hey talkbass! I recently reacquired my old guild b301. when I originally acquired this bass it had a cheap squier jazz pickup in it, so I made a new pickguard and installed a nordstrand zen blade in it. this was one #1 and I foolishly sold about 4 years ago. I pretty much regretted it immediately and have since had a hard time finding a replacement. the price of these things have seemed to sky rocket it the past few years. fast forward to a couple days ago, randomly checking ebay while having my morning coffee, and there it is! I freaked out and made an offer before I even had time to wake up and think about it.
I was honestly a little bummed when I got it. its a lot more beat up than when I initially sold it. there is a lot more finish missing, and the pickguard has been scratched to death. the new owner added some weird push pull tone put that didn't seem to do anything, and the bridge saddles had been basically rendered useless. looks like they bent the adjustment screws and stuffed tinfoil under the saddle in an attempt to raise the action on the A/D strings. all of this is fine really, but the most offensive thing is that it stiiiinks! it smells like a 50 year old pool table from a smokers era dive bar. so I immediately took it all apart and scrubbed it down. recrowned the frets, changed the electronics back to standard vol/tone, swapped the zen blade for a nordstrand dual coil I had laying around. then I let it air out in my garage for a few days to clear some of that stank away.
I was looking through my parts drawer trying to see if I could figure out some sort of replacement for the saddles. I didn't want to splurge on a babicz or Hipshot replacement. i had a Hipshot A style bridge laying around, and the saddles happen to fit the guild bridge perfectly! now it plays and sounds better than it ever has! enough rambling, let's see some pictures.
First photo is after mods had been completed
Second photo is pre deep clean next to my Rick
I was honestly a little bummed when I got it. its a lot more beat up than when I initially sold it. there is a lot more finish missing, and the pickguard has been scratched to death. the new owner added some weird push pull tone put that didn't seem to do anything, and the bridge saddles had been basically rendered useless. looks like they bent the adjustment screws and stuffed tinfoil under the saddle in an attempt to raise the action on the A/D strings. all of this is fine really, but the most offensive thing is that it stiiiinks! it smells like a 50 year old pool table from a smokers era dive bar. so I immediately took it all apart and scrubbed it down. recrowned the frets, changed the electronics back to standard vol/tone, swapped the zen blade for a nordstrand dual coil I had laying around. then I let it air out in my garage for a few days to clear some of that stank away.
I was looking through my parts drawer trying to see if I could figure out some sort of replacement for the saddles. I didn't want to splurge on a babicz or Hipshot replacement. i had a Hipshot A style bridge laying around, and the saddles happen to fit the guild bridge perfectly! now it plays and sounds better than it ever has! enough rambling, let's see some pictures.
First photo is after mods had been completed
Second photo is pre deep clean next to my Rick
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