So many 90s Bluesbirds in near new condition.

DThomasC

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I review Ebay, CL, Reverb, etc. There's always a good selection of Westerly Bluesbirds from the 90s and early 00s and a majority of them are in excellent condition with more than a few appearing to be nearly unplayed. I don't remember seeing a single one that showed serious wear from heavy use. What's up with that? I have two and they're a couple of my favorite guitars. One of them unquestionably gets more use than any other instrument I own.

Why so little love? I don't buy the often made claim that no big stars used them so nobody cares. That might explain why relatively few were made - and sold - in the first place, but it doesn't explain why the ones that have been around for 15 to 20 years are going unplayed, and ultimately go up for sale.
 

adorshki

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Just a hypothesis, but maybe "speculators", bought 'em up when Fender closed Westerly, thinking "potential future collectible"?
There was a quite a bubble in the vintage guitar market there for a while before the Great Recession, and the late Westerly re-issue electrics are now 15-20 years old , if you get my drift....
I bought my D40 when I saw the first GAD's in the '04 price list list and thought to myself
"I better get me one more American made Guild while I still can".
Maybe more than a few folks had the same idea about the electrics?
How's the supply of re-issue Starfires/ X170's/ S-100's?
 

walrus

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It's possible some people can't get used the necks on these, so they don't get played much, then are finally sold. Not me, I play mine pretty much every day!

walrus
 

Los Angeles

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They are certainly in the "best bargains out there" category, like so many other Guilds.

I don't know for certain why other people don't rave about them, or why they aren't valued higher, but I can offer a guess about why they sit where they do in the market and also explain my own thinking on the Bluesbirds.

Let's start out by agreeing that the setup and look of the 90's BB generally belongs in the "Les Paul copy" category of guitars. I don't think that's stretching things too far. In fact I'm pretty sure it's predecessor, the 70's solidbody M-75 was created in direct response to the popularity of the Les Paul, the same way the S-100 was a response to the look and popularity of the SG.

What I do know is that in nearly every industry, if you release a "me too" product, you will almost NEVER get the comparison to the original off your back, and it's almost impossible to avoid the take away: "not as good as the original." This is true when you're bringing out a product that is supposed to compete directly with a competitor's already popular product, and it's also true when you reissue a product of your own. Doesn't matter what the "real" facts are, the thing you are going to hear over and over again is "it's not as good as the original," even when that's not true.

Secondly, these guitars are not quite 20 years old. Too old to be considered "new" but too young to be considered "vintage" that means they are at a no-mans land for collectors.

Long story boring, if you're into Les Pauls, you'll probably just go for a Les Paul. If you're into Guilds, you'll probably go for a Guild that has classic features that set Guilds apart from other brands (Guild pickups, etc). if you're into old guitars, you might not aim for this, if you're into the latest things coming out, once again, you'll probably skip the Bluesbird.

All of this, of course, is a shame. These guitars are fantastic bargains, especially for being made in the US.

So what about me, personally? After all these years of collecting Guilds, a 90s Bluesbird never made it into my "permanent" collection. And the reason has a lot to do with what I said above. It's a Les Paul-ish design. And honestly, I'm just not that into les pauls or duncan pickups. The 90's Bluesbirds just don't do it for me. But of course, now that I've been writing about them, I want to get one! :D
 

kakerlak

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I think Guild attracted a more "adult" owner demographic than say Gibson does w/ Les Pauls. I don't think too many of these went to bar-gigging hard rock types, punk bands, etc. I suspect a lot went to jazz guys and bedroom players and, even if they have been played a fair amount, they haven't been knocked around, scratched, chipped, and dinged up. Finish on them tended to be thickish, too, so I don't think we're to the point where we'd start to see many with a lot of wear-through from playing alone yet, either. Similar vintage PRSs are the same way -- Heritages, other Guilds...
 

kakerlak

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Expanding on what I wrote earlier... Nobody bought one of these to look cool. The folks that bought one were the sort of analytical thinkers, engineer-types, that would view it as a compelling instrument and would see brand/image as an irrelevant factor. Or the sort of quirky folks (like me) that always have a soft spot for the "little guy" companies of the world that manage to punch above their weight, quality/value-wise. Neither of these considerate sorts of folks are the types to knock a guitar around and most probably aren't playing sweaty, smoky, beer-soaked gigs, either. Even if they play out, they're playing some sort of dad rock.
 

Los Angeles

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Kakerlak, you're making great points regarding "sex appeal." These guitars are the luxury sedan of the guitar world. I can see how they might attract the same sort of buyer: Someone who cares most about quality and craftsmanship, performance under the hood, and comfort inside the cabin, and is not obsessed with preserving history (classic car collectors), modification (DIY mechanics), or attention grabbing aesthetic features (young drivers who have never heard the term "cop magnet").

EDIT: and I'm sure I've heard the term "dad rock" before, but it still made me shout "HAH!"
 
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gilded

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Dad Rock? You're not that far off from being that age yourself, Colin aka kakerlak! :)

Mine was a first year, first or second batch Corona model (serial ended in 0076) with a huge neck. I loved it fiercely, except for the Bigsby. It had some great Duncan pickups (I know, not HB1s; you can like both) and worked really well with my Princeton Reverb after I put American potentiometers in it (it had Mexican brand pots; no bueno). The weight was okay and the guitar looked fine. Played a festival with it and a lot of musicians in their 20's really admired the way it looked. But yeah, you could say some of our stuff was Dad Rock. Somebody's gotta play the Eagles, don't they?

So if you guys find a big neck Blues Bird cheap, let me know!
 

kakerlak

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Dad Rock? You're not that far off from being that age yourself, Colin aka kakerlak! :) ... But yeah, you could say some of our stuff was Dad Rock. Somebody's gotta play the Eagles, don't they?
"Play Mustang Sally again!"
 

walrus

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I'm not sure BB's have no "appeal". When I use mine playing with anyone else, I always get compliments - on it's look and it's sound. It's just not a guitar on many people's radar, until they see one.

walrus
 

GAD

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I think some buy them as an alternative to a Les Paul and they're different enough that people end up not liking them.
 

gilded

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I've owned and played a lot of Les Pauls and I think you have to spend around $4K before a Les Paul begins to edge out a good chambered Blues Bird.
 

DThomasC

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Interesting point about these appealing more to people that play only at home and generally are careful with them.

I accept that they're undervalued. Pretty much all Guilds are! It's just been difficult to reconcile the fact that they're great playing guitars (for some of us) and yet pretty much ALL of them are still in comparatively awesome condition. I think I'm satisfied believing that it's a combination of the demographic of owners and the tremendously tough polyurethane finish. If they'd been sprayed with Hoboken thin lacquer then some of them would probably show a lot more evidence of being played.
 

GAD

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I've owned and played a lot of Les Pauls and I think you have to spend around $4K before a Les Paul begins to edge out a good chambered Blues Bird.


I've played a fair number, too. I didn't say they were better or worse - just different. I loved my expensive R8s and R9s, but to my hands the Bluesbirds have a very different feel, and I don't mean the necks. I will say that I've played some downright terrible non-historic Les Pauls, but I have never played a bad Guild.

Here's a pic with my Bluesbird next to my R9 back when I had both. My Nightbird crushes them all, though. :)

_B0Z2619_800.jpg
 

gilded

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oh the humanity!!!

One time, I played a party at the Dallas Zoo. I had a 6 string George Harrison Ricky and a reissue Vox AC 30 modified with custom-made, custom-wound transformers and a schematic that was entirely changed back to the 1965 spec. I was really looking forward to hearing what it sounded like outside with the lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) and then they asked us to turn down, then turn down some more, then some more. Finally, I looked over and my amp was so quiet, two toddlers were dancing in front of it.

I called up my best friend when I got home and said, "I just played the worst gig of my life, blah blah." You know what he told me? He said, "Harris, the only thing worse than playing that gig is not playing a gig at all!"

Food for thought, gentlemen.

PS Nice guitars, GAD! Day'um!
 
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