New Goldtop Day

GAD

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Thanks to Bonneville allerting me to this guitar in my local GC, I drove down and picked it up.

Guild-2002-BluesbirdGoldtop-TopFull-NE.jpg


The last thing I need is another guitar, let alone another Bluesbird, but this guitar has one of the beefiest necks of any Guild I've ever played. It's not mint, but it's blemishes are minor and the price actually wasn't too bad. So, into the review pile it goes.
 

gilded

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I had a goldtop with huge neck, like 1.76” at the nut. It had real early corona serial number on it, like CM000476 (I apologize, I think the last digit may be off; could be 478).
Anyhoo, if yours has a BIG neck and a similar serial number, please holler at me when you feel like turning it back into the wild!

All the best, gilded/Harry
 

walrus

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Nice! I like how the pick up selector is set to rock!

walrus
 

GAD

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I had a goldtop with huge neck, like 1.76” at the nut. It had real early corona serial number on it, like CM000476 (I apologize, I think the last digit may be off; could be 478).
Anyhoo, if yours has a BIG neck and a similar serial number, please holler at me when you feel like turning it back into the wild!

All the best, gilded/Harry


This one looks like 00580 or so. The neck is indeed 1 3/4" at the nut.
 

shihan

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Beautiful! I’m with you on liking a fat neck. I’ll bet that’s a blast to play. Congratulations!
 

kakerlak

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Curious about the depth readings if/when you get some calipers on it.

Oh, and also curious whether the control cavity lets you get a look at the maple top. Always wondered whether the few opaque Bluesbirds they made were sprayed over figured wood or not.
 
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GAD

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I have it measured, but I'm traveling this week and can't easily get to the information. From what I recall, it's very deep - on the order of .9" or more. It's one of the biggest Guild necks I've measured. I also have pics of the cavity, but again won't have access until at least Friday or Saturday.
 

kakerlak

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I have it measured, but I'm traveling this week and can't easily get to the information. From what I recall, it's very deep - on the order of .9" or more. It's one of the biggest Guild necks I've measured. I also have pics of the cavity, but again won't have access until at least Friday or Saturday.

This might be the first numerically-substantiated claim I've seen of an R8-sized Bluesbird neck. I'm eager to see your write-up! I need to measure the neck on my X-700 sometime -- it's 1.75" at the nut, too and it gets fairly deep towards the body, but that's 1994 and I always assumed it was b/c it was an archtop. All the Guild electrics I've touched have been pretty middle-of-the-road, mid/high .800s at the 1st to low .900s at the 12th.
 

Hobbesickles

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I just ordered digital calipers on Amazon so I could measure my Guilds for you guys. I'm curious to see how the goldtop compares to my 2002 Bluesbird.
 

kakerlak

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I just ordered digital calipers on Amazon so I could measure my Guilds for you guys. I'm curious to see how the goldtop compares to my 2002 Bluesbird.

I'm also interested. Extraneous, but I measured your SF-VI at .830 (1st) .883 (12th) and it always seemed pretty typical of the not thin, not thick '70s necks.
 

DThomasC

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Here are the measurements of the necks of my two Bluesbirds. Note that the depth measurement is actually on the nut side of the first fret. Not at the nut itself.

Corona 2002 Bluesbird P-90:

Code:
                nut       12th fret
Width       1.787       2.130
Depth       0.900       1.029

Westerly 2001 Blues90

Code:
                nut       12th fret
Width       1.735       2.090
Depth       0.865       0.959
 

AcornHouse

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Maybe we need to add info to the chart in the Bluesbirds owners sticky thread.
 

GAD

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I have the precise neck measurements of every Guild I've reviewed and then some. At some point I'm going to make an article about that. So far it's over 40 guitars as I recall.
 

kakerlak

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I have the precise neck measurements of every Guild I've reviewed and then some. At some point I'm going to make an article about that. So far it's over 40 guitars as I recall.

Yes, please allow us all to nerd out accordingly!
 

GAD

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I am finally back home and just spent an hour playing this monster.

Here are the neck specs:

Guild-2002-BluesbirdGoldtop-NeckMeasurements.png


The neck is a monster. I need to check, but I think it's bigger than my Gibson R7.

I have a Made to Measure R9 with a neck that's 1"+ deep at the nut, so it's still the champ.

Believe it or not, this is not the largest Guild electric neck I have, either. :chuncky:
 

GAD

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BTW, my Customshop Bluesbird-90 doesn't even match this one.
 
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