Incoming: deep greens and blues are the colors I choose

[dreadnut]

"I don't suppose the old Guild records say how many were built in this finish?"

Records? We don't need no stinking records! LOL

 

[Minnesota Flats]

I love Bi-Sonics but am also a Guild-'Bucker fan. Nice find!

 

[fronobulax]

"I don't suppose the old Guild records say how many were built in this finish?"

Records? We don't need no stinking records! LOL

For those willing to extrapolate from a sample of 1....

I have never seen this color on a JS bass. JS I basses seem to have been made in smaller quantities than JS IIs. If the basic JS spec is humbuckers, deep/hard switch and harp bridge then the variations seem to have occurred at the beginning and the end of the run, i.e. 70, 71 and 77. Since the color was available on a contemporary Starfire bass it is possible this was an experiment or a special order.

Remembering that rare or scarce does not mean valuable when dealing with Guilds, my never wrong intuition says being a JS I makes this scarce and this color makes it rare or very scarce.

 

[mavuser]

nice score, NM. we have actually seen one other JS bass in that green before- and it had that same rare Hagstrom pickup configuration that your last JS-II had, believe it or not. however the green one was in somwhat rough shape (but all there), replacement bridge from what I recall, but this was several years ago. it was posted briefly on this forum from ebay or something. it was gone fast, i may have a photo of it on my old phone but that would be as good as nothing at all even if i did. Mello may remember it. anyway, yours looks a lot nicer

 

[fronobulax]

I have never seen this color on a JS bass.

nice score, NM. we have actually seen one other JS bass in that green before-

Thanks for ruining my day. I have to figure out whether I missed the other one or forgot it.

 

[mellowgerman]

nice score, NM. we have actually seen one other JS bass in that green before- and it had that same rare Hagstrom pickup configuration that your last JS-II had, believe it or not. however the green one was in somwhat rough shape (but all there), replacement bridge from what I recall, but this was several years ago. it was posted briefly on this forum from ebay or something. it was gone fast, i may have a photo of it on my old phone but that would be as good as nothing at all even if i did. Mello may remember it. anyway, yours looks a lot nicer

Weird! I can't remember that one, but if it was posted here (possibly by me even) I'm sure I saw it! Although, there were a few lulls in my LTG-surfing when I decided to run off and disconnect from internet for months at a time. Nowadays that's less likely to happen as I've decided to come back to more-or-less normal society and I now have a wife too to keep me grounded (in a good way), but it still makes me wonder what other Guild treasures and anomalies I may have missed...

 

[mavuser]

https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index.php?threads/cool-js-bisonic-bass-for-cheap.174726/

 

[mellowgerman]

Ah the mysteries of the past

 

[fronobulax]

Ah the mysteries of the past

 

[mavuser]

Thanks so much! Looks like the caps and resistor in mine are replacements, but the values match your schematic (for the neck pickup). I swapped strings and adjusted the pickup, and it's a bit closer to how I remember this model sounding, but still a bit on the bright side. Maybe it's just how they wound this particular pickup. With the switch pointing down it actually does a pretty good impression of a bridge pickup.

For what it's worth, the pickup doesn't have a jumper on the back - just the two leads.

hi Noah I could be wrong but based on the photos it appears your JS-1 may be maple as opposed to the typical mahogany. We have seen a handful of these. I would guess maple based on what I can see in the photos, including that bright green finish, which would be record setting green brightness if that bass is mahogany.

anyway, if it is maple as it looks to be, that is why it sounds "brighter" than a JS bass made from mahogany.

 

[nmiller]

Nope, I can see the grain up close and it's all mahogany.

 

[mavuser]

Nope, I can see the grain up close and it's all mahogany.

thats awesome that it is so green and still mahogany! maybe someone tried to cool off the Guild bucker a little? and took out some low end? the Humbucker definitely sounds a little brighter than a Bisonic, apples to apples

 

[lungimsam]

Whats it weigh and does it neck dive?

 

[nmiller]

A little over 7.5 lbs. I've never played one of these that suffered from neck dive.

 

[Happy Face]

I have two. Noticeably different weights. The heavier one has no head dive. The lighter one is head heavy. Must be made of different wood.

That said, I don't recall anyone else here complaing about a head heavy JS.

 

[fronobulax]

No neck dive issues with my JS.

 

[lungimsam]

Thanks!! Good to know as I hopefully one day will get one.

 

[nmiller]

hi Noah I could be wrong but based on the photos it appears your JS-1 may be maple as opposed to the typical mahogany. We have seen a handful of these. I would guess maple based on what I can see in the photos, including that bright green finish, which would be record setting green brightness if that bass is mahogany.

anyway, if it is maple as it looks to be, that is why it sounds "brighter" than a JS bass made from mahogany.

Nope, I can see the grain up close and it's all mahogany.

You know what... I think I was wrong. The finish is so dark that it obscures the grain a bit, but under bright light, it might just be maple. There's a subtle difference in color between the body and neck, and I think that's the explanation.

 

[Happy Face]

I've idly wondered if my lighter (and head-heavy) JS2 is maple while my other, better-balaned one is mahogany.

 

[lungimsam]

Pop the control cavity cover off or remove a pup and take a look.