my new to me 1969 Bluesbird

I love this guitar. I love everything about it. So much rock and soul to it.

I did have to mod it a little bit so I can play it with reckless abandon.
I am a heavy hitter, and I play heavy, and use a very heavy pic.
I potted the pickups, no more squealing feedback.

The ABR1 bridge added alot strength, sustain, note definition.

I custom fitted a sound post right under the bridge top to the supports to the back.
No more rumble feedback when muting or sustaining notes.

I had to shim, clock the tailpiece to straighten the string pull to the bridge.

then recrown, level, dress the original frets. I was worried that there was not too
much fret left, but, I proceeded thinking if it did not work, I would refret,
turned out great.


Great guitar! I can not put it down. The stock pickups are totally amazing.
I can go from huge single coil tones to very warm to growly PAF sounds.

Wow! Fantastic!

There's certainly nothing quite like discovering the intrinsic value of an old Guild. It's a rare treat.

May you enjoy it for many years!

bb

murkat said:

I love this guitar. I love everything about it. So much rock and soul to it.

Click to expand...

Hello murkat,

Didn't you like the pickguard?



And actually ........ your guitar is from 1970!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

I know the feeling! Hans once bumped my F-20 from 1969 into 1970, too!

I get the feeling Hans is going to school me for along time .....

I am on the fence with the pickguard. Aesthetically, I like it off. its like putting a bra on
a beautiful woman that really does not really need one
So, I am enjoying it off at the moment.
Also, I dig in with my pic attack, I "click" on now and then when it was on.
So, thats my reasoning

Great looking M75 murkat. Very interested in your modification as I have a 1968 M75. I have potted the pickups and was looking at changing to an adjustable bridge. The string spacing is a little shorter than on most ABR type bridges. Did that make any difference, or is it not an issue? I like the sound post idea also and would definitely consider doing that. Can you provide any detail on the post dimensions and how you installed it? I love the sound and feel of my M75, but I think it can be even better with the mods you have done. Thanks for your post and any info.

harpinator said:

Great looking M75 murkat. Very interested in your modification as I have a 1968 M75. I have potted the pickups and was looking at changing to an adjustable bridge. The string spacing is a little shorter than on most ABR type bridges. Did that make any difference, or is it not an issue? I like the sound post idea also and would definitely consider doing that. Can you provide any detail on the post dimensions and how you installed it? I love the sound and feel of my M75, but I think it can be even better with the mods you have done. Thanks for your post and any info.

Click to expand...

ABR bride is not an issue at all. Yes, string spacing is a little narrow, but the saddles can handle the spacing.
What I experienced is the neck set is just a little off on this one (not truly straight to body, etc.). So I had to do a little compensating with the bridge mount and location, and "clocking" the tailpiece so the strings will align up with the bridge and neck. If you notice, look at the bottom of the abr, I had to machine off some of the bottom mount areas so it would fit low enough for a great playable setup.

The sound post. Oh boy. Totally custom by me. 1/2 thick X 4" x 3" piece of mahogany.
On this M75, the Top supports are almost 4"apart. from the apex of the top to the flat bottom back is almost 3".
The abr posts are 3.5" apart.
what I wanted to achieve~
minimal change in original tone but with some degree of sacrifice... (its going to happen)
additional support to the top/abr area.
keep the woofy feedback to a minimum.

The sound post ended up looking like a big " T " with a wider bottom (2"). The design did every thing I wanted to achieve. The sacrifice, drawback is a loss of natural unplugged acoustic timbres, tones, resonance. Not all gone, but there is a difference un amplified.

The guitar is very very playable in a live situation, very controllable. I can throw alot of gain to it with no problem.
I love it. By far my fav of all that I have, and thats saying somethin
Hope this helps.

J

Thanks Murkat, some great info.

murkat said:

I am on the fence with the pickguard. Aesthetically, I like it off. its like putting a bra on
a beautiful woman that really does not really need one

Click to expand...

that's a beautiful analogy.

yeah (sigh) I always picture a young Raquel Welch when I have to quote that