S100 Polara Reissues

MustangMartigan

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Guild has been making S100 Polara clones for year now. I'm wondering if one particular year is considered better than the others, or are they all, for the most part, the same? Thanks.
 

MustangMartigan

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I'm looking to buy a new weapon, and the S100 is pretty high on the list. I can't afford an original so I've been looking at the Korean reissues. I played one years back and loved it.

Now that they've been making these reissues for a while now, I'm curious if certain years are considered to be better than others. The one I played was from the first year they introduced the reissue.

Thanks.
 

fronobulax

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Welcome. I don't think we have enough data and experience to say that certain years were better than others for Newark Street S-100's. I don't recall any spec changes so I am not sure you could even tell the year of manufacture unless you had the serial number or took it apart looking for clues on components. (I say this because there have been reports of Newark Street instruments being sold as new a year or two after the year of manufacture, according to the serial number. Nothing wrong with the instruments - just a long supply chain).

The best advice in buying a Newark Street instrument is to play the one you are buying before you commit (or include return shipping in your budget). Some instruments have had cosmetic issues. These have bothered some people enough to return them but other people have not been bothered.
 

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I've bought multiple '90s S100s for ~$700 or so, and it's 10X the instrument you'll get from a Newark Street Guild. I got my NS Guild for $500 used, and for the additional $200 I'd always pick the '90s model. For the $600-800 I usually see the NS models priced at, it's a no-brainer to me to get a Westerly example, though you might have to be patient to find one for ~$700. I also totally get that being patient sucks. :emmersed:

As for your actual question, I don't know of any years being better than others. There is an absolute glut of them in the market, though, which is why if you're patient (ugh) you can get one for ~500.
 

matsickma

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Interestingly...the NS reissue model that is getting harder to find is the initial model with mini "anti hum" pups. Although not the favorite if many it is my preferred model which complements my '73 Deluxe.

One of these days I will convert my antihum NS S100 into a "deluxe". I would also like to have one with P90 ...or possibly Franz.
M
 

MustangMartigan

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When you say Newark Street Guild, as you referring to the current Korean made reissues? The Waverly Guild's are the '90s reissues? When you say that it's 10x the guitar, how much of that is based on the electronics vs the actual wood and construction?

Also, I just found out about he DeArmond S65 which is the poor man's S100. Anyone have any experience with these? Then there's the Squire S73, which was made after they bought DeArmond. It has the exact same body as the S65, but a different neck and pups. The pups are supposed to be awesome on the S73. They're called Gold something. The S73's are really hard to find. I've never seen one for sale.
 

fronobulax

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When you say Newark Street Guild, as you referring to the current Korean made reissues? The Waverly Guild's are the '90s reissues?

Westerly. I'm sure you meant to say Westerly.

The current, made overseas line of electrics is the Newark Street collection.

Roughly speaking we refer to three S100 eras - the vintage, that were made in the 70's, the reissues that were made in the 90's (but both in the Westerly factory) and the Newark Street which are in production today.
 

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When you say Newark Street Guild, as you referring to the current Korean made reissues? The Waverly Guild's are the '90s reissues? When you say that it's 10x the guitar, how much of that is based on the electronics vs the actual wood and construction?

Also, I just found out about he DeArmond S65 which is the poor man's S100. Anyone have any experience with these? Then there's the Squire S73, which was made after they bought DeArmond. It has the exact same body as the S65, but a different neck and pups. The pups are supposed to be awesome on the S73. They're called Gold something. The S73's are really hard to find. I've never seen one for sale.

All of the above. The NS Guilds aren't bad guitars, but everything about the the vintage and '90s models is better. Attention to detail, materials, electronics, fit and finish - the works. If you're a new player the differences may be lost on you, though.

When I was a kid ('70s) pretty much all import guitars sucked. That's not the case any more, and any of us would have probably been thrilled with a modern NS guitar back then. Now that I've got 40 years of experience (gulp), the differences seem profound. Perhaps "10X the guitar" is a bit of hyperbole since I'm making the point that a newer player might not notice the difference. Let's call it 8X the guitar, then. :emmersed:

Some reviews I've done on S100s:

2015 NS S100

1994 S100
Note that this guitar is basically unobtanium but it sounds like a '70s S100 thanks to the pickups.

1997 S100

Battle of the S100 Reissues

Matsickma is right - I'd forgotten about the LB1-equipped NS S100s. There are issues with the LB1 pickups that would probably keep me from buying one of those. You can read about that here (Scroll down to NS Reissues – 2013-Current if you don't want to read the whole thng).
 

matsickma

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When the DeArmonds were out they had the S65 and S73. The S65 was made in Indonesia, had a bolt on neck and grunge sounding ceramic pick-ups. Grunge in the "good way" if you like a dirty sounding pickup.
The 73 was made in Korea, had a set neck, Alinico Gold Tone pickups which sound clean at low volume and bite at higher levels. The necks were chunkier and a nice quality guitar. The Squires S73 came after DeArmond was discontinued.
M
 

MustangMartigan

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Matsickma is right - I'd forgotten about the LB1-equipped NS S100s. There are issues with the LB1 pickups that would probably keep me from buying one of those. You can read about that here (Scroll down to NS Reissues – 2013-Current if you don't want to read the whole thng).

Wow! What a major f*ck up! You're positive that they bought the pups they planned to model for a giant undertaking (reissuing the entire vintage Guild line) off eBay?!!? Did they really not have a single vintage Guild with the AntiHums to use? I wonder if the guy who had the brilliant eBay idea got fired
 

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Wow! What a major f*ck up! You're positive that they bought the pups they planned to model for a giant undertaking (reissuing the entire vintage Guild line) off eBay?!!? Did they really not have a single vintage Guild with the AntiHums to use? I wonder if the guy who had the brilliant eBay idea got fired

Basically, they all did. Fender sold Guild right after that for non-related reasons.
 

matsickma

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As much as the antihum pup issue exists I find the problem more of an issue with the NS hollow body guitars. The S100 solid body sounds great in both neck and bridge position. It may be due to the way I have the pickup height adjusted. Bridge is very close to strings. Also the guitar is less of a power chord cruncher that most players might want but it is perfect for the sound I was looking for.
M
 

MustangMartigan

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As much as the antihum pup issue exists I find the problem more of an issue with the NS hollow body guitars. The S100 solid body sounds great in both neck and bridge position. It may be due to the way I have the pickup height adjusted. Bridge is very close to strings. Also the guitar is less of a power chord cruncher that most players might want but it is perfect for the sound I was looking for.
M

I've always heard that the further the pup from the string the better the tone. Of course theres sucj thing as too far.
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.

I'm surprised there was never a M80 reissue.. that first model that resembles a double cutaway LP. My friend had one and it's still one of the coolest guitars I've played.
I used to have the 2nd M80 version with the updated body shape. It's made entirely of maple (except for the ebony fretboard) which makes it insanely heavy. That coupled with the XR-7 pups makes it as heavy in tone as it is weight.
 

matsickma

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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
 

fronobulax

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Wow! What a major f*ck up! You're positive that they bought the pups they planned to model for a giant undertaking (reissuing the entire vintage Guild line) off eBay?!!? Did they really not have a single vintage Guild with the AntiHums to use? I wonder if the guy who had the brilliant eBay idea got fired

FWIW after the sale to Cordoba, Guild borrowed a couple of vintage instruments from a member here. They were used for measurements and other reverse engineering for models that have since been released. It should also be noted that the Newark Street line was never advertised as a reissue of vintage designs. The fine print in all the marking literature made it clear that Guild was expecting to make whatever changes they deemed necessary to build and sell the instruments in today's environment - "inspired by" rather than "copy".

Given that the Guild Bisonic in the NS basses comes close but does not quite sound like a vintage Bisonic to my ears, anyone who expects a reissue PU to sound like the vintage equivalent needs to be prepared to be disappointed. IMO. YMMV.
 

GAD

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I've always heard that the further the pup from the string the better the tone. Of course theres sucj thing as too far.
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.

I'm surprised there was never a M80 reissue.. that first model that resembles a double cutaway LP. My friend had one and it's still one of the coolest guitars I've played.
I used to have the 2nd M80 version with the updated body shape. It's made entirely of maple (except for the ebony fretboard) which makes it insanely heavy. That coupled with the XR-7 pups makes it as heavy in tone as it is weight.

Humbuckers generally have a sweat spot. Move them too far from the stings makes them sound weak and too close makes them sound terrible. Gotta get them just right. In my experience, the mismatched LB1s forces you to put them both outside of their sweet spots to make them balance, which is what I had to do on my T-Bird. I've found that to be different on Strats where I tend to mount the pickups very low in order to make the amp work harder, which also helps to keep that middle pickup out of my way. Strat pickups are constructed very differently then humbuckers, though, so they behave a bit differently.

Those '70s M80s are fabulous guitars. The necks are just too tiny for my hands.
 

GAD

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A well-deserved razz for a stupid homonym typo. :chargrined:
 
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