hi all, this is my first post on here but i've been an admirer and player of guilds for years ever since i got a B301A back in the late 80s and i still have an M-85 bass and a beautiful '64 CE100D six string. anyway, i recently also bought a gorgeous 1985/86 westerly starfire SF4 and was instantly amazed by the sound of the pickups so opened it up to have look to see what they were only to find that they’d obviously been replaced with some others by a company called “california pick-up co” which i’d never heard of? wondering what the originals would have been i went to the net and found a reference to the fact that guild did actually use those pickups on some models around the same time (but seemingly not on starfires).
my question is has anyone else come across this and were they changed at the factory or did someone get hold of a pair of the “california" humbuckers and replace them themselves? it's the rough, taped up connections that make me wonder if it was a home done, amateur job but maybe it was a custom order to the factory and they had to do a rush job to get the order out on time perhaps? if the latter, it doesn’t seem to be the quality of work i’ve seen and would expect from guild, though it’s lasted for 30 odd years so did the job i guess? i’ve attached a link to a pic so you can see what i mean. anyway, it's an awesome guitar as is but any insight or tales of similar circumstances gratefully received, oh and if anyone knows what pickups should have been on there originally that'd be interesting to know as well. cheers.
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad234/poa77/IMG_0592_zpsobdqnher.jpg
my question is has anyone else come across this and were they changed at the factory or did someone get hold of a pair of the “california" humbuckers and replace them themselves? it's the rough, taped up connections that make me wonder if it was a home done, amateur job but maybe it was a custom order to the factory and they had to do a rush job to get the order out on time perhaps? if the latter, it doesn’t seem to be the quality of work i’ve seen and would expect from guild, though it’s lasted for 30 odd years so did the job i guess? i’ve attached a link to a pic so you can see what i mean. anyway, it's an awesome guitar as is but any insight or tales of similar circumstances gratefully received, oh and if anyone knows what pickups should have been on there originally that'd be interesting to know as well. cheers.
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad234/poa77/IMG_0592_zpsobdqnher.jpg