Here's the stripped, refinished '72 Guild S-90 I just traded for. It arrived in the original case. Never even seen one of these. Whoever did the work did it well. The natural look works. Beautiful wood. Just for visuals alone, thumbs up.
Condition is excellent. Shiny everything, especially the pickups. Frets appear to be level and in excellent condition. Plenty of adjustment room on the bridge. Here's where my previous S -90/100 experience comes in handy. My first S-90 vexed me at first, somewhat narrow board, quite stiff playing with my usual .11s. What worked on that one was a custom set, .105 high E, .13 B, .17 G, can't remember on the bass strings. And it works here as well. A point off on the original tuners. They are beautiful, and do hold tune. But a couple are really stiff, to the point my hands are sore changing strings. The back of the neck feels very different, better than either of the other S body Guilds I had. The minimal finish (tung oil?) and a little guitar polish means no drag, easy to move the left hand around.
Lowered the action, got it just about right. But still not feeling perfect. Then saw why. The bass strings stay in place. Low E had popped out on my other S-90. Not here, as the E and A saddles have been modded:
That solved one problem, but created another. Those two saddles are just a bit lower than before, changing the radius of strings. Net effect is, when the bridge height is set just right for the outer strings, the D and G are a bit high. Time for a tech visit. Whatever effort and expense it will take to maximize playability will be worth it, because:
These old pickups KICK. Didn't have the stock ones on the S-100. Did on the S-90, which had an amazing neck p/u, almost unusable microphonic bridge. On this one, both are just outstanding, top to bottom, no microphonics, no problems.
Sure looks different without the Guild name:
I'm liking it!
MD
Condition is excellent. Shiny everything, especially the pickups. Frets appear to be level and in excellent condition. Plenty of adjustment room on the bridge. Here's where my previous S -90/100 experience comes in handy. My first S-90 vexed me at first, somewhat narrow board, quite stiff playing with my usual .11s. What worked on that one was a custom set, .105 high E, .13 B, .17 G, can't remember on the bass strings. And it works here as well. A point off on the original tuners. They are beautiful, and do hold tune. But a couple are really stiff, to the point my hands are sore changing strings. The back of the neck feels very different, better than either of the other S body Guilds I had. The minimal finish (tung oil?) and a little guitar polish means no drag, easy to move the left hand around.
Lowered the action, got it just about right. But still not feeling perfect. Then saw why. The bass strings stay in place. Low E had popped out on my other S-90. Not here, as the E and A saddles have been modded:
That solved one problem, but created another. Those two saddles are just a bit lower than before, changing the radius of strings. Net effect is, when the bridge height is set just right for the outer strings, the D and G are a bit high. Time for a tech visit. Whatever effort and expense it will take to maximize playability will be worth it, because:
These old pickups KICK. Didn't have the stock ones on the S-100. Did on the S-90, which had an amazing neck p/u, almost unusable microphonic bridge. On this one, both are just outstanding, top to bottom, no microphonics, no problems.
Sure looks different without the Guild name:
I'm liking it!
MD
