parker_knoll
Senior Member
I recently acquired a 2000 M70. Photos here: http://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index.php?threads/ngd.204174/#post-1902855
As the first one I had ever seen, I jumped on it, putting myself in some financial discomfort in the process, just to have a chance to try it. It had a couple of finish issues I wasn't expecting due to a not very upfront seller, plus the fact it was small and solid (chambered) where all my other guitars are large, hollow and have f holes, led to me not spending much time with it and I thought I would probably move it on once I got round to photographing it.
HOWEVER, I've had a couple of days off and got properly stuck in to playing it and I have to say I am, for the moment, enamoured with it. Here's a set of impressions because there is so little info out there on this model. I say "impressions" because I lack the equipment to give you accurate measurement on fingerboard radius, pickup induction etc. Moreover, my photographic equipment is currently poor and I haven't prepared this as a proper review like the estimable GAD does. I will update this thread with photos when I do the next string change.
It's very hard to get any info on this model. It hardly features in this forum, for example, except in a few "for sale" posts and only features in the Guild catalogue for half of 1999 and 2000, then it's gone. Here's the relevant page from GAD's site in the catalogue for the second half of 1999: https://www.gad.net/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Guild-1999-Jul-Gallery-Catalog-pg24_1600.jpeg
So here goes with impressions...
PLAYABILITY
First up, it's very easy to play with the high quality build and setup you'd expect from a hand assembled instrument. The fingerboard radius seems a little sharper than my 2001 SFIII-90 and the nut is a shade narrower (that Starfire has a very wide nut), at around 43.5mm but very comfortable. I found monster bends high up on the fretboard to be a breeze.
I'm not sure the presence or absence of fingerboard binding makes any difference, but it somehow adds to the perception that this is a stripped down speed machine and encourages me to play like that, which I like. It's pretty light (heavier than my Starfire, about the same as my X160) and the size is very manageable. Personally I'm not used to playing a solid body style neck setup with the strings close in to the body and not lifted high above by an archtop bridge, but after an hour or so playing I found it increasingly comfortable.
BUILD AND HARDWARE
The frets are medium - not fat, not skinny. The fret job is faultless as you'd expect on a custom shop guitar, and the nut is a thing of boney beauty, highly polished and with about the tidiest slots I've ever seen.
Personally I'm not a fan of the Grover Mini machineheads - I think they look a bit silly and I'm not a huge fan of Grovers in general - and aesthetically I would have preferred a set of Sta-Tite or similar, but I can't fault the performance and the guitar stays in tune very well. I can usually pull it out of the case and start playing with hardly any tuning required.
It's wired like a Tele with one volume and one tone. This means you get the same resistance load from the pots in all positions. The pots test out at 500k. The tone cap is .22k resin.
The current tailpiece arrangement is the same as on an S100 or other Guild solid bodies: Nashville style Tune-o-matic and a the Guild block tailpiece.
Matsickma has previously opined that this guitar wants a vibrato and I'm inclined to agree. In fact, I'm going to carry on playing it and if it's leaning towards keeper then I will take the plunge in that direction, and possibly refinish at the same time - quite a big financial outlay and obviously changing the guitar altogether.
PICKUPS
The pickups are DeArmond 2000 reissues, produced in the USA when this guitar was made. That's the top model in this picture from GAD's site below. Under the cover these pickups do have magnetised slugs and height adjustment springs similar to the vintage version, but they are much shorter, and the coil is also less deep. This makes for a lower output. See below for a discussion of the sound. The current Guild Dynasonics are reproductions of these pickups made in Korea. The current repros have alnico V magnets, but I'm not sure about these. The Guild site claims the current versions have "Slightly Hotter Output Than Their Vintage Counterparts For Even More Versatility" but in my experience the vintage ones can be very hot indeed, with resistance up to 14kΩ.
I don't have a way to test inductance, but the DC resistance on these is 8.6kΩ for both pickups.
When I fitted new strings I had a look inside the pickup cavity but neglected to take photos, sorry. I will do next string change and update the thread.
The rectangular metal pickup rings are backed with thin foam and are just there to hide the pickup routs. The pups themselves are mounted on foam allowing for some height adjustment by simply tightening or loosening the four corner screws and you need to remove the pickup rings to do this. The pickup covers have a triangular cutout on each end to allow the screw mounting the pickup rings to reach the wood of the guitar's body. That means should you want to fit a vintage or other repro set (TV Jones etc.) you would need to customise them a little. I suspect you would also need to make the cavity deeper or drill holes for the magnets and screws to drop into.
SOUND
There's a real sparkle to the sound, which is there unplugged as well as plugged. I would say it's Fenderish in quality, perhaps reminiscent of a less brittle Jaguar or even a Tele and unusual in a mahogany guitar. Amplified, the pickups are very clear and defined, with a strong but clear unmuddy bass response which is great for fingerpicking, for example. There's also a definite single coil "pop" to the notes, in common with vintage DeArmonds, which personally I really like.
The pickups react much better than expected to distortion and fuzz. With light overdrive you can get a sound close to one of my favourite guitarists Jim Thomas of the Mermen (who plays Strats), which I've seen described well as "glassy grind". Both "glassy" and "sparkle" refer to high frequency content at the top of the spectrum, exactly what is usually lacking from Les Paul style guitars and something I was missing from any of my current guitars. It's the clarity and articulacy to the sound that got me hooked for the last two days and inspired me to write about this guitar today. As a Strat hater (for no really good reason other than ubiquity), it's nice to be able to enter some of that sonic territory with a much more unusual and attractive guitar.
Once I had my amp and pedals dialled in better to this guitar, I found it hugely versatile and the fantastic playability adds to the fun. I got a great fat sound out of a Big Muff, with basically infinite sustain.
I'm currently working on a solo set (for a post-COVID universe) and I can certainly imagine going out to play a show with just this quite happily. It's super easy to sling standing up as well.
EQUIVALENTS
There's not a lot out there in times of solid or chambered guitars with Dearmonds/Dynasonics, so this guitar offers quite a rare set of features. Perhaps the closest equivalents might be:
Gretsch Duojet - chambered mahogany body, available with Gretsch Dynasonics. The arched top and raised archtop bridge is a point of difference.
There has been a flat top Gretsch Chet Atkins solidbody with Dynas, but I don't know the model number. They are also top dollar
Various Gretsch Electromatic models could be fitted with Dynas, but of course you don't get the USA custom shop manufacture.
Framus Hollywood - aesthetically similar, but it's a double cut solid body and from what I hear those pickups are puny as hell
In terms of the Aristocrat, the woods are different, the Aristo is properly hollow, the top is arched, it has a harp tailpiece, and obviously it has Franz pickups. The body shape is the same.
CONCLUSION
So it's a rare guitar and not easily replaced with an equivalent. It's got a dynamic sound and is easy and I find inspiring to play. So what's its future with me? Is it a keeper? I was bad this year and splurged on two USA Guilds even as my income was cut due to COVID and there are many other demands on my money. I felt initially it had too much crossover with my Ric 330, which I've owned for a long time and put a lot of work into making good, so I initially thought I would flip it. Now I feel it offers something different.
I've also bought a set of NOS '60s Dearmonds, so may try and install those and see what else that brings to the party. Currently I am happy with the sound, though.
Finally, the finish is not very me. Nearly all my guitars are black. I can tolerate sunburst but anything lighter or more flamboyant than that I tend to avoid. If I decide I really love it, I'll probably get it painted black, which can cover up any mutilation I inflict putting a trem on at the same time.
WHO ELSE HAS ONE? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT AND CAN WE SEE IT?
As the first one I had ever seen, I jumped on it, putting myself in some financial discomfort in the process, just to have a chance to try it. It had a couple of finish issues I wasn't expecting due to a not very upfront seller, plus the fact it was small and solid (chambered) where all my other guitars are large, hollow and have f holes, led to me not spending much time with it and I thought I would probably move it on once I got round to photographing it.
HOWEVER, I've had a couple of days off and got properly stuck in to playing it and I have to say I am, for the moment, enamoured with it. Here's a set of impressions because there is so little info out there on this model. I say "impressions" because I lack the equipment to give you accurate measurement on fingerboard radius, pickup induction etc. Moreover, my photographic equipment is currently poor and I haven't prepared this as a proper review like the estimable GAD does. I will update this thread with photos when I do the next string change.
It's very hard to get any info on this model. It hardly features in this forum, for example, except in a few "for sale" posts and only features in the Guild catalogue for half of 1999 and 2000, then it's gone. Here's the relevant page from GAD's site in the catalogue for the second half of 1999: https://www.gad.net/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Guild-1999-Jul-Gallery-Catalog-pg24_1600.jpeg
So here goes with impressions...
PLAYABILITY
First up, it's very easy to play with the high quality build and setup you'd expect from a hand assembled instrument. The fingerboard radius seems a little sharper than my 2001 SFIII-90 and the nut is a shade narrower (that Starfire has a very wide nut), at around 43.5mm but very comfortable. I found monster bends high up on the fretboard to be a breeze.
I'm not sure the presence or absence of fingerboard binding makes any difference, but it somehow adds to the perception that this is a stripped down speed machine and encourages me to play like that, which I like. It's pretty light (heavier than my Starfire, about the same as my X160) and the size is very manageable. Personally I'm not used to playing a solid body style neck setup with the strings close in to the body and not lifted high above by an archtop bridge, but after an hour or so playing I found it increasingly comfortable.
BUILD AND HARDWARE
The frets are medium - not fat, not skinny. The fret job is faultless as you'd expect on a custom shop guitar, and the nut is a thing of boney beauty, highly polished and with about the tidiest slots I've ever seen.
Personally I'm not a fan of the Grover Mini machineheads - I think they look a bit silly and I'm not a huge fan of Grovers in general - and aesthetically I would have preferred a set of Sta-Tite or similar, but I can't fault the performance and the guitar stays in tune very well. I can usually pull it out of the case and start playing with hardly any tuning required.
It's wired like a Tele with one volume and one tone. This means you get the same resistance load from the pots in all positions. The pots test out at 500k. The tone cap is .22k resin.
The current tailpiece arrangement is the same as on an S100 or other Guild solid bodies: Nashville style Tune-o-matic and a the Guild block tailpiece.
Matsickma has previously opined that this guitar wants a vibrato and I'm inclined to agree. In fact, I'm going to carry on playing it and if it's leaning towards keeper then I will take the plunge in that direction, and possibly refinish at the same time - quite a big financial outlay and obviously changing the guitar altogether.
PICKUPS
The pickups are DeArmond 2000 reissues, produced in the USA when this guitar was made. That's the top model in this picture from GAD's site below. Under the cover these pickups do have magnetised slugs and height adjustment springs similar to the vintage version, but they are much shorter, and the coil is also less deep. This makes for a lower output. See below for a discussion of the sound. The current Guild Dynasonics are reproductions of these pickups made in Korea. The current repros have alnico V magnets, but I'm not sure about these. The Guild site claims the current versions have "Slightly Hotter Output Than Their Vintage Counterparts For Even More Versatility" but in my experience the vintage ones can be very hot indeed, with resistance up to 14kΩ.
I don't have a way to test inductance, but the DC resistance on these is 8.6kΩ for both pickups.
When I fitted new strings I had a look inside the pickup cavity but neglected to take photos, sorry. I will do next string change and update the thread.
The rectangular metal pickup rings are backed with thin foam and are just there to hide the pickup routs. The pups themselves are mounted on foam allowing for some height adjustment by simply tightening or loosening the four corner screws and you need to remove the pickup rings to do this. The pickup covers have a triangular cutout on each end to allow the screw mounting the pickup rings to reach the wood of the guitar's body. That means should you want to fit a vintage or other repro set (TV Jones etc.) you would need to customise them a little. I suspect you would also need to make the cavity deeper or drill holes for the magnets and screws to drop into.
SOUND
There's a real sparkle to the sound, which is there unplugged as well as plugged. I would say it's Fenderish in quality, perhaps reminiscent of a less brittle Jaguar or even a Tele and unusual in a mahogany guitar. Amplified, the pickups are very clear and defined, with a strong but clear unmuddy bass response which is great for fingerpicking, for example. There's also a definite single coil "pop" to the notes, in common with vintage DeArmonds, which personally I really like.
The pickups react much better than expected to distortion and fuzz. With light overdrive you can get a sound close to one of my favourite guitarists Jim Thomas of the Mermen (who plays Strats), which I've seen described well as "glassy grind". Both "glassy" and "sparkle" refer to high frequency content at the top of the spectrum, exactly what is usually lacking from Les Paul style guitars and something I was missing from any of my current guitars. It's the clarity and articulacy to the sound that got me hooked for the last two days and inspired me to write about this guitar today. As a Strat hater (for no really good reason other than ubiquity), it's nice to be able to enter some of that sonic territory with a much more unusual and attractive guitar.
Once I had my amp and pedals dialled in better to this guitar, I found it hugely versatile and the fantastic playability adds to the fun. I got a great fat sound out of a Big Muff, with basically infinite sustain.
I'm currently working on a solo set (for a post-COVID universe) and I can certainly imagine going out to play a show with just this quite happily. It's super easy to sling standing up as well.
EQUIVALENTS
There's not a lot out there in times of solid or chambered guitars with Dearmonds/Dynasonics, so this guitar offers quite a rare set of features. Perhaps the closest equivalents might be:
Gretsch Duojet - chambered mahogany body, available with Gretsch Dynasonics. The arched top and raised archtop bridge is a point of difference.
There has been a flat top Gretsch Chet Atkins solidbody with Dynas, but I don't know the model number. They are also top dollar
Various Gretsch Electromatic models could be fitted with Dynas, but of course you don't get the USA custom shop manufacture.
Framus Hollywood - aesthetically similar, but it's a double cut solid body and from what I hear those pickups are puny as hell
In terms of the Aristocrat, the woods are different, the Aristo is properly hollow, the top is arched, it has a harp tailpiece, and obviously it has Franz pickups. The body shape is the same.
CONCLUSION
So it's a rare guitar and not easily replaced with an equivalent. It's got a dynamic sound and is easy and I find inspiring to play. So what's its future with me? Is it a keeper? I was bad this year and splurged on two USA Guilds even as my income was cut due to COVID and there are many other demands on my money. I felt initially it had too much crossover with my Ric 330, which I've owned for a long time and put a lot of work into making good, so I initially thought I would flip it. Now I feel it offers something different.
I've also bought a set of NOS '60s Dearmonds, so may try and install those and see what else that brings to the party. Currently I am happy with the sound, though.
Finally, the finish is not very me. Nearly all my guitars are black. I can tolerate sunburst but anything lighter or more flamboyant than that I tend to avoid. If I decide I really love it, I'll probably get it painted black, which can cover up any mutilation I inflict putting a trem on at the same time.
WHO ELSE HAS ONE? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT AND CAN WE SEE IT?
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