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Rare Guild - ever seen one?

#21
TheBigO said:
Yeah, I've had a couple Guilds (most recently a Starfire) but my first bass was a very used Guild B-302. It, and the one pickup model (the B-301) were based on one of Guild's guitars at that time, the S-300:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The neck dive/balance problems with these basses is probably a direct result of them building a bass out of the same body shape with no real design changes to accommodate a longer neck.
Click to expand...

I have an S-60-D guitar (very similar to the guit on the right but w/2 DiMarzio single coils) and it's one of the most ergonomic/balanced guitars I've ever played. But yes, I can see how grafting a bass neck that's 10" longer onto the same body could lead to neck dive!

TheBigO said:
Even with all the different electric basses I've played in the last 16 years, I still had a soft spot for that first well worn Guild. I seem to post this in every thread on those Guilds, but I liked that bass so much that I designed my custom basses after it:

StammieII008.jpg
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Wow! Those are truly beautiful. I've thought of basing a body on the basic Guild shape if I ever go custom. The enlarged upper horn makes it reminiscent of the instruments Doug Irwin made for Jerry Garcia & Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead.
 
#23
winston said:
I have an S-60-D guitar (very similar to the guit on the right but w/2 DiMarzio single coils) and it's one of the most ergonomic/balanced guitars I've ever played. But yes, I can see how grafting a bass neck that's 10" longer onto the same body could lead to neck dive!
Click to expand...

A buddy of mine has an S-300 and will never part with it, partly because as you said it just feels fantastic to play. Plus it's a cool shape AND a vintage guitar. Double mojo points.

winston said:
Wow! Those are truly beautiful. I've thought of basing a body on the basic Guild shape if I ever go custom. The enlarged upper horn makes it reminiscent of the instruments Doug Irwin made for Jerry Garcia & Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead.
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Thanks, I appreciate it and I really dig them.
 
#24
baba said:
Also, I don't think that other version is mahogany. It looks like stained ash...you can see the grain continue from dark to light. I'm not convinced the "A" denotes ash.
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I was right on both counts ... but I had to double check and cross reference.

The 3 series (B-301 for single pickup, B-302 for double pickup) were the passive models. These were made from 1976 to 1981.

The 4 series (B-401 for sigle pickup, B-402 for double pickup) were the active models. They were produced between 1980 and 1982.

There were other models like the B-201/202/203, the SB-502E and the MB-801 which had a carved top and ebony board.

The "A" suffix was indeed for ash body models, which was an upcharge from the standard mahogany build. That one on eBay was super rare, as the former Guild employee stated in that letter. It had a rosewood top and back veneer, and was a limited edition of only a dozen or so instruments.

My B-301 was a 1978 model, which had been modded by the previous owner with a DiMarzio J between the single factory pickup and the bridge. After I played it for a few years, I stripped the old black finish back to mahogany (I have a thing about black basses), de-fretted and epoxied the board and played it as my main fretless for years.

Wish I still had it ... the last I knew it was in Philly, livin' with a drummer. :rollno:

Hope this helps!

Paddy
 
#25
Way back when, I apparently sent in a registration card for my (then) new B302. They sent me back their current catalogs (postmarked Sep 25,'80).

Here's the B301/B302 page from the "Guild Electrics Guitars & Basses Made in USA" catalog:

GuildB301B302.jpg


I have a mahogany B-302 just like the one of the left (but with a lot more wear and tear).

drewfx
 
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#28
Info in general on old Guilds is difficult to come by, but I once stumbled on a site that had scan of some original catalog sheets.

Here's an '82 SB202 I had a couple years ago. Took over a year of searching to find it. I'm still a little bitter about having sold it because of the wife's bookkeeping errors :mad: The dual pickups positioned closer to the bridge gave it a killer sound, almost musicman-like.

DSC02813.jpg
 
#29
Caca de Kick said:
Info in general on old Guilds is difficult to come by, but I once stumbled on a site that had scan of some original catalog sheets.

Here's an '82 SB202 I had a couple years ago. Took over a year of searching to find it. I'm still a little bitter about having sold it because of the wife's bookkeeping errors :mad: The dual pickups positioned closer to the bridge gave it a killer sound, almost musicman-like.

DSC02813.jpg
Click to expand...


Didnt they also make a 3 pickup version of this one with the 3rd pickup closer to the neck?
I believe they discontinued these basses when they introduced the Pilot and that other pointy one around 83-84ish.
 
#30
Right, they did have these with three pickups also. They were called the 203.

When you take the pickguards off, you see the factory cavities are already there for the neck pickup position.

My red one was odd for a 202. Usually the two pickups came as the middle one and the neck one. But for some reason this bass had the middle one and rear one from the factory. But sounded cool with lots of bark.
 
#31
baba said:
Great stuff drewfx! It's amazing how little info is on the net regarding these basses. Comparatively, you just dropped a mother load of info.
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A bit more to add on these basses. They were set necks which isn't something you see a lot of. But I think that was part of why they had this big resonant tone. Growly and woody too. And the frets were so flat that outside of my fretted Stambaugh (which I asked for flat frets to mimic the old Guild) I've still never found a bass that plays as fast.

And the beauty is that unlike a Fender from the late 70's that will cost you thousands, these come up for really reasonable prices. I really dig them.
 
#32
Very cool Guild thread. I thought I would add a few pics of my B301 fretless. I love the tone from this bass - coming from both the body and the pickup. The pics show tapewounds, but I changed them to ss flatwounds and get much better sound...maybe the tapes were dead, who knows?

B301F.front.jpg

B301F.back.jpg
 
#33
Guys,

I searched my computer and came up with an email from a few years back. I was looking for some info on the B-203 and and another oddball Guild from the 80's.(the 3 pointed SB-608)
Somehow I was referred to a guy by the name of Hans Moust.

He runs a guitar repair place over in the Netherlands and he's a historian of sorts, especially regarding Guilds.

Here's a link to his site-it might prove helpful:

Invalid Link Removed

He was very cool and answered my couple of questions pretty quickly.

Ken
 

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