioned earlier that you hoped that "Guild" would re-issue the Pilot bass - I can tell you that I know for certain that someone is working on making that happen... :)
Click to expand...

I am aware of this, as well. In fact, I have provided measurements from my Pilot to certain Guild employees...
 
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#1,035
tombowlus said:
I am aware of this, as well. In fact, I have provided measurements from my Pilot to certain Guild employees...
Click to expand...
The bodies are easy and the pickups are easy...the real question is, can they get the necks and frets as good as they were?
The maple neck/fretboard on mine (number 4 The Blackout in the pics) is so "plain Jane" as far as lack of figured maple but I think that meant really good pieces of maple for stability. And the frets are not typical at all, pretty flat obviously.
 
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#1,036
Here is a little update - my new Advanced Pilot arrived at my friend's house yesterday - and with the exceptions of one small bash in the finish and it needing a proper onceover with the cleaning and polishing cloths, he basically describes it as "unplayed" and looking like it's in new condition...YES...!!!

One thing though - the previous owner removed the original control loom and replaced it "something else"...

Can anyone here help me with two things:

1.) Identify the "something else" control loom, and...
2.) Provide me with high res fotos of their own Advanced Pilot control cavity and/or original wiring diagram so that I can return the bass to it's original condition if I so wish...?

Here are a few fotos taken on a wonderful sunny day by my friend (you stalker) after it arrived at his home - great stuff, I love it...!!!

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