NGD Blues 90

DThomasC

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To put it plainly, Bluesbird production was in Westerly RI up until mid 2001. There, all of the 'regular' Bluesbirds came with humbucker pickups, block inlays, and neck binding. The Blues90 was essentially a Bluesbird, but with P90 pickups, dot inlays, and no neck binding. Oh yeah, and a huge neck. Rumor is that it was the same neck that originally came on the Songbird, which was another instrument with the same profile as the Bluesbird, but a very different top, bridge, and electronics meant to emulate and acoustic guitar. I don't recall ever seeing real verification that the Blues90 neck was in fact the same as the one on the Songbird.

In 2001 production was moved to Corona CA. Reportedly, some kits of parts were sent from Westerly to Corona (i.e. partially completed instruments.) It's possible that one or more Blues90s were completed in Corona as kits, but officially no Blue90s were made in Corona. Instead, they offered the Bluesbird P90, which was exactly like the humbucker equipped Bluesbirds - block inlays and neck binding - except they had P90 pickups. Oh yeah, and a huge neck.

As GAD says in his blog, there were also Bluesbirds labeled "custom shop" that came out of Corona, but as far as I know, they all had block inlays and neck binding no matter what kind of pickups they were sporting. So, at least technically and probably literally, all Blues90s were made in Westerly.
 
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Yup nice wide neck here too. I come from a classical background and I'm feeling the relatively flat board too.

I was under the impression that guild was owned by fender at this point, but production still took place in westerly. All the guitars at the store are westerleys apparently. They told me they had fenders once too and a bunch of the modern Newark stuff out front. Buddy the westerleys in his office.
 

DThomasC

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I was under the impression that guild was owned by fender at this point, but production still took place in westerly.

FMI (aka Fender) bought Guild in 1995 and sold it to CMG (aka Cordoba) in 2017. While under Fender ownership many very high quality instruments came out of at least 4 different factories in the US with the Guild name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_Guitar_Company
 

beinhard

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Regular production Blues 90 may have been all Westerly, but at least two Blues 90 prototypes were made in Corona by Chris Fleming. I don't think they were made from Westerly parts, a theory is that they were an experiment before deciding to start production in Corona.
 

GAD

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Blues 90 is unbound with dots.

Bluesbird 90 is bound with blocks.
 

The Guilds of Grot

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I have two Songbirds. They do not have beefy necks!

Oh what the heck!

Songbird.jpg

SB-NT.jpg

And by "beefy" we are refering to overall fullness not just width correct?
 

Bonneville88

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Exactly - what the heck!
Always a good time for photos!
I have an S4CE (Songbird with HR finish) I don't recall either of the guitars pictured
below having a neck that felt all that similar to what it has.



YWJQp5mh.jpg
 
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walrus

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I've had a Bluesbird and a Bluesbird P90. Both chunky necks, which I personally love!

My theory is that Guild was trying to emulate an old Les Paul neck. I have absolutely no have evidence to back this up except the similarity in the heft of the neck. It could also be a total coincidence!
 

walrus

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That Cherry Sunburst Bluesbird looks alot like the one I had. Guild really matched and finished the flame maple tops so beautifully!

walrus
 

mushroom

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Hi everybody. This thread has prompted me to join and share my Blues90.
As most people have said it has a wide neck at about 43mm at the nut roughly measured with a ruler.
Serial is CL001989.

Blues90.png
 

matsickma

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I also would like to know more about the store with NOS USA Guilds!

I had two Blues 90 ...sold them and then snagged a Bluesbird 90. It sure seemed like the Corona Bluesbird 90 was the chunkiest neck of the group. Unfortunately I sold the Blues90's before I got the Bluesbird 90. So I can't be precise. And I must say the neck on the either model was atypical Guild but was very comfortable to play and an easier neck to play for an extended period compared to a Aviator or other solid body models from the 80's.
M
 
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