Looking for some info on a 1974 S-100

[SFIV1967]

Just to add fuel to the fire... It appears that the guitar is in fact a neck-through.

Now that is amazing! Well, Hans is probably laughing about us as he might know all of that but I have never seen such through neck S-100! I'd consider it rare! Maybe Guild run out of fresh bodies and they had to ship one in 1974 and used an old "prototype body" or a customer indeed ordered one with mini-humbuckers (both ideas should negative, as the label would have shown "spec" on it) or it was an "employee model which an employee finished (the label together with the pot codes and the factory done wiring however would speak against that theory). In any case that "prototype body" theory might explain the missing stamp in the headstock, unless it was sanded away when the cherry finish was removed. But I see no signs of any previous cherry finish in the pickup- or control cavity either! Which could speak for the use of a lid with a label that did not even belong to thet guitar! So again more "employee model"...But an employee would have made a better fretboard...The strap button again is original Guild.
On the other hand I have such a "rare" factory assembled S-300 (assembled years after the body and neck were made) with bolt on maple neck that also shows no "spec" on the label...

So still looking for Hans and his wisdom here...

Ralf

 

[GAD]

is it possible this just isn’t a real Guild body/neck?

 

[fronobulax]

is it possible this just isn’t a real Guild body/neck?

Yes. But I'm wavering towards a factory experiment circa 1970 that was turned into a guitar circa 1974,

Guild wants to experiment with a neck through, three piece construction. They build it and rout it for mini's because if the experiment works that is what the tooling will have to deal with. Perhaps there is a concern for tolerances and dimensions - a PU rout that spans three pieces of wood or gets close to the edges on the middle piece might have stability issue. Experiment stops for whatever reason. It is rediscovered circa 1974 and the control cavity and the HB-1 routing are done. Wiring added.

Moving into the realm of pure speculation - the work was an employee build using factory parts and equipment but never intended for retail sale. Employee couldn't get a fingerboard legitimately and so added what they could get, maple and probably not from Guild. No headstock serial number because it was an experiment. Label serial could have been borrowed and somewhere there is another Guild with the same number or acquired from a neck that was stamped but destroyed before production.

 

[GAD]

Yes. But I'm wavering towards a factory experiment circa 1970 that was turned into a guitar circa 1974,

Guild wants to experiment with a neck through, three piece construction. They build it and rout it for mini's because if the experiment works that is what the tooling will have to deal with. Perhaps there is a concern for tolerances and dimensions - a PU rout that spans three pieces of wood or gets close to the edges on the middle piece might have stability issue. Experiment stops for whatever reason. It is rediscovered circa 1974 and the control cavity and the HB-1 routing are done. Wiring added.

Moving into the realm of pure speculation - the work was an employee build using factory parts and equipment but never intended for retail sale. Employee couldn't get a fingerboard legitimately and so added what they could get, maple and probably not from Guild. No headstock serial number because it was an experiment. Label serial could have been borrowed and somewhere there is another Guild with the same number or acquired from a neck that was stamped but destroyed before production.

You sure do build some elaborate scenarios!

 

[SFIV1967]

is it possible this just isn’t a real Guild body/neck?

I thought about the same but dismissed that idea as that body and headstock has features that are clearly factory done things (at least that's what I believe).

It is rediscovered circa 1974 and the control cavity and the HB-1 routing are done.

This body does NOT have HB-1 routings !

Ralf

 

[DylanK]

Interesting theories guys. I know enough about the actual building process of a guitar like this to just about eliminate the idea of someone creating a copy of an S100. The fretboard may very well have been replaced but everything else looks age accurate and unaltered from a construction standpoint. The finish is questionable and of course I don't know if the routings were modified but it seems like a LOT of effort to go through to recreate a copy of the guitar. You're talking building a copy of the body with a through neck design, overlaying an original Guild headstock veneer with the logo inlay, copying at least the rear cavity routing and acquiring a genuine wiring harness and backplate with serial sticker just to say you own an S100. I clearly know less about these specific models than any of you do but it really is a fascinating instrument at the very least

 

[SFIV1967]

I don't know if the routings were modified

They look all factory done to me.
Ralf

 

[DylanK]

It really is quite baffling. I'm hesitant to begin a restoration project until I have more info. Luckily I'm not in any major rush but genuinely appreciate all your input. I'll hold out a bit longer if anyone wants to chip in. Also if there's any other info you require from my side, don't hesitate to ask

 

[fronobulax]

This body does NOT have HB-1 routings !

That was the 1970 catalog where you can see the mini-humbuckers in it. On the right is the 1971 picture with HB-1s:

Ralf

I got confused. My understanding was that the hypothesis was that it had been routed for mini's and then subsequently rerouted for HB-1. Perhaps the hypothesis was that it had been routed for minis and then rerouted for something else. Or perhaps the hypothesis is that it was only routed once but we don't know for what?

 

[SFIV1967]

I got confused. My understanding was that the hypothesis was that it had been routed for mini's and then subsequently rerouted for HB-1. Perhaps the hypothesis was that it had been routed for minis and then rerouted for something else. Or perhaps the hypothesis is that it was only routed once but we don't know for what?

Well, HB-1 were never in the picture, already in post #6 I said that HB-1 would not fit, also read post #14 again. I'm not sure about the routing. I see no "re-routing". The left and right side height adjustment screw space is a mini humbucker space. That's another reason I showed why HB-1 would never ever fit. So I just checked my '67 Starfire IV and the routing is only 36.5 mm wide, whereas the OPs guitar is 38.4 mm wide which is definitely too small for HB-1 but a tiny bit wider for mini humbuckers, who knows. We will not solve that riddle without Hans.

Ralf

 

[GAD]

I think HB1s may have been assumed because of 1974 in the thread title.