GGJaguar
Reverential Member
My FMIC-era S-100 is a fantastic guitar and was a great choice for my first Guild solidbody. It also made me wonder about other solidbody models. After careful consideration, I decided I have enough Guilds fitted with humbuckers which led me to this 1964 S-50 Jet Star with its Guild single coil pickup.
I know a lot of players don’t care for single pickup guitars, especially those where the pickup is mid-mounted in the body. For me this position is fine because I pretty much live on the middle pickup when playing rhythm guitar with 3-pickup models (e.g. Strat). The big plus with the Jet Star is the pickup. I love it! It’s sort of like a “P-90 light”. It’s bright and chimey, but dig in and its starts to growl. I prefer this pickup to Franz pickups.
The guitar plays well and the neck feels similar to those of ‘70s Guild solidbody guitars I’ve played, i.e. – 1 5/8” nut and shallow “D” profile. It’s not bad if you’re used to Fenders (or G&Ls). The body and headstock shapes are unique, although the rear contour on the treble side of the body serves no purpose other than to allow the guitar to slip off one’s knee while playing in a seated position. Using a guitar strap helps in this regard. The box bridge with flip cover is also unique (read: odd), but it works fine and I installed a wound .017 so that it intonates correctly. The Waverly 3-on-a-strip tuners are a bit finicky which is probably the "worst" thing about this S-50, but all in all, I’m pleased with this fun and unique guitar.
I know a lot of players don’t care for single pickup guitars, especially those where the pickup is mid-mounted in the body. For me this position is fine because I pretty much live on the middle pickup when playing rhythm guitar with 3-pickup models (e.g. Strat). The big plus with the Jet Star is the pickup. I love it! It’s sort of like a “P-90 light”. It’s bright and chimey, but dig in and its starts to growl. I prefer this pickup to Franz pickups.
The guitar plays well and the neck feels similar to those of ‘70s Guild solidbody guitars I’ve played, i.e. – 1 5/8” nut and shallow “D” profile. It’s not bad if you’re used to Fenders (or G&Ls). The body and headstock shapes are unique, although the rear contour on the treble side of the body serves no purpose other than to allow the guitar to slip off one’s knee while playing in a seated position. Using a guitar strap helps in this regard. The box bridge with flip cover is also unique (read: odd), but it works fine and I installed a wound .017 so that it intonates correctly. The Waverly 3-on-a-strip tuners are a bit finicky which is probably the "worst" thing about this S-50, but all in all, I’m pleased with this fun and unique guitar.
