NGD Long awaited S100, surprises, drama, realizations, pics, flaming tiger hog

GuildedCage

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People were really blown away by the Beano album, that guitar through the Bluesbreaker Combo, the sheer ferocity of it.

It would be interesting to redo it with an S-100 through same amp, but the Les Paul hits very hard. A Strat can do alll kinds of warbly things and eventually virtually everyone went to them, but a Les Paul can put so much power in your notes, there's hardly another guitar like it, in its day.

I think Santana played the typical Townshend SG of the time at Woodstock, an SG Special with P90's, again an archetypal tone, Leslie West, others. Then he went to the Les Paul, then Yamaha SG2000 (Eat that Gibson ;]), then prototype PRS that he didn't believe PRS could possibly build, it had to be God ;]

Jimi revived flagging Stratocaster sales like no other. As far as his guitar guitars go, the least hyped, and the one I like the most, the Acoustic Black Widow.

That meme is a prefect representation of the guitar world. There's two guitars. Les Pauls, and Strats.

I wouldn't want either one of those guitars.
I must admit that I like Strats and tele's. The sparkling cleans of a strat and the ergonomics are great. A tele is so simple and versatile, and the neck pickup is a sound I can't get sick of. When I started playing all my friends had strats and I was loyal to my S-70! Gibsons don't appeal to me though. They are iconic and LP's are beautiful, thick and powerful sounding, but I never felt the need to get one, certainly not after getting my first S-300.
 
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Guildedagain

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My Strat can totally destroy the S-100 sonically, and has some of the craziest tones but with with the S-100, you can actually concentrate on playing the guitar rather than trying to sound like an airplane or whatever a Strat can degenerate into with the help of stacked overdrives and delays.

It's only a year apart from the S-100, a '74 Olympic White Maple neck, just like Jimi's Woodstock guitar. It's got overwound pickups in it from some mystery pickup winder from the past, literally found the set in an old cigar box. The p'ups in the Strat by the time I got it were black EMG's, tuners Schaller, typical mods of the time I de-modded put back to original, or retrofitted with earlier parts, such as tossing the 70's Zamac bridge for a 60's version with stamped steel saddles and a cold rolled steel trem block. I then shaved the poly off the fingerboard with single edged razor blades, the most awful stuff... probably 1mm thick at the frets. No wonder Blackmore and others had to scallop their fingerboards to get these 70's Strats to play.

You don't see a lot of heavily lacquered Maple necks on vintage Guilds. To me, the neck is the guitar. The body, pickups, none of it matters that much, it's the fingerboard where it's either happening, or it's not.
 
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F312

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Note not to mention any problem with guitars with sellers anymore.

The mere mention of the fret issues and the used strings off another guitar (actually visible in his listing if you look closely enough at the faraway pics) sent the seller into a tailspin, insisted I had to return it, started threatening about some State Patrol buddy picking it up for him, I had to tell him next email was going straight to eBay security dept.

"Because I didn't like it" that's why he was insisting I absolutely had to return it, and also because a guy at Long & McQuade wanted to buy it...

I swear I never a see a seller go bezerk like this.

Insisted to the end the strings were new, he even had the receipt, and about the guy who looked at it, yada yada.

In the end I realized it was a rescue operation getting the guitar from him. I still can't believe the mailman didn't even want a a sig, he must have had no insurance on it. In a small box in a chipboard case with the headstock laying fully on the case bottom, it's a miracle it's here in one piece.

The Mahogany slab body is most intriguing on this one, very tiger striped, unusual.

100% original minus two back cover screws I was able to very closely match from my parts stash.

I haven't pulled the back cover off actually.

My experience with all the carriers, on signing for deliveries is, no one is asking. This includes adult signature required and insured requiring a signature. Anyone else noticing this?

Ralph
 

GAD

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My experience with all the carriers, on signing for deliveries is, no one is asking. This includes adult signature required and insured requiring a signature. Anyone else noticing this?

Ralph

Definately. I was actually shocked when my USPS guy knocked on the door the other day and had me actually sign for something. Usually they just acknowledge that I’m there. I’m pretty sure no contact has been the rule for all of them for the better part of a year now.
 

fronobulax

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My experience with all the carriers, on signing for deliveries is, no one is asking. This includes adult signature required and insured requiring a signature. Anyone else noticing this?

Ralph

Yes. It has been reported so often that I was going to let someone else point it is not unusual. Neighbors here pay attention and often a driver will drop off a package and the neighbor who saw it will text the neighbor to let them know it is there.

I have seen packages that contained alcohol get delivered without signature which is a violation of state or federal law. But social distancing makes a good excuse.
 

Guildedagain

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Just to prove how much better than Gibson a Guild was in 1973, truly dark days for the SG, this Mahogany exhibits flame. It's a flamer. A little bit hard to see until you get some good light and then Pop! It's like Tiger Mahogany, aka Tiger Hog ;]

P1500409.JPG


Also looked at the innards, and my... how virginal. I'm pretty sure the average Gibson SG this old got violated who knows how many times by know.

And why is that?

Because Gibsons suck and I never knew better.

Think about it, Seymour Duncan is a millionaire because people endlessly needed better Gibson pickups.

Did he have to do this for Guild?

No. I've never seen aftermarket Duncans that were meant to put HB1's to shame. The market has never existed, only in making them for Fender/Guild for a while.

P1500410.JPG


10th week 1973 Stackpole pots. These are like 1000% better than some of the junk Gibson tried to pass of as pots in the 70's. Stackpole is what Leo used Pre-CBS, good stuff. 10th week 1973 pot date codes, falling right in line with the mid year serial number.

P1500412.JPG


Btw, the AWG is pretty heavy for a guitar. Confucius say "substantial wiring contribute to big tone".
A superb cover/decal. Gibson didn't shield anything, and you could tell.

P1500424.JPG


More Tiger Hog porn ;] Quite possibly the HB-1 pole screws are adjusted by Guild back in '73. The pole screws are perfect, virtually identical, like wow, you never ever turn these.

P1500418.JPG


P1500421.JPG
 
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GuildedCage

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Yeah, that's really scary. A guitar this clean and pretty is usually a turd.

But not this one ;]

Tiger Hog @ Nite

It's not just figured, it's full figured ;]]

P1500438.JPG
I like big Bouts and I can not lie!:p Gorgeous figuring on that vintage hog! I love the transparent cherry finish. Perfect mix of color and the natural beauty of the wood. Somebody call Gibson to log in here and see how IT SHOULD BE DONE! If they don't allow vintage cherry red Guilds in heaven, I will be playing mine in hell right next to the flaming pit of sulfur.😈
 

Guildedagain

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Really is photogenic.

Pretty happy just looking at it, playing it doesn't seem that important.

P1500442.JPG


You're right, the shading is really great. This puts all of my SG's to shame. Gibson's Custom Shop couldn't even pull this off.

At some point I'm going to have to drag my '73 SF2 out, but then it might become obvious I have two red Guilds. I don't talk about my new guitars anymore, what's the point. If they get noticed they get noticed if they don't they don't and this one has but it looks just like an SG, especially if you turn it around quickly, in a "protective" move, wink wink ;]]]
 
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Guildedagain

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If it's a keeper, In time, I'll show it off. All I gotta say is I sold my SG for twice as much and I end up looking like a genius in the bargain.

Your greatest fear really should be your guitars getting sold for what you said you paid for them ;]]
 

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Yes. It has been reported so often that I was going to let someone else point it is not unusual. Neighbors here pay attention and often a driver will drop off a package and the neighbor who saw it will text the neighbor to let them know it is there.

I have seen packages that contained alcohol get delivered without signature which is a violation of state or federal law. But social distancing makes a good excuse.
The industry instructions, whether it's UPS, FedEx, or us, is not to let the customer handle the scanner, due to the possibility of contaminating the surface with covid-19.
 

DrumBob

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I'm glad it worked out for you. I've had some ridiculous packing experiences. I once bought a Danelectro from some kid in California and he told me he'd pack it well. A week later, the UPS guy rang the bell and handed me the guitar...in it's gig bag with a label stuck on it. He didn't even put it in a box, although he did stuff the gig bag full of newspaper. I stood there with my mouth open in disbelief that someone would be so stupid as to ship a guitar without a box. I immediately unzipped the bag, and miraculously, the guitar arrived undamaged.

Lately, I have been wrapping the guitars themselves in bubble wrap, with extra around the headstock. I just sold the Epiphone Coronet I bought on a whim and wrapped it thoroughly in bubble wrap first, then put it in a triangular Asian box, then put that in a rectangular guitar box with a lot of bubble wrap and paper packing material. The buyer mentioned the good packing in his feedback.

I'm doing this since FedEx damaged three guitars on me not long ago. I'm not using FedEx to ship guitars anymore, obviously.
 

gjmalcyon

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I remember things that didn't happen but I thought there was a thread floating around that showed finish damage caused by bubble wrap reacting with the finish.

From this thread:



1614610547040.png
 

HeyMikey

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My experience with all the carriers, on signing for deliveries is, no one is asking. This includes adult signature required and insured requiring a signature. Anyone else noticing this?

Ralph

Yep. All carriers. I complained to FedEx on an expensive jewelry delivery for my wife that was left outside a door we don’t use. They said I had signed for it. I had not. The driver forged my signature. At least I got it though.
 

bluesypicky

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People were really blown away by the Beano album, that guitar through the Bluesbreaker Combo, the sheer ferocity of it.
Beano was my absolute favorite record for a long time, back when I was beginning to figure out the electric guitar thingie.
To this day, and in my opinion, it remains Clapton's best work on an electric guitar.
Nice S100 Guildagain! Congrats.
And yes, necks can be surprisingly different from one year to the next, as was the case with my 73 and my carved 74 (the 74 being "meatier")
 

Guildedagain

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Have you heard, of course, being the big track, but the whole album is a gem.

I should listen to it all over again, but yes, this was my blueprint for playing electric guitar.

It comes through in your playing. I should have gone even deeper into the album.
 

Rambozo96

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It's funny you say very Jimmy Page. I tried to play Heartbreaker and it wouldn't do it ;] Of course I haven't played the song in 20 years but it's definitely the S-100 to blame, it was a refusal.

I had SG's for decades, sold mine for twice what I paid for this, so that's interesting... and I'm looking at it, and it's a lot sexier than an SG, more softer contours, bigger contours, Gibson doesn't believe in a contour in the back, you get a bevel and that's it, but a hard bevel. Edges are pretty square. This is really a cuddly guitar.

The hardware in the SG isn't as good by a mile. This bridge is like lunar module compared to the Tune-O-Matic, and this tailpiece is solid brass, don't know if y'all knew that, to Gibson's pot metal tailpiece. This is good stuff.

The Gibson electronics don't compare.

These pickups are more imposing, fuller looking, more shapely, more adjustment screws, and then there's the switch.

Make the switch ;]

It's that Phase switch, secret weapon.

It's what makes the Guild such a sonic weapon.

Thew neck pickup sound huge and could be muddy with dirt, the bridge pickup really sizzles, kinda like a drunk slurring, it covers up all your shitty playing really nice ;]

But the middle position is where the Guild shines.

When you "go down" on the phase switch, it gets all funky and rubbery with both volumes on 10, but... if you roll back the neck p'up a little, the EQ changes dramatically and you get a bridge pickup tone on steroids, great tone, and face it, a guitar really only needs to have one great tone, or at least one.

I never felt my SG had that, one amazing tone.

So then you switch between the overdriven goodness of the bridge p'up full on and the middle position with varying degrees of out of phase twang, two really great positions.

It's also a really good rhythm guitar. Chords sound clear and are easy to play.

Maybe it's the big markers but I seem to make fewer mistakes playing it, chord progressions become more obvious.

It's much thicker at the body joint than an SG. It's not "like an SG", it's more than an SG, in many ways.

I so wish I'd seen one of these in person 30 years ago.

Also found out that '73 may be the pinnacle year for these, or at the very least the pinnacle of models that embody the characteristics of this one. The early 70's were a big period of change with this guitar line.

Thx to Hans, this info;

1971: new style humbuckers new Adjustomatic bridge and stop tailpiece. Whoa, a whole lotta new parts!

1972: phase switch standard. S100 Deluxe listed, with Bigsby vibrato and Grover Rotomatics. More!

1974: S-100 carved listed.

1975: stop tailpiece moved closer to the bridge.

1976: S-100 Deluxe discontinued.

The book ends in 1977, with the S-100 remaining in the line.

Han's wonderful price guide puts the price at $350 early or $375 late 1973. This having a 82xxx serial number puts it right in the middle of the year, plus around $20 for the 15-S Economy plush lined case, $370 in 1973 = $2268 in 2021.

These are still seriously undervalued guitars.

I always wondered why the S-100 was discontinued in the 80’s.
 
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