Sold Guild Bluesbird Gold Top

[Bonneville88]

2018-era Guild Bluesbird, described to me as an R&D instrument by the Oxnard Guild employee
who was its previous owner. Good used condition, minor dings, dents, scratches, scuffs, typical light play wear.
Strum marks on pickguard. Spot tarnishing on bridge pickup cover.
Neck pickup ring has cracks near two of the mounting screws.
Factory modified HB-2 pickups have coil tap. The Gold Top finish may be a one-off for this prototype.
Everything works, plays well and sounds good. Includes Guild Premium hard-shell case.
$895 + $85 shipping US lower 48

Photos

 

[GGJaguar]

Interesting and unique! Good luck with your sale!

 

[GAD]

The finish in your pic looks great. Closer to a real Les Paul goldtop than my Corona Bluesbird.

 

[Bonneville88]

Thanks Gary!
Still in the process of taking photos - will drop a link in the OP.

 

[SFIV1967]

This specific one has to be a "R&D instrument" (or prototype) as I have never seen a second with gold top and HB-2 pickups. Great! Hope she finds a good new home.

Ralf

 

[Norrissey]

Are those HB-2 pickups? Would they have the same dimensions as Seymour Duncan '59s or Gibson humbuckers?

 

[Bonneville88]

Norrissey - not sure - perhaps I should pull them and take pics?
The Guild guy I bought it from awhile back described the pickups as
"HB1 Humbuckers with coil tap..."

Still working on photos, but here's a better front view of pickups.
There's some spots of tarnish -or very light corrosion of some kind - on the bridge pickup,
doesn't seem to be able to be easily removed.

 

[Norrissey]

Beautiful shot of that beautiful gold top! No need to remove but if you could measure the pickup dimensions I might be interested : )

 

[Teleguy61]

Very pretty indeed.

 

[Bonneville88]

 

[chazmo]

Good luck with the sale, Bonneville! That's a really cool guitar.

 

[Norrissey]

I'm not an expert but @GAD notes in his article on HB-1 and SD-1 and Fender HB-1 pickups that the original Guild HB-1 pickups (and SD-1s) are 1 9/16" high. Fender HB-1s and Gibson Humbuckers are 1.5" high. (they are all 2.75"W)
So, based on the measurements above I would guess those pickups are HB-2s or Fender HB-1s? Please weigh in LTGers!

 

[GAD]

I'm not an expert but @GAD notes in his article on HB-1 and SD-1 and Fender HB-1 pickups that the original Guild HB-1 pickups (and SD-1s) are 1 9/16" high. Fender HB-1s and Gibson Humbuckers are 1.5" high. (they are all 2.75"W)
So, based on the measurements above I would guess those pickups are HB-2s or Fender HB-1s? Please weigh in LTGers!

HB2s would be my guess. I doubt they would be Fender HB1s.

 

[Norrissey]

HB2s would be my guess

Thanks Gary, that does seem to be the most likely answer. The only thing that could make Fender HB-1s a possibility is the seller told @Bonneville88 that they were HB-1s. But of course that kind of misidentification happens quite a lot.

 

[fronobulax]

The moderator with a thing about veers in FS is getting itchy.

See https://shop.guildguitars.com/product/guild-hb-1-bridge-pickup-nickel/?v=7516fd43adaa

Guild called one of the pickups used in the Newark Street line an HB-1. Given that the guitar under discussion dates from 2018 and has the orange toggle often seen in Newark Street, the previous owner could have been correct when the pickups were called HB-1's and the error is in thinking these must be "vintage" HB-1's.

Guild HB1 Pickups: New vs. Old | GAD's Ramblings

As you may know, I am a huge fan of Guild guitars and especially their vintage HB1 pickups. Guild recently released a new version of the coveted HB1s, so I bought one and decided to see how it compared with a vintage model. As of right now, this comparison is only regarding appearance and size. …

www.gad.net

So I am going to say citing GAD and Guild that these pickups are HB-1's but are new HB-1's and not the (Fender) vintage HB-1's.

This is not the place to discuss the relationship between the "new" HB-1 and the "new" HB-2.

Guild HB-2 Bridge Pickup - Nickel | Guild Guitars

Based on Guild’s vintage spec HB-1 full-sized humbuckers, the HB-2 Humbucker packs the rich, vintage tone of its predecessor into a standard sized humbucker enclosure. Using Alnico II magnets at its heart, this vintage output humbucker is the perfect sonic platform for rock, R&B and every genre...

shop.guildguitars.com

 

[Norrissey]

This is not the place to discuss the relationship between the "new" HB-1 and the "new" HB-2.

Fair enough. My apologies. I will try not to veer in the future. In my own defense I was trying to establish the pickup dimensions because I was considering buying the guitar and was thinking about other pickups that would fit into it. I happen to have some vintage Gibson pickups that might be very interesting on this guitar.

 

[fronobulax]

Fair enough. My apologies. I will try not to veer in the future. In my own defense I was trying to establish the pickup dimensions because I was considering buying the guitar and was thinking about other pickups that would fit into it. I happen to have some vintage Gibson pickups that might be very interesting on this guitar.

As a potential purchaser your question was legit. What triggered my concern was the possibly incorrect or irrelevant answers.

 

[Norrissey]

What triggered my concern was the possibly incorrect or irrelevant answers.

I totally get it. Some of my sleep deprived comments about Guild pickups were probably incorrect or confusing. But Guild pickups are confusing!!! : ) Thanks for the links!

 

[Bonneville88]

Photos

Pulling the pickups and looking at Guild's webshop, I'm now under the impression these are Newark Street HB-2s,
as Ralf and GAD pointed out earlier.

 

[SFIV1967]

Very interesting! As the yellow tape stickers show those are custom (R&D) HB-2 pickups using AlNiCo V magnets instead of the AlNiCo II magnets used in the normal HB-2 pickups! AlNiCo V has a stronger magnetic pull than AlNiCo II. This translates into tighter low end response and a more aggressive, edgy tone.

A very special guitar for sure!

Ralf