NGD...'67 S-50

[spoox]

So I felt sorry for this one. I'd been watching the other '67 drop from $1600 to $1400 then back to the first price then finally disappear. After asking a lot of questions I offered $600 and the seller countered with $615 so I bought it. I have an extra NOS Tremar I got years ago for my Polara, and a box set of NOS Schaller tuners from the late
'60s I'd been saving for a project. So I guess I'll try for a Hagstrom bridge from the place in Sweden, and start looking for a pair of knobs. The abraded part on the upper horn
doesn't appear to have been sanded, but rather caused by Freddy Kruger doing Townshend windmills. The finish on the back of the neck is quite nice, and the case appears
to be a Canadian TKL...and...the guitar plays and sounds bitchin'! I'll probably attempt to touch up the finish rather than do a complete refinish (something I'm used to doing
on antique furniture lo these many years) but if I'm not satisfied I can always paint a psycho black cat similar to the one on that recently discussed D40. I preferred the condition of that other '67 Jetstar of course, and there's a really nice mahogany '66 on Reverb, but this one actually matches my '63 Polara and the alder body weighs
nothing. I particularly wanted a '67 and this poor thing needed a home. Now to find a Ping collector!

 

[GGJaguar]

Cool, congrats! Those flame maple headstocks are really unique and add a certain je ne sais quoi to the S-50 and S-100 models with them. Looking forward to the results of such a worthy restoration project!

 

[Horuss]

That's awesome!

 

[Westerly Wood]

I love the look of this Guild electric. Is the headstock original? I mean I suppose it has to be, but that coloring is really interesting to me...

 

[BradHK]

Congratulations and I am glad somebody here bought it and will spend the time addressing the items you mentioned. I was so close to putting in an offer on that guitar but I very recently added two Guilds to my collection and I didn’t want to push my luck too far with my spouse! Have fun and glad it plays and sounds great

 

[walrus]

Love that headstock! Congratulations!

walrus

 

[jp]

Man, that's a rocker! Nice!

 

[Bonneville88]

That is sweet! I like the wear & tear, looks like it should on
a guitar that was played!

 

[secndshft]

I agree with @Bonneville88. That thing is screaming to be picked up. I love it.

 

[spoox]

It seems of course similar to my earlier Polara, but has a very different vibe--it must be the harmonica bridge and Gibson knobs--no wait-the Pings!
Maybe I should just retrofit the '63 similarly instead of restoring the Jetstar. Kidding aside, I don't think this weighs any more than my short scale
Supro "Super Seven" which has a similarly placed single PU. I think my lead guitarist is going to really like this, whenever we can ever get
together again. The seller said that it had been used in a punk band which was the reason for the deep scratches and wear. I think tomorrow
when I get the chance I'll try playing "NEAT NEAT NEAT" or "NEW ROSE"--damned if I don't...

 

[Guildedagain]

I remember that guitar from a while back.

Getting the Harmonica bridge off there will do wonders for looks, but touchups turn me off, I've never bought a touched up guitar, or one that was intentionally defaced, artificially relic-ed and while maybe this one wasn't it had me wondering if the player wasn't overzealous adding wear for the cool factor.

That being said, resist the urge to touchup, it's only original once and any and all touchups/refins typically devaluate vintage electric guitars.

There's a billion dollar industry catering to people who crave wear on guitars the way they do holy jeans.

The knobs look fine unless new replacements? Edit; Gibson SG knobs? They look fine actually, very similar to Guild, impossible to tell they're Gibson knobs in the pic, meaning from on stage or even a short distance, they look the same.

By Ping you mean the tuners?

Again, if they work I'd leave them. Better looking buttons that Schallers, a lot more unusual, and also adding one more set of tuner screw holes would not be a move I'd make.

In my experience headstock paddles riddled with tuner holes - original holes + holes for two other different sets of tuners - can start cracking, especially if holes aren't sealed properly. IMO weird headstock issues cause tuning instability, the need to constantly retune.

Sometimes laziness is good, not doing anything is also cheaper ;]

But that bridge...

 

[spoox]

So I was looking for the right bridge posts to replace the ones for the harmonica bridge, and noticed there are a couple of variations in the bridges and their respective posts. On my Polara, the posts were quite different, as they went through the pickguard and the screw ends go completely through the bridge. Then I started looking at other Polaras and saw that the '63 pickguards cover more territory below the bridge pickup--the later models have the bridge sitting on wood rather than the pickguard. More trivial knowledge--the thing that makes life worth living!
Neither mine--hard to see on the '63, but the post screws aren't covered up by that bridge as on the '64. Now I'll have to look and see if
any Hagstroms have bridges like the '63.

 

[Guildedagain]

Seems like a good place to post this, my '65 Jet Star, featherweight Alder body, everything about this guitar is killer, the burst, the aged finish, the weight, the neck, the headstock shape, even the tuners are fantastic, Tremar is just icing on the cake.

 

[SFIV1967]

Is the headstock original? I mean I suppose it has to be, but that coloring is really interesting to me...

Yes, this S-50 flame maple headstock version was original from Guild.



Also this S-50 headstock:



And this Polara headstock:





Ralf

 

[mavuser]

And this Jetstar headstock:





Ralf

u must mean Polara (not Jetstar)

 

[SFIV1967]

u must mean Polara (not Jetstar)

Sure. Corrected. Thanks!

Ralf

 

[Guildedagain]

'64 Polara 500

 

[chazmo]

spoox, very nice!!!!

 

[Opsimath]

'64 Polara 500

Old cars have such nice lines and nice chrome. In my opinion new cars are mostly uninteresting.

 

[spoox]

So I've found the correct Guild knobs, have ordered the correct bridge assembly from Sweden, and here's the best part:
I managed to find one of the original owners and he's sending me the pick he used to use to play this thing!