The Guilds of Grot
Enlightened Member
DISCLAIMER: With my apologies to Hans and Volume II.
Let's kick this off with an email I received to The Guilds of Grot website in 2008. (It's a long read, so settle in!)
Hello Kurt,
It was a pleasure looking at your collection. It brings back a flood of memories. My dad is Gilbert Diaz, one of the “three amigos” featured in one of the many photos, in the Guild Guitar Book, by author Hans Moust. I was 11 years old when I took that picture for my dad, right in front of the home we had just moved to, during the company transition from Hoboken to Westerly. Hans is a close family friend now. My dad and I helped Hans during his long and storied journey, as he put together an exceptional Book One. Hans is without question, the most knowledgeable “Guild guy”, an expert repairman and a great guitar player.
My dad still works on guitars, all kinds, and of course Guild guitars that are brought to him or shipped to him from many Guild enthusiasts. He is treated with great reverence, much like “children of Guild Guitars” bringing Santa Claus their prized toys. I worked at Guild, starting at the very tender age of 7, traveling from Brooklyn on some Saturday mornings with my dad, to the Hoboken factory to count screws and parts when the company would do inventory. I would get paid petty cash, in a little brown envelope, which I would promptly spend on those little 45 rpm records of the day. I recognize some of those old guitars, posters, banners, brochures, amps and accessories that you have pictured in your collection.
During the Westerly era, I started working in my dad’s final assembly department from 1969 and on. During my middle school and high school years my dad had me doing everything in a very large plant. In school I excelled in woodshop, drafting and art. This came in handy in all aspects of guitar design and building, from start to finish. At one point plant manager, Tom Lockwood, had me draft and complete the drawings for Guild’s only mandolin and banjos during the early seventies. Those were Guild’s best years. During this period my dad gave me a D-25 Cherry. I was in my first band. This was soon followed by the very first S-100 prototype on my 12th birthday. As my playing skills progressed, my dad would bring me prototypes of some of Guild’s growing accessories line. I got my first Guild wah-wah pedal that featured two buttons, one for a cool surf/wind sound, and the other a siren sound. It also had a distortion button to combine with the wah sound. The best toy was the Guild Tri-Oct. I also owned a Guild Maverick amp with a nice 15 inch Jensen speaker. That amp had a great warm tube sound. I replaced the Jensen with a JBL later on and used that amp into the late seventies.
After attending Berklee College in 76 to 77 and brief touring gigs, I returned to Guild and worked in the repair dept. I restored and serviced many artist guitars during this period. I was involved in electronic repairs, resetting necks, refretting, replacing tops, and refinishing. I also checked and set-up all outgoing guitars from stock and inventory before they were shipped out to all the dealers. It was also at this time, that I decided to take up piloting, and putting my earnings into flying lessons. I mention this because, my bench area wall featured posters of airplanes, and my daily break periods were occupied with reading aviation magazines. When Mark Dronge, (the son of Guild founder Alfred Dronge and now of DR Strings) came back to the Guild Company, he had stopped by my work area one day and noticed my heavy interest in aviation. Most guys would have girls, bands or guitar hero posters on their walls, but I had airplanes. The next day he had me bring every aviation magazine I could get my hands on, as they were piling up at home. This was the genesis of the Guild Aviation line of guitars in the early eighties. You have one the posters, brochures and a nice collection of those instruments. All those X guitars and aviation related names, including the Pilot Bass came about from Mark Dronge’s brainstorming campaign to get Guild’s electric line going again with an aviation twist. It seemed to have worked. I’ve been a private pilot for 25+ years now. I took Hans flying for the aerial view picture of the Guild factory in Westerly. After circling 10 times, he got the shot he wanted. (The credits in the back of the book says-- courtesy of Buenos Diaz Air Service) That’s Hans the prankster comedian’s humor at work!! I still repair, restore and service guitars. I have a custom shop in my home. I teach guitar privately and I am also a studio musician. You have a beautiful collection of Guild guitars and your interest in all things Guild is equally impressive. I will be showing my dad your web page. I am sure he will be really pleased to see these instruments being cared for and appreciated. If I can be of any assistance in identifying specific models, servicing and / or providing original factory parts for your guitars, contact me at anytime. Chances are that some of your instruments may have been handled by my dad or me at some point. That would be cool.
Best regards,
Carlos Diaz
So that brings us to this:
The MODERN AVIATION Catalog/Brochure is one of three "matching" Guild productions from the early 80's. We have already seen the CROSSROADS, the third is MAHOGANY RUSH.
Let's see how close I've come to matching the instruments in the Catalog:
I don't know if I've ever seen a Flyer with a maple fretboard. Mines not.
1984 S-280 Flyer:
Next up is the Starfighter X-82. When my guitar was made in 1981 it was still known as the Nova!
1981 Nova:
(I once had a chance to replace this guitar with a matching "sparkle" version but the condition was no where near as nice as this one so I passed)
Then in the center we have the first Pilot SB-602 Bass. This one I have nailed! I like to refer to the early Pilots as "pickguard" Pilots since the later versions shed the pickguard. (And reversed the pick-ups but that's a story for another day!) Now the early Pilots are interesting because of two things. They only have 20 frets and they have no "arm bevel". (While playing it you don't really miss the two extra frets but you sure miss the arm bevel!)
1983 SB-602 Pilot Bass:
Next up we have the famous Skylark X-79. This is probably the most well known of the Modern Aviation guitars. In reality, like the X-82 it pre-dates the MODERN AVIATION period as the early versions were produced with the standard 3-on-a-side headstock which just looked wrong! I have two versions of these.
1982-X-79:
Now being an '82 I have to wonder whether the knobs have been replaced with later versions?
1982 X-79-3:
And last but not least, we have one of GAD's favorite Guilds, the Skyhawk X-80. This is obviously a "flipped over" X-79. (Much like Semie Moseley did with the Strat!)
Unfortunately I do not have one with the matching headstock. And for that matter I've never even seen one with the matching headstock. Mine has the later offset headstock. (Nor do I have one in the matching "sparkle"!) Rumour has it the this model with the Offset headstock is called the "Swan".
1984 X-80 Skyhawk:
And this brings us to the end of today's Guild Modern Aviation history lesson, I hope you enjoyed the flight!
Let's kick this off with an email I received to The Guilds of Grot website in 2008. (It's a long read, so settle in!)
Hello Kurt,
It was a pleasure looking at your collection. It brings back a flood of memories. My dad is Gilbert Diaz, one of the “three amigos” featured in one of the many photos, in the Guild Guitar Book, by author Hans Moust. I was 11 years old when I took that picture for my dad, right in front of the home we had just moved to, during the company transition from Hoboken to Westerly. Hans is a close family friend now. My dad and I helped Hans during his long and storied journey, as he put together an exceptional Book One. Hans is without question, the most knowledgeable “Guild guy”, an expert repairman and a great guitar player.
My dad still works on guitars, all kinds, and of course Guild guitars that are brought to him or shipped to him from many Guild enthusiasts. He is treated with great reverence, much like “children of Guild Guitars” bringing Santa Claus their prized toys. I worked at Guild, starting at the very tender age of 7, traveling from Brooklyn on some Saturday mornings with my dad, to the Hoboken factory to count screws and parts when the company would do inventory. I would get paid petty cash, in a little brown envelope, which I would promptly spend on those little 45 rpm records of the day. I recognize some of those old guitars, posters, banners, brochures, amps and accessories that you have pictured in your collection.
During the Westerly era, I started working in my dad’s final assembly department from 1969 and on. During my middle school and high school years my dad had me doing everything in a very large plant. In school I excelled in woodshop, drafting and art. This came in handy in all aspects of guitar design and building, from start to finish. At one point plant manager, Tom Lockwood, had me draft and complete the drawings for Guild’s only mandolin and banjos during the early seventies. Those were Guild’s best years. During this period my dad gave me a D-25 Cherry. I was in my first band. This was soon followed by the very first S-100 prototype on my 12th birthday. As my playing skills progressed, my dad would bring me prototypes of some of Guild’s growing accessories line. I got my first Guild wah-wah pedal that featured two buttons, one for a cool surf/wind sound, and the other a siren sound. It also had a distortion button to combine with the wah sound. The best toy was the Guild Tri-Oct. I also owned a Guild Maverick amp with a nice 15 inch Jensen speaker. That amp had a great warm tube sound. I replaced the Jensen with a JBL later on and used that amp into the late seventies.
After attending Berklee College in 76 to 77 and brief touring gigs, I returned to Guild and worked in the repair dept. I restored and serviced many artist guitars during this period. I was involved in electronic repairs, resetting necks, refretting, replacing tops, and refinishing. I also checked and set-up all outgoing guitars from stock and inventory before they were shipped out to all the dealers. It was also at this time, that I decided to take up piloting, and putting my earnings into flying lessons. I mention this because, my bench area wall featured posters of airplanes, and my daily break periods were occupied with reading aviation magazines. When Mark Dronge, (the son of Guild founder Alfred Dronge and now of DR Strings) came back to the Guild Company, he had stopped by my work area one day and noticed my heavy interest in aviation. Most guys would have girls, bands or guitar hero posters on their walls, but I had airplanes. The next day he had me bring every aviation magazine I could get my hands on, as they were piling up at home. This was the genesis of the Guild Aviation line of guitars in the early eighties. You have one the posters, brochures and a nice collection of those instruments. All those X guitars and aviation related names, including the Pilot Bass came about from Mark Dronge’s brainstorming campaign to get Guild’s electric line going again with an aviation twist. It seemed to have worked. I’ve been a private pilot for 25+ years now. I took Hans flying for the aerial view picture of the Guild factory in Westerly. After circling 10 times, he got the shot he wanted. (The credits in the back of the book says-- courtesy of Buenos Diaz Air Service) That’s Hans the prankster comedian’s humor at work!! I still repair, restore and service guitars. I have a custom shop in my home. I teach guitar privately and I am also a studio musician. You have a beautiful collection of Guild guitars and your interest in all things Guild is equally impressive. I will be showing my dad your web page. I am sure he will be really pleased to see these instruments being cared for and appreciated. If I can be of any assistance in identifying specific models, servicing and / or providing original factory parts for your guitars, contact me at anytime. Chances are that some of your instruments may have been handled by my dad or me at some point. That would be cool.
Best regards,
Carlos Diaz
So that brings us to this:
The MODERN AVIATION Catalog/Brochure is one of three "matching" Guild productions from the early 80's. We have already seen the CROSSROADS, the third is MAHOGANY RUSH.
Let's see how close I've come to matching the instruments in the Catalog:
I don't know if I've ever seen a Flyer with a maple fretboard. Mines not.
1984 S-280 Flyer:
Next up is the Starfighter X-82. When my guitar was made in 1981 it was still known as the Nova!
1981 Nova:
(I once had a chance to replace this guitar with a matching "sparkle" version but the condition was no where near as nice as this one so I passed)
Then in the center we have the first Pilot SB-602 Bass. This one I have nailed! I like to refer to the early Pilots as "pickguard" Pilots since the later versions shed the pickguard. (And reversed the pick-ups but that's a story for another day!) Now the early Pilots are interesting because of two things. They only have 20 frets and they have no "arm bevel". (While playing it you don't really miss the two extra frets but you sure miss the arm bevel!)
1983 SB-602 Pilot Bass:
Next up we have the famous Skylark X-79. This is probably the most well known of the Modern Aviation guitars. In reality, like the X-82 it pre-dates the MODERN AVIATION period as the early versions were produced with the standard 3-on-a-side headstock which just looked wrong! I have two versions of these.
1982-X-79:
Now being an '82 I have to wonder whether the knobs have been replaced with later versions?
1982 X-79-3:
And last but not least, we have one of GAD's favorite Guilds, the Skyhawk X-80. This is obviously a "flipped over" X-79. (Much like Semie Moseley did with the Strat!)
Unfortunately I do not have one with the matching headstock. And for that matter I've never even seen one with the matching headstock. Mine has the later offset headstock. (Nor do I have one in the matching "sparkle"!) Rumour has it the this model with the Offset headstock is called the "Swan".
1984 X-80 Skyhawk:
And this brings us to the end of today's Guild Modern Aviation history lesson, I hope you enjoyed the flight!
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I especially love the Starfire X-82 / Nova.
