New limited run Guild GSR M-85 II bass

SFIV1967

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Well, what do we have here? A GSR M-85 II bass ! A Christmas 2013 surprise again.

Limited run, 24 pieces worldwide
Cherry red nitro lacquer finish
Cutaway hollow body design
Arched laminated spruce top with black/white binding, parallel tone bar bracing, mahogany back and sides,
3-piece mahogany/maple/mahogany neck,
Chesterfield headstock inlay, rosewood fingerboard, 21 medium-jumbo frets, mother-of-pearl dot inlays,
30.75" scale length, 9.5" radius, 1.50" bone nut,
Guild "Bi-Sonic" bass bridge/neck pickups,
2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch,
2-position mini-toggle for low end roll off,
Guild Combo bridge/tailpiece with rosewood string saddles,
Gotoh die-cast tuners, nickel plated hardware
Hardshell case.
MSRP $4499.99 (First street price seen $3599.99)

For the history of this M-85-II bass please see Hans' book page 94. However the old model has a "semi-solid" body, the new model shows "hollow body".

Now if only we would have some first pictures of the GSR model!

EDIT: http://www.guildguitars.com/instruments/details/?partno=3820300888

Ralf
 
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twocorgis

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We saw some half-finished examples while at LMG IV. I might be in the market if I could afford one!
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fronobulax

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My dealer told me that the Guild rep was talking these up a couple of weeks ago. One bass per sales region.

It would be interesting to know whether it is a true hollow body or whether it has the center block like the Starfires. While not precisely correct, the center block Starfires are almost always referred to as "hollow bodies". I thought that one of the things that distinguished the original M85 from the contemporary Starfire was the former was a true hollow body, but Hans definitely says otherwise.

Scale length may not be any different. Depending upon what you choose to measure the Starfire comes in anywhere from 30 to 31 with the differences being due to bridge height, saddle adjustment. which string and measuring the string from nut to saddle rather than nut to 12th fret and doubling.

I would presume the PUs are the same as the Newark Street. I note "2-position mini-toggle for low end roll off" and wonder what they were thinking and whether the circuit is more like the Suck Switch on a 67-70 Starfire or a 1971-1977 Starfire.

Here's hoping we get pictures soon.
 

Walter Broes

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Weird you find out about them on a store's website. Guild/FMIC needs to work on their press releases and website some. Very cool they're doing the M85 bass again!
 

fronobulax

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Weird you find out about them on a store's website. Guild/FMIC needs to work on their press releases and website some. Very cool they're doing the M85 bass again!

While I agree with you in theory, in practice, there are only 24 of these and I suspect word of mouth and dealer funded advertising will sell all of them without FMIC needing to advertise anything. My understanding is that these are not being sold to dealers on consignment. The dealer pays half of their cost when ordered and the remainder when delivered. At that point FMIC has made all of the money they are going to make and any advertising they do is part of dealer support rather than creating demand to generate orders.
 

Happy Face

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Those babies should look mighty sharp in red nitro!
 

SFIV1967

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Weird you find out about them on a store's website. Guild/FMIC needs to work on their press releases and website some.
Walter, I also agree with you, but FMIC seems to follow with the Guild GSR their own FSR description which is: "As they aren't regular production models, FSR instruments and amps aren't generally available to every dealer, and Fender seldom provide specs or listings for them on its website. Your local dealer, however, should be able to provide detailed specs for any FSR products they offer." So that is what we see with many of the GSRs recently.

It would be interesting to know whether it is a true hollow body or whether it has the center block like the Starfires.
Reading the "spec" with "parallel tone bar bracing" means to me it is a fully hollow body where the "parallel tone bar bracing" would hold the pickups like in the Aristocrat M-75 for instance. So that would mean to me no center block.

Ralf
 

Walter Broes

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My understanding is that these are not being sold to dealers on consignment.
Not related to this thread at all, but consignment? I have no idea about the U.S., but over here, I don't know of any manufacturer or distributor who still does consignment deals. you order it, you pay for it, whether you sell it or not. (the "you" being the retailer)
 

fronobulax

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Not related to this thread at all, but consignment? I have no idea about the U.S., but over here, I don't know of any manufacturer or distributor who still does consignment deals. you order it, you pay for it, whether you sell it or not.

In some industries and at certain times in history the manufacturer would purchase unsold stock. Book publishing is one example and music, when it was sold on vinyl was another. Since car pricing in the USA has traditionally been A Big Secret there are stories of car manufacturers repurchasing unsold inventory from dealers. There are also stories of a manufacturer trying to break into a market and agreeing to repurchase unsold inventory after a certain period as an incentive for the dealer to stock. But is is certainly less prevalent than it once was.
 

SFIV1967

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@Frono: You might remember this picture from April 2012, there was on the left side in the middle a M-85 bass visible.
But that one looked more like a solid body due to the missing binding on the back.
Was that one of the models that Guild didn't do because the whitewood body wasn't good enough at that time? Do you remember?

ibuOa5ajEvKgbk.jpg


Ralf
 

fronobulax

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@Frono: You might remember this picture from April 2012, there was on the left side in the middle a M-85 bass visible.
But that one looked more like a solid body due to the missing binding on the back.
Was that one of the models that Guild didn't do because the whitewood body wasn't good enough at that time? Do you remember?

ibuOa5ajEvKgbk.jpg


Ralf

I seem to recall discussion where a source that appeared knowledgeable claimed that the M85's in the production run suggested by the above picture were not going to be produced because the whitewood wasn't good. So yes, we remember the same thing :)
 

SFIV1967

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I seem to recall discussion where a source that appeared knowledgeable claimed that the M85's in the production run suggested by the above picture were not going to be produced because the whitewood wasn't good. So yes, we remember the same thing :)
O.k., so the GSR M-85 II is obviously something different from that early to mid 2012 trial run.
Ralf
 

mgod

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That looks just like mine. Chris Fleming gave it to me about 4 years ago and suggested I not speak of it. But it looks safe now.
 
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