S300/S60/S65/S70 enthusistasts out there?

cupric

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I have a 1982 S250. This one has the bound body on walnut stain. Have owned many of the S guitars. My first good electric was a new S300 AD back in the late 1970s. Great guitars!
 

DrumBob

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I still think that shape is beyond ridiculous, but we actually did pretty well with the B-301 and 302 basses with that shape. Bob Bromberg always used to tell me that that the basses were good looking, but not the guitars.
 

GuildedCage

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My first electric was a all black Guild S-70 Lefty. I have enjoyed playing that guitar for 25yrs! Strange looking to some folks but nothing can take the place of those old S series Guilds! I just bought a Lefty S-300 in White. I no longer care about any flashy guitars that companies are pushing out now. Why would I? I have Dark and Light, Ebony and Ivory, One with single coils and one with humbuckers. Yin and yang.:love-struck:
 

GuildedCage

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One of these?
b19cabb4.jpg


S-70 love here.....

My Brother from another mother! I have the same guitar in Lefty!
 

Mingus

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New (to me) S300-D!

Just picked up an S-300D for a super reasonable price considering condition. I probably could have gotten lower because the seller wanted to get it out of the house, but he was a really cool guy and easy to deal with. I pushed it as much as I felt comfortable making sure he and I were each happy with the deal! The price we landed on was good enough that i'll still be happy once I sink a little cash into it. It definitely needs some fretwork. Not sure if it'll need a complete refret or just a level and dress, but i'll leave that up to my luthier. This instrument looks WELL USED, but not abused. The frets are all pretty flat, so I don't know if there's enough meat for a level/dress. Someone earlier in this thread was talking about low frets, so maybe these have lower frets to begin with. Hans or GAD would probably know for sure. Speaking of, SUPER thanks to GAD for replying to my emails last night and today - I should have known you were on the board! I didn't even realize until tonight! I just found him through his blog.

In addition to the frets, i'll be looking for a new pickguard (notice the tape on it? There's an inscription on it) and maybe new pickup surrounds. Anyone know where I can find those? Or a reasonable place I can send mine to have it copied? (I know i could buy the material and do it myself, but i want it perfect).

Pix?






 

GuildedCage

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Really nice guitar man! Those frets look like they have a good bit of meat left on them. Love the Natural finish, great grain on her. Enjoy it.:encouragement:
 

DThomasC

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Very nice! I see a broken pickup ring, and I'm sure there are some dogs that dont show in the photos, but that looks like a fine instrument to me. Very pretty.

As for the frets, they were low from the factory, at least by modern standards. But i learned to play on an S300, so whenever i pick up a vintage Guild it feels like going home. I think it would be good if you tried playing it the way it is for a while. If you decide you love everything about the guitar except those Damn frets, well then you might do something about it. But i don't think you should refret itj just because it seems like an upgrade.
 

Mingus

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Very nice! I see a broken pickup ring, and I'm sure there are some dogs that dont show in the photos, but that looks like a fine instrument to me. Very pretty.

As for the frets, they were low from the factory, at least by modern standards. But i learned to play on an S300, so whenever i pick up a vintage Guild it feels like going home. I think it would be good if you tried playing it the way it is for a while. If you decide you love everything about the guitar except those Damn frets, well then you might do something about it. But i don't think you should refret itj just because it seems like an upgrade.

Oh, i think you misunderstood me. It definitely needs fretwork as most of the frets are downright flat. Lots of rough spots. I was just wondering if I could level them and still have room left. They looked low, so if they're supposed to be low, maybe I can get away with just a level and dress. I won't be refretting just to get bigger frets. They actually feel nice, but there are a lot of totally dead spots.

Other than that, there's the broken pickup ring, a missing dot inlay and i'd like to replace the pickguard. It's a fine guitar otherwise! It's got its share of dings and chips, but it's 37 years old. It doesn't look abused by any stretch. Just like it was played to death!

-James
 

GuildedCage

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Oh, i think you misunderstood me. It definitely needs fretwork as most of the frets are downright flat. Lots of rough spots. I was just wondering if I could level them and still have room left. They looked low, so if they're supposed to be low, maybe I can get away with just a level and dress. I won't be refretting just to get bigger frets. They actually feel nice, but there are a lot of totally dead spots.

Other than that, there's the broken pickup ring, a missing dot inlay and i'd like to replace the pickguard. It's a fine guitar otherwise! It's got its share of dings and chips, but it's 37 years old. It doesn't look abused by any stretch. Just like it was played to death!

-James

If it is of any help to you I have a 1980 S-70 that I recently brought to a tech. My frets are also flat but they took a LOT of playing through 2 owners. I thought it would be a refret for sure. The tech called and told me he was going to pull one fret to measure for replacement frets, but instead cut all the strings off and judged my frets as still pretty good! I was lucky enough to find a talented guy who is honest and told me he could refret it if taller frets were my desire but he does not like ripping out frets that have life in them and they will be good after a dress and crown. Each player is different so go by feel. I don't know what kind of fretwire Guild used on these guitars it was not the bottom shelf stuff, tough stuff. Great looking guitfiddle though!
 

GAD

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Yeah, the stock frets are low and flat by design. I've had people assume they were worn away because they were used to modern guitars with jumbo frets but that's just the way they are.

Here's a pic of a pretty minty S300A-Ds high frets that shows how they look without any wear (and before polishing):

_B0Z4421_800.jpg
 

Mingus

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I was lucky enough to find a talented guy who is honest and told me he could refret it if taller frets were my desire but he does not like ripping out frets that have life in them and they will be good after a dress and crown. Each player is different so go by feel. I don't know what kind of fretwire Guild used on these guitars it was not the bottom shelf stuff, tough stuff. Great looking guitfiddle though!
Thanks! My guy is tops as well. He's super honest and never steers me wrong!

Yeah, the stock frets are low and flat by design. I've had people assume they were worn away because they were used to modern guitars with jumbo frets but that's just the way they are.

Seemed that way. Are they just low stock? Or were they also flat on top? these just look and feel worn. I'm ok with them being low as long as there's life left - but the flat tops are weird to me if that's a thing! Thanks again for your snappy responses yesterday!

-James
 

DrumBob

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You're depriving yourself of a killer guitar because of the fickle '80s guitar market. I can totally see how they're tied to bad memories, though.

Actually, I'm not. The necks are too skinny for me these days, and I will never, ever warm to the shape. The S shape looks good on the basses, but the guitars? NO. Sorry!

Obviously, people here like them and that's fine. :encouragement:
 

SG standard

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It's a white 1979 S-300, serial No. 202502, with HB-1s. I bought it new, probably about 1985 from Jeavons, a guitar shop in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which has long since gone. That it had sat in the shop for so long is a reflection of the models ugly duckling reputation, but, of course, it is really a swan! Best electric guitar I have ever played, bar none.

Just catching up on this thread... A white S-300 was exactly what I wanted but couldn't afford, back in '78 when I bought my S-60. If I'd ever seen one up for grabs in a store in London in the 80s I'd have grabbed it for sure... no such luck. :( If Guild ever re-issued these, I'd be after a white one (yes, I know, slim chance!)

Glad to hear you've been enjoying it all these years, and thanks for sharing the photos. :)
 

SG standard

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Thought I'd share this here, as it doesn't seem to have been mentioned already: Electric Guitar Company have produced a few guitars and basses based on this Guild shape. I believe they were all custom orders, so there certainly is some love of this design out there. :)

This one is a baritone, and sold on Reverb a few years ago:
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srnqmw0rc97o41mucl7x.jpg


And this one seems to be a regular 6-string, but it's not a very clear photo:
2je9yk2.jpg
 

hearth_man

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It would be a shame to be limited in guitar selection to the many many versions year after year of Les Pauls, SGs, Teles and Strats. I can't see how people get excited to see the same basic guitars year after year from Gibson and Fender. Nothing against them but I miss having a manufacturer, like Guild used to be during the 60s, 70s and 80s, that would step outside the box and deliver a different model guitar with a version priced for every budget but always a high quality instrument. Like the style or not at least there was an effort to make something else and not always the same old thing. This goes for Guild's acoustics and acoustic/electrics as well.

Just my two cents.
 
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