How to identify pickup model?

[Ratata]

Hello all

I'm looking to sell some of my father's old music equipment. He had a habit of buying random bits, putting it in a cupboard and forgetting about them. Unfortunately he's no longer with us so I cannot ask him what's what.

I found a pair of pickups, all he wrote on the box was "guild bass humbucker". They're chrome fronts, a removable black plastic surround, and a brass back that says "Guild, made in USA". I don't see a serial/model number or anything else.

Does anyone know how to identify these or if they're worth anything? I can post some pictures once I get home from work.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mellowgerman]

Welcome to LTG!

It sounds like you've got a pair of 70's Guild bass humbuckers, which were common in Starfire and JS basses of the era. If in good working order, they do have some value. That said, when they do pop up for sale, they tend to sit for a while before the a buyer in need comes around. They're not exactly rare and you could probably expect a 50/50 chance that there will be one for sale on Reverb/Ebay at any given time.

If I had a set I was looking to sell, I think $300-400/set would be a reasonable starting point. At $300 you could expect the set to sell relatively quickly, at $400 a set will be more likely to sit for a while. If you see them listed for more, those are overly optimistic sellers. I would assume their target buyer would be somebody to whom price doesn't really matter or possibly the uninformed person who sees "vintage Starfire pickup" and eagerly buys it, mistakenly thinking it will give them the Jack Casady/Phil Lesh tones of the earlier Bisonic pickup... I know that type of buyer does exist because I made exactly that mistake when I was 18.

Depending on whether or not you've sold pickups in the past, you may or may not know that a photo showing a healthy resistance reading by an multimeter will typically be expected. In this case, I believe they typically clocked in just above 30k ohms.

Of course, that's just based on my experience/recollection and understanding of the current used/vintage market. Others may disagree and I would hope that they would offer their input as well.

EDITED to remove mention of Guild/Rowe. Changed to simply "Guild". Corrected by nmiller's post below.

 

[Ratata]

I had no idea they had such value, I was going to auction them on eBay with no reserve as well! I'll post some pictures later and I'd be grateful if you could let me know if you think they're a Starfire pickup or not.

I think they were purchased in the late 90s, early 2000s but really not sure. Would measuring the resistance of the pickups help narrow down a model/era?

I'd prefer to sell these to someone who'd use them rather than hold onto them for top dollar. But at the same time, I don't want to give them away for peanuts as I'm sure my father would have paid appropriately for them. I'm in the UK so I don't know if demand is the same globally.

 

[mellowgerman]

Yes, even if they're not as highly regarded as the old Bisonics, they are nice pickups and certainly have their place!

In the late 90's and early 2000's, Guild USA was also producing Starfire basses, which I believe, got New-Old-Stock Guild humbuckers. It's possible that I could be wrong on this point though, as I know that this era saw Seymour Duncan remakes of the classic 6-string guitar humbuckers, so maybe somebody else could chime in and correct me if this was also the case for the turn-of-the-century Starfire basses. Either way, I would expect the value to be about the same.

Regarding the UK market, USA Guilds tend to be worth a bit more in Europe, but I don't think the same would hold true for pickups, since those can easily be sent overseas, regardless of where a seller is located.

 

[fronobulax]

Welcome.

Here is a picture of a vintage Guild bass humbucker in a 1971 JS II.



These were used in Guild Starfire, M85 and JS basses from approximately 1970-1977.

The Starfire went out of production circa 1977 and was reissued in the late 1990s. I never remember the dates but I think 1997-1999 covers it. The reissue pickups appear to me to have the same appearance but I don't know if the reissue used stock left over from the 70's, new (in the 90's) PUs made to the 70's spec or a "tweaked" version of the 70's design. PUs with the same appearance were used for some special, short production runs circa 2012-2014. The story was that the special runs used NOS pickups but whether they were NOS from the 70's or the 90's was never clear to me.

I have pictures of the back of the above PU but I can't find them at the moment.

I don't know if the 90's and 70's were different so, if they were, I don't know how to tell them apart. If the PUs work then I don't think most buyers would care about when they were used.

I wonder if mellow's prices are slightly optimistic but it is easier to drop a price than flog yourself because you didn't get top dollar.

 

[mellowgerman]

Ah yes, I forgot to mention the M85 basses that also had them in the 70's. Thanks, Frono!

Successful/appropriate pricing is of course relative to who is in the market at any given time, but it seems to me that they typically will sell at the $150/each price point ($300/set). Higher than that, they do tend to sit for some time. Again though, that is just based on what I've observed on the used market.

One more thing worth mentioning: there is also a slight variation among these humbuckers. I recall that some have the cross-wires (for lack of a better term) exposed on the back that connect the two coils, whereas others have them tucked inside, hidden by the base plate. I don't know which came first, I wouldn't expect there to be differences in tone or other specs, and the market doesn't seem to value one higher than the other. That said, with the wires exposed on the back, it would be easy to wire up a coil-tap switch, to go from humbucker to single coil. I'm a habitual tinkerer, so that is something my brain has made an involuntary note of

 

[Ratata]

That's them, other one measures 32.8. Getting a reading while taking a picture was a pita!

I'd love to build my own bass but knowing me, it'll be one of those projects that I start and never get finished properly.

I'll probably stick it on ebay, £150 for the pair so I'm not holding for too long and someone that wants them can get a bargin. Unless someone here wants them? (no idea what international postage is like these days, probably makes it less of a bargin)

Thanks for all the help!

 

[nmiller]

Those pickups were made in-house by Guild. They have no relation to Rowe at all.

 

[mellowgerman]

Those pickups were made in-house by Guild. They have no relation to Rowe at all.

Thanks! Good to know. Will edit my post.