S100 Polara Reissues

Quantum Strummer

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Is it the pup issue that takes away from the NS S100 being a "power chord cruncher"? What would you classify it as then? I had a '70s S100 and it was one of the heaviest guitars I've played. I also had the opportunity to try the '90's reissue and it too sounded ballsy. I've only played a NS once; I'm pretty sure it was the first year of that reissue. I didn't have time to plug it in, but I liked the feel.

IMO in a solidbody the reissue mini-hums lean more towards a percussive Rickenbacker-y kerrang sound rather than "crunchy rock & roll machine." Right in my wheelhouse, thus the S-200 T-bird I bought when that model came out. But swap the pickups around if you want more drive from the bridge position.

-Dave-
 

MustangMartigan

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The mini humbuckers just have a brighter tone. Not single coil bright but pretty bright. Lot of midrange. The full size HB in a solid body is the classic tone everyone likes.
Yes.. I agree the 70's M80 is THE BEST solid body Guild ever made! Perfectly balanced, good access to the upper frets. Some players find the ultra thin neck of the 70's M75/M80 difficult to play. It certainly can lead to more hand fatigue than a chunkier neck but it is worth putting up with this issue. At one point I had a black one and a walnut one. Kept the walnut model...wish I kept both. Then I could get rid of most other HB guitars!

I do also like the 80's version M80...totally different guitar. Why Guild called it a M80 is crazy. Should have been a M81!

M

I owned a late '70s M80 a while back, but there was something wrong with the neck. It had the smallest dinkiest frets and the action was insanely high. I couldn't figure out if it needed all new frets or if it just came with tiny ones. Either way, I didnt have another $300 for a re-fret, as I had just spent close to a grand on the guitar. So I returned it. That was the only original M80 I've ever seen for sale.

About a year after that I bought an '81 (I think) M80; it was the 2nd version. I too don't understand why they kept the M80 name; the two are entirely different. And why did they stopped making the orig M80 to begin with? Maybe cuz it didnt sell well? But if that was the case, why keep the name of a failed product?!

Are the XR-7 pups that came with the 2nd and 3rd M80 versions made by Guild? Those things had such a heavy tone.
 

GAD

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I owned a late '70s M80 a while back, but there was something wrong with the neck. It had the smallest dinkiest frets and the action was insanely high. I couldn't figure out if it needed all new frets or if it just came with tiny ones. Either way, I didnt have another $300 for a re-fret, as I had just spent close to a grand on the guitar. So I returned it. That was the only original M80 I've ever seen for sale.

About a year after that I bought an '81 (I think) M80; it was the 2nd version. I too don't understand why they kept the M80 name; the two are entirely different. And why did they stopped making the orig M80 to begin with? Maybe cuz it didnt sell well? But if that was the case, why keep the name of a failed product?!

Are the XR-7 pups that came with the 2nd and 3rd M80 versions made by Guild? Those things had such a heavy tone.

Vintage Guild electrics have very low frets and they can feel like there's something wrong if you're not used to them.

I'm just guessing here, but the name "M80" had a bit of marketing clout to it, especially back in the '70s and '80s. An M-80 was a type of firework that every teenager in the US was familiar with. They became illegal in the '70s and they're dangerous and loud as hell. Of course we could still get them for a while. :) Anyway, I can see why a guitar company would want to keep that name.

XR7 pickups were made by Dimarzio for Guild.
 

MustangMartigan

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Vintage Guild electrics have very low frets and they can feel like there's something wrong if you're not used to them.

That might be true, but the frets on the '81 M80 (2nd ver) I owned were perfectly fine. And a few '70s S100s haven't been an issue. My guess is that the previous owner of the 1st gen M80 did something to the frets and royally ****ed up that something.. which is probably why he was selling it.

I'm just guessing here, but the name "M80" had a bit of marketing clout to it, especially back in the '70s and '80s. An M-80 was a type of firework that every teenager in the US was familiar with. They became illegal in the '70s and they're dangerous and loud as hell. Of course we could still get them for a while. :) Anyway, I can see why a guitar company would want to keep that name.

Ha! Right. The young boy in me is all to familiar with those things. A bunch of little ****s having the times of our lives reaking havok with explosives.

XR7 pickups were made by Dimarzio for Guild.

Oh ya, now I remember. It's too bad you can't just buy the pups on their own.
 

GAD

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That might be true, but the frets on the '81 M80 (2nd ver) I owned were perfectly fine. And a few '70s S100s haven't been an issue. My guess is that the previous owner of the 1st gen M80 did something to the frets and royally ****ed up that something.. which is probably why he was selling it.

Gotcha. My guess would be excessive fret-leveling past the point of "time for new frets".


Ha! Right. The young boy in me is all to familiar with those things. A bunch of little ****s having the times of our lives reaking havok with explosives.

Those things were LOUD, too! They don't make 'em like the used to, probably due to kids missing fingers. Ahh, the good ol' days.


Oh ya, now I remember. It's too bad you can't just buy the pups on their own.

I've scored a couple from eBay over the years, but they're not too common. I don't think they're much sought after to be honest.
 

Quantum Strummer

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I love the frets on my '73 S-100. They're low but not quite in "fretless wonder" territory (I like those too on some guitars). My '71 OTOH was refretted by its previous owner with tall & narrow frets…a bit too tall for my current taste. The guitar is such a livewire that I don't wanna get rid of it, but I may have the frets dressed down some. Not too far: low & wide is good and so is tall & narrow, but low & narrow (a la Teisco) is yuck.

-Dave-
 
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