Question re: Guild Humbuckers

[guildzilla]

What year - I presume in the mid-90's - did Guild stop using its HB-1 humbuckers and begin using the SD-1 humbuckers manufactured by Seymour Duncan?

After this transition date, did certain models continue to be fitted with leftover HB-1's or was it an immediate transition?

Does anyone have an opinion concerning differences in the characteristics of the HB-1's compared to SD-1's? I can't tell them apart at all, but I've never had an ideal A/B comparison opportunity.

 

[danerectal]

What year - I presume in the mid-90's - did Guild stop using its HB-1 humbuckers and begin using the SD-1 humbuckers manufactured by Seymour Duncan?

After this transition date, did certain models continue to be fitted with leftover HB-1's or was it an immediate transition?

Does anyone have an opinion concerning differences in the characteristics of the HB-1's compared to SD-1's? I can't tell them apart at all, but I've never had an ideal A/B comparison opportunity.

The HB-1s, as well as the later Fender version whose name I always forget, have a much brighter sound than the SD-1 '59s. In my opinion Seymours by and large have a duller tone. I haven't played all of the models, but I definitely prefer the HB-1s in all of their iterations. I noticed a vast improvement when Dreamlander and I replaced his '59s with the Fender issued Guild humbuckers on his S-100. Greater definition and bite.

If I'm not mistaken the Starfires and the like continued to receive standard treatment instead of the Duncans until the end of the road. I've never seen one with Duncans, and I've seen some of the latest Starfires produced (both a III and IV); while Dreamlander's S-100 is from around '98.

 

[Chris Metcalfe]

AS I understand it, HB-1s are unusual pickups, in that they don't have the midrange ''bump'' ( or tendency to emphasise midrange frequencies) that most other gibson-based designs do, including the seymour duncans. They tend to be wound a little less hot than other humbuckers, and come about about 6.9 or 7k dc resistance , as opposed to a gibson or SD at about 7.5k upwards. They also sample more of the vibrating string, being very slightly bigger. I have opened up an HB-1, and they are very similar in construction to other humbuckers, except that the non-adjustable poles are insulated from the metal case. I suspect, without being able to measure it, that the magnets are weaker than other humbuckers, which would make for a cleaner tone.
The guild HB-1s were used by Jimmy D'Aquisto, the dean of jazz guitar makers, for his hollow body electric guitars in preference to gibson or other pickups. He believed that the HB-1 was much clearer and more accurate that a gibson-style pickup on a jazz guitar. More recently, newer high-end jazz guitars like the sadowsky Jim Hall model and others have had pickups specially made by dimarzio which copy the specifications of the old guild HB-1. I personally am convinced that HB-1s are the cleanest sounding humbucking pickups available, although they don't sound as 'warm' as gibson pickups until you turn down the tone control to about '3'.
Hans has much more info about these pickups.
Chris