New GSR T-500

mbuc · May 14, 2013

guildman63 said:
I have heard it from Markus and one other, but mine seems fine.

As for contacting Kim Keller I did, and his reply is that only 25 were made. The label is the last thing to go on before final inspection, and the person doing that may have forgotten what number they were on, and never got back to it after the inspection. That means this is one-of-a-kind, and is therefore more valuable.

Guildman63, thank you for contacting Mr. Keller. The late production date sure stays a mystery but I guess it's possible. I don't see any reason to further go into it as I don't expect any Guild employee to feel comfortable discussing a possible #26. Wouldn't change anything anyway. By the way, nice try to pull my leg, that my guitar is more valuable being one of a kind. A split second I fell for it.

Slapback, thanks for the Bigsby information. It must be the gold that blinds me.

The grounding issue really is an issue. The buzz seems to have gotten louder but that's probably me concentrating on it. I will need to have that fixed by a tech.

The neck has reacted well on the higher tension of the flatwound .012s. As I expected it now has a little more relief, nothing more. I have put .011s Gibson Vintage reissues on it already to avoid the neck beeing exposed to unnecessary stress. The magic is back and it feels good.

I agree with Walter on the hump. For anyone who has a guitar with that hump: Never tighten the truss rod without loosening the strings first. That would surely aggravate the hump.

mbuc · May 27, 2013

I had a local luthier fix the ground issue on my GSR T-500. It seems it had no ground cable at all, they must have forgotten it during assembly, just like the designation x of 25. That could be considered as sloppiness I guess but oh well, it also shows that the Custom Shop guys are only human after all. The repair cost me 50 Euros but Thomann already has credited me with a 50 Euro voucher. No harm done, everything is fine now.

SFIV1967 · May 27, 2013

mbuc said:
I had a local luthier fix the ground issue on my GSR T-500. It seems it had no ground cable at all, they must have forgotten it during assembly, just like the designation x of 25. That could be considered as sloppiness I guess but oh well, it also shows that the Custom Shop guys are only human after all. The repair cost me 50 Euros but Thomann already has credited me with a 50 Euro voucher. No harm done, everything is fine now.

I am not sure what happens recently in NH, somehow the quality control seems to lack there big time...Nice of Thomann to credit you for the repair cost! That is great customer service! Maybe that info about the missing ground wire helps also other owners of the GSR T-500 who had the same issue.
Ralf

Walter Broes · May 27, 2013

mbuc said:
I had a local luthier fix the ground issue on my GSR T-500. It seems it had no ground cable at all, they must have forgotten it during assembly, just like the designation x of 25. That could be considered as sloppiness I guess but oh well, it also shows that the Custom Shop guys are only human after all. The repair cost me 50 Euros but Thomann already has credited me with a 50 Euro voucher. No harm done, everything is fine now.

While it's kind of crappy for a "custom shop" guitar not to have a ground wire...man...you gotta find yourself a new repair guy. 50 Euros to put in a ground wire? I could only justify that if there wasn't even a "hole" or channel drilled for it - was there?

mbuc · May 27, 2013

I don't think there needs to be a hole for that ground cable in a full hollow body...? 50 Euros isn't cheap but taking off the bridge pickup, all four pots and the Bigsby, soldering the wire and put it all together again is nothing you can do in 10 minutes. I didn't expect it to be much cheaper. I took the guitar to http://www.plekhaus.de/e/index.html because their luthier has worked at Guild in Westerly. They could be more expensive than others because of the plek reputation.

guildman63 · May 28, 2013

I kind of have to agree with Walter on this one. I have had pickups pulled and wires re-soldered while I waited, and $20 covered it. This may not be typical for others, but I wouldn't know since this is the only guy I have ever brought my Guilds to. That said, the credit covered it, which is nice. I hope your T-500 is working for you now!

mbuc · May 28, 2013

OK, agreed, it was a little expensive. I'll keep it in mind for the next repair job.

SFIV1967 · May 28, 2013

mbuc said:
OK, agreed, it was a little expensive. I'll keep it in mind for the next repair job.

Don't feel bad! If I look what they charge in Munich! At least 60 Euro per hours of work. High rates for luthiers here...A simple setup starts at 45 Euros (about $60) and that is: Checking and adjusting the saddle, action, intonation, truss rod adjustment if necessary. http://www.guitars.de/munich-repair-shop/reparaturen/einstellarbeiten/
New frets start at 220 Euro ($286), a neck reset starts at 500 Euro ($650) and that is without new frets I believe.
I would love to have a friendly place like plekHaus in the Munich area!
Ralf

mbuc · May 28, 2013

That sure puts things in perspective.

Walter Broes · May 28, 2013

220 Euro is not out of line for a full refret. It's a lot more than four times the work of putting in a ground wire.

slapback · May 28, 2013

If I had an expensive limited edition Guild that needed work done on it, I would be happy to pay a premium to have a guy who had worked at Westerly do the job.

Although I believe that the individual who failed to put in the ground wire in the first place may also have worked at Westerly, so I may be overrating the benefits of experience....

SFIV1967 · May 29, 2013

Walter Broes said:
220 Euro is not out of line for a full refret. It's a lot more than four times the work of putting in a ground wire.

Agreed Walter, that was a bad example I used...
Ralf

guildman63 · Jun 8, 2013

I'm on my way back from Boston where the Bigsby of my GSR T-500 was given the ground wire that was omitted in production. Much better now, and done on the spot for $10. My GSR Starfire was properly grounded from the beginning, so it's all good now.

mbuc · Jun 10, 2013

Much better when grounded properly, I agree. Those Duncan Franz do have lots of treble resulting in lots of hiss when not grounded. 10$ is a real bargain.

By the way, after trying a few different strings I found D'Addario Pure Nickels .011 (EPN115) to be perfect for this guitar.

mbuc · Jun 13, 2013

Just found out that my T-500 has a 25,5" scale, not 24,75" as stated in the specs on the website. Quite a surprise.

guildman63 · Jun 14, 2013

Mine just checked out at 25.5" also while my GSR Starfire VI is 24.75".

SFIV1967 · Jun 21, 2013

mbuc said:
Just found out that my T-500 has a 25,5" scale, not 24,75" as stated in the specs on the website. Quite a surprise.

The GSR T-500 specs on the Guild webpage are all screwed up.
http://www.guildguitars.com/instruments/electric/archive/gsr-t500/#simpleContained4
Somebody at FMIC just copied and pasted the spec sheet template from the GSR Starfire VI, hence the shorter scale in the spec sheet!
For instance it shows: "Neck Material: 3-Piece Mahogany/Maple/Mahogany" when in reality it is a 5-piece Maple/Walnut/Maple/Walnut/Maple neck. Those are the ever inconsistent Guild specs sheets and catalogs...
Ralf

Bobo · Jun 24, 2013

I'm going to have to check to see if mine also is a 25.5" scale. Maybe that's why some chords seem like a stretch to me. Too bad if it is a 25.5"; I prefer the 24.75" scale.

guildman63 · Jun 24, 2013

Funny, but I don't seem to notice a difference in playing between 24.75 and 25.5. Maybe that just means I have no skills?

Bobo · Jun 24, 2013

guildman63 said:
Funny, but I don't seem to notice a difference in playing between 24.75 and 25.5. Maybe that just means I have no skills?

No, Guildman, it means that you're a way more experienced player than me since I notice the "stretch" and you adapt to the longer scale with ease! I readily admit that I'm a novice. Well, I measured and measured again. 12.75" from the nut edge to the 12th fret.

New GSR T-500

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