Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
So, SA-134 the '66 turned out to be a '65, one of only 100 made that year, serial number starts at SA-101, and ends at the end of the year at SA-201. Oy of that 100, one wonders how many survived in original unbroken condition, half?
FedEx dropped it off yesterday, and my first impression was how incredibly small and light the box was.
Here comes the horror story part.
I'd emailed the seller along with payment, "please use lots of paper but no bubblewrap because it can react with finish, and please tape around case over latches, shrinkwrapping over the case latches so they can't pop open in transit.
So I open this really thin flimsy Squier box, and yegads, all the latches have popped open, the only thing that prevented total disaster is that the Squier box was so tight to the case, it couldn't open much, but enough to let the guitar flop around
So I open the other end, and slide the case out in a way that holds the guitar in and it becomes obvious seller followed none of my packing instructions.
This is kind of a pi$$er as I'm into this thing for almost $1200.
A few random pieces of bubble wrap not doing anything, and the guitar has been slamming up and down in the case, not broken. Man they built a tough guitar in those days, a Gibson would have snapped like a twig.
And then I see what happened. Both latches pop open real easy, especially the one at the headstock, it's been pried open before and the latch plate is distorted upwards. The other latch pops open easily also, and the center latch is loose, not much spring tension left. This is exactly why I always ask sellers to go over the latches with tape, over plastic bags on chipboard cases. Ghetto shrinkwrap.
Seller also omitted to take pictures of the bottom of the case, said there was "some white that would clean off" but looks like some one spilled paint over most of it, so what looked like a cherry case in the pics is truly awful and totally insecure even to walk the guitar into the house, to the car, to a gig, both latches pop open, truly a worst case scenario.
The guitar was a bit like the case, made to look great in the pics, but very heavily checked - up and down, not side to side - wild pick scratches on the wood, above the pickup, none on the pickguard as Murphy would have it, the pick scratches on the body look like a tweaker using a nail for a pick played it for 30 seconds and then gave up. Truly random pick marks, almost as if drawn on with a screwdriver. Something for the relic artists to consider when trying to mimic spastic but extreme pickwear.
The frets were virtually green from lack of use, showing signs of the ever present weekend warrior guitar tech "leveling" the frets that had nice flat tops with sanding marks, and wood damage at the edges, this is just so typical of too many guitars, bad fretwork, side to side gouges in the wood, and of course fret sprout from decades of dryness.
The only history the seller had to offer was "it's been under somebody's bed for a long time".
On the backside of the guitar, unmentioned and not properly pictured severe rash and reaction from the funky Ace leather strap seller was trying to sell separately. Haven't seen one this pronounced before. One very large rash clearly showing the outline of the strap, and as if owner hadn't learned his lesson the first time, the same imprint again lower down toward the bottom edge of that lovely relieved back. Nothing to polish out there, you'd go through the finish. I need to get lessons in guitar photography from this guy, he really made it look pristine, it's all in the lighting.
Neck joint and headstock as new, like I said, this guitar is tough as nails considering it beat around the case like it did, strung with .012-.52 mooring cables with wound G string at full tension, the Tremar looked like a ski jump.
Initially I thought the funky adjusting screw and the spiky thing that looks a lot like a speaker cab thread that impales itself into the wood was some more chicanery, but after looking over a few pics of old Tremars up close, my blood pressure went down a bit as I realized that was ok.
I wrote the seller, asking why he followed none of my shipping instructions and he said "I don't need you to lecture me on how to pack a guitar" and that "the guitar had been in transit too long and that it was FedEx's fault". There was nothing wrong outside the box actually, but plenty wrong inside the box.
I unstrung it, cleaned it, polished it best I could with the Meguiars Cleaner Wax. Worked over the fretboard and frets for nearly two hours, cleaning, polishing, sanding the wood damage out. Strung it with GHS Boomer 10's, tuned it. The Tremar assumed the correct position.
It didn't sound that great with those flattish frets tops - they need proper crowning - so I tuned it to open E and let it settle in for a while.
Finally I plugged it in, and it sounded pretty good, a little bit bassy, but warm. This is one of those guitars that probably really shines with a treble booster and I have a good one I can try, and old 2 knob Arc Effects Gamut pedal, a really good old school treble boost.
The pots feel like they've never been turned, and typical Stackpole quality, as quiet as a church mouse.
I really don't think the guitar was hardly ever played.
The guitar doubles the volume from 8 to 10, nothing linear here, but this is very convenient when you need to shut 'er down quick, wife trying to talk to you, etc. If you set the amp to have decent volume at 8, it could be a raging monster on 10, I like this.
The pickup pole screws look like they were adjusted at Guild and not touched since.
The knob and handle on the Tremar are as new.
The Tremar is a pleasant surprise. Easy to warble, drops fairly well, goes up, fairly stable returning to pitch.
After a half hour playing slide and homegrown licks in open E, I plugged my vintage Sunburst Strat in to compare, and while a lot sqawkier and treblier, it didn't sound as good as the S-50, thinner, quieter, lacking authority and sustain.
The gold standard here is the '64 Dano 1448 I just got, that has some truly magical slide tone, a big tone that belies its diminutive size, and the S-50 compared rather well, and with the addition of the Tremar, made the 1448 a bit redundant.
Next up, I strung my '65 Silvertone 1487- finally done buffing out the damage - that has a very innovative bridge design, but intonated for a wound G, and I have no such electric strings like that in the house, so on a hunch I opted for a set of Martin Retro Monels Custom Light MM11 .011-.52 from the acoustic string drawer, and what a pleasant surprise, gorgeous tone, fantastic open, great slide tone.
It was then I realized, I think I want heavier strings on the S-50, and as silly as it is to pitch a set of strings after 1/2 hour of playtime, I think I'm going to throw a set of the same gauge Monels on it too. I'm hankering for a wound G string suddenly, so not like me at all.
The S-50 is a looker, no doubt.
Great headstock, which is wavy, with stripes from side to side like flamed Maple, but it is an overlay. Why is it "figured" like that, is this normal for the overlay on these?
The tuners are really stiff, but ok. Old tuners just take you back in time.
Access to the high frets is great, but surprisingly, the best of of all on any guitar I have on the Silvertone 1487. This 1965 Teisco made guitar is full of surprises.
Pictures.
Pockmarks from jewelry or funky pick, random pic scratches are super long and in the craziest places, windmilling?
Imprint from strap in the back, the same imprint again closer to the edge of the body at a different angle. Consistent checking throughout, but not like a Gibson or Fender, running with the body, not across. Superthin finish, gorgeous burst.
Pickup pole screws as adjusted at Guild before it left the factory?
This shows the striations on the headstock, flamed overlay? ;]
Strap and hangtag
Hangtag details
FedEx dropped it off yesterday, and my first impression was how incredibly small and light the box was.
Here comes the horror story part.
I'd emailed the seller along with payment, "please use lots of paper but no bubblewrap because it can react with finish, and please tape around case over latches, shrinkwrapping over the case latches so they can't pop open in transit.
So I open this really thin flimsy Squier box, and yegads, all the latches have popped open, the only thing that prevented total disaster is that the Squier box was so tight to the case, it couldn't open much, but enough to let the guitar flop around
So I open the other end, and slide the case out in a way that holds the guitar in and it becomes obvious seller followed none of my packing instructions.
This is kind of a pi$$er as I'm into this thing for almost $1200.
A few random pieces of bubble wrap not doing anything, and the guitar has been slamming up and down in the case, not broken. Man they built a tough guitar in those days, a Gibson would have snapped like a twig.
And then I see what happened. Both latches pop open real easy, especially the one at the headstock, it's been pried open before and the latch plate is distorted upwards. The other latch pops open easily also, and the center latch is loose, not much spring tension left. This is exactly why I always ask sellers to go over the latches with tape, over plastic bags on chipboard cases. Ghetto shrinkwrap.
Seller also omitted to take pictures of the bottom of the case, said there was "some white that would clean off" but looks like some one spilled paint over most of it, so what looked like a cherry case in the pics is truly awful and totally insecure even to walk the guitar into the house, to the car, to a gig, both latches pop open, truly a worst case scenario.
The guitar was a bit like the case, made to look great in the pics, but very heavily checked - up and down, not side to side - wild pick scratches on the wood, above the pickup, none on the pickguard as Murphy would have it, the pick scratches on the body look like a tweaker using a nail for a pick played it for 30 seconds and then gave up. Truly random pick marks, almost as if drawn on with a screwdriver. Something for the relic artists to consider when trying to mimic spastic but extreme pickwear.
The frets were virtually green from lack of use, showing signs of the ever present weekend warrior guitar tech "leveling" the frets that had nice flat tops with sanding marks, and wood damage at the edges, this is just so typical of too many guitars, bad fretwork, side to side gouges in the wood, and of course fret sprout from decades of dryness.
The only history the seller had to offer was "it's been under somebody's bed for a long time".
On the backside of the guitar, unmentioned and not properly pictured severe rash and reaction from the funky Ace leather strap seller was trying to sell separately. Haven't seen one this pronounced before. One very large rash clearly showing the outline of the strap, and as if owner hadn't learned his lesson the first time, the same imprint again lower down toward the bottom edge of that lovely relieved back. Nothing to polish out there, you'd go through the finish. I need to get lessons in guitar photography from this guy, he really made it look pristine, it's all in the lighting.
Neck joint and headstock as new, like I said, this guitar is tough as nails considering it beat around the case like it did, strung with .012-.52 mooring cables with wound G string at full tension, the Tremar looked like a ski jump.
Initially I thought the funky adjusting screw and the spiky thing that looks a lot like a speaker cab thread that impales itself into the wood was some more chicanery, but after looking over a few pics of old Tremars up close, my blood pressure went down a bit as I realized that was ok.
I wrote the seller, asking why he followed none of my shipping instructions and he said "I don't need you to lecture me on how to pack a guitar" and that "the guitar had been in transit too long and that it was FedEx's fault". There was nothing wrong outside the box actually, but plenty wrong inside the box.
I unstrung it, cleaned it, polished it best I could with the Meguiars Cleaner Wax. Worked over the fretboard and frets for nearly two hours, cleaning, polishing, sanding the wood damage out. Strung it with GHS Boomer 10's, tuned it. The Tremar assumed the correct position.
It didn't sound that great with those flattish frets tops - they need proper crowning - so I tuned it to open E and let it settle in for a while.
Finally I plugged it in, and it sounded pretty good, a little bit bassy, but warm. This is one of those guitars that probably really shines with a treble booster and I have a good one I can try, and old 2 knob Arc Effects Gamut pedal, a really good old school treble boost.
The pots feel like they've never been turned, and typical Stackpole quality, as quiet as a church mouse.
I really don't think the guitar was hardly ever played.
The guitar doubles the volume from 8 to 10, nothing linear here, but this is very convenient when you need to shut 'er down quick, wife trying to talk to you, etc. If you set the amp to have decent volume at 8, it could be a raging monster on 10, I like this.
The pickup pole screws look like they were adjusted at Guild and not touched since.
The knob and handle on the Tremar are as new.
The Tremar is a pleasant surprise. Easy to warble, drops fairly well, goes up, fairly stable returning to pitch.
After a half hour playing slide and homegrown licks in open E, I plugged my vintage Sunburst Strat in to compare, and while a lot sqawkier and treblier, it didn't sound as good as the S-50, thinner, quieter, lacking authority and sustain.
The gold standard here is the '64 Dano 1448 I just got, that has some truly magical slide tone, a big tone that belies its diminutive size, and the S-50 compared rather well, and with the addition of the Tremar, made the 1448 a bit redundant.
Next up, I strung my '65 Silvertone 1487- finally done buffing out the damage - that has a very innovative bridge design, but intonated for a wound G, and I have no such electric strings like that in the house, so on a hunch I opted for a set of Martin Retro Monels Custom Light MM11 .011-.52 from the acoustic string drawer, and what a pleasant surprise, gorgeous tone, fantastic open, great slide tone.
It was then I realized, I think I want heavier strings on the S-50, and as silly as it is to pitch a set of strings after 1/2 hour of playtime, I think I'm going to throw a set of the same gauge Monels on it too. I'm hankering for a wound G string suddenly, so not like me at all.
The S-50 is a looker, no doubt.
Great headstock, which is wavy, with stripes from side to side like flamed Maple, but it is an overlay. Why is it "figured" like that, is this normal for the overlay on these?
The tuners are really stiff, but ok. Old tuners just take you back in time.
Access to the high frets is great, but surprisingly, the best of of all on any guitar I have on the Silvertone 1487. This 1965 Teisco made guitar is full of surprises.
Pictures.
Pockmarks from jewelry or funky pick, random pic scratches are super long and in the craziest places, windmilling?
Imprint from strap in the back, the same imprint again closer to the edge of the body at a different angle. Consistent checking throughout, but not like a Gibson or Fender, running with the body, not across. Superthin finish, gorgeous burst.
Pickup pole screws as adjusted at Guild before it left the factory?
This shows the striations on the headstock, flamed overlay? ;]
Strap and hangtag
Hangtag details
Last edited:
