Which Pilot?

[fronobulax]

Posted in https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index...-guitar-ugly-feet.203103/page-67#post-1964887

I don't recall any of the specs of a one PU Pilot and I don't have the right reference material handy. Thanks.

 

[hansmoust]

Looks like a mid-'80s SB-601 to me!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Looks like a mid-'80s SB-601 to me!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

If it was a DiMarzio pick-up would it be an SB-603?

Or does an SB-603 indeed have three pick-ups?

Bowdren seems a little confused about all this!

 

[ruedi]

It's on reverb.com if you want to check it out:

Guild Pilot 1980s Ivory | Reverb

You know how every guitar player owns a bass… Well this is mine. Lol. For sale 1980s Guild Pilot. Bass is in good condition with the exception of the ding I have a closeup photo. Otherwise there's the standard scuffs in clear coat, mostly on the back. I'm sure if you were concerned they could be ...

reverb.com

The seller's description isn't very helpful, but maybe the pictures are?

*edit: here's another one!

Rare USA Guild Pilot bass 1984 Swirl | Reverb

Up for grab а rare Guild pilot with single P pickup The neck is in very good condition, straight, frets have most of their life. All the electronics working in a proper way. No breaks, repairs and nothing structural or affecting playability.Comes with vintage hard caseThis bass is ple...

reverb.com

 

[SFIV1967]

Those serial numbers BH100070 and BH101322 are hard to digest...Waiting for Volume II !

Ralf

 

[twocorgis]

Those serial numbers BH100070 and BH101322 are hard to digest...Waiting for Volume II !

Ralf

My '86 SB602 has a serial number that starts with "BH" also. When I contacted @hansmoust about this bass, he explains:

"First of all it is a model SB-602. The ‘BH’ serial number prefix is indeed for a model SB-604, but an SB-604 should have the angled ‘hockey stick’ headstock. What we got here is a mistake that was made by the person responsible for stamping the serial numbers into the back of the headstocks prior to finishing. He forgot to change (B)H to (B)E and the number ended up being BH101559 instead of BE101559. Actually it was a small group of SB-602 basses that were all stamped BH that same day."

Once again, Guild's consistently inconsistent serial number matrices!

 

[mellowgerman]

If I was going to get a Pilot, this would be the one. My favorite iteration of the headstock, my favorite pilot color, and no jazz bridge pickup (which I would most likely bypass anyway). Pretty cool, straight ahead rock machine!

 

[twocorgis]

If I was going to get a Pilot, this would be the one. My favorite iteration of the headstock, my favorite pilot color, and no jazz bridge pickup (which I would most likely bypass anyway). Pretty cool, straight ahead rock machine!

And would be even better if you put a Lindy Fralin pickup in place of the stock one, too. best thing I ever did for the '72 P-Bass I've owned since I was 14!

 

[mellowgerman]

And would be even better if you put a Lindy Fralin pickup in place of the stock one, too. best thing I ever did for the '72 P-Bass I've owned since I was 14!

Good to know! So far I've only had experience with Fralin guitar pickups and all of them have been magnificent, so I'm not surprised to hear their bass pickups deliver too! Assuming it's a nice vintage-voiced P?

I will say though, outside of my Bisonic/DarkStar obsession, I have become a HUGE fan of Bartolini pickups. My Hagstrom has the big GB (GuildBass) humbucker in the neck position and the Rickenbacker mini-bucker in the bridge position. I also absolutely loved the Bartolini 9J1 jazz set I had in my frankenstein jazz bass some years back. My Telecaster has a Bartolini V885 (strat-size pickup) in the neck position and that is an equally glorious tone coil! Have yet to hear their Precision pickup in person, but I'm sure it's a good one too! I wouldn't call any of their stuff vintage-voiced though; more in the direction of hi-fi / full-range

 

[fronobulax]

If I was going to get a Pilot, this would be the one. My favorite iteration of the headstock, my favorite pilot color, and no jazz bridge pickup (which I would most likely bypass anyway). Pretty cool, straight ahead rock machine!

@The Guilds of Grot once told me that you only use the Pilot knobs at the extreme - all on or all off. I favor one PU basses just so I don't obsess over settings, so it was good advice. As a consequence I tend to use one PU on my Pilot at time - no blending. I find the P and J tones to be different enough that I would not voluntarily give one up. There are times when I want to sound like a '70's era recording that I know was made with a Fender bass and the Pilot, with the proper PU, comes closer than anything else in the stable.

 

[twocorgis]

Good to know! So far I've only had experience with Fralin guitar pickups and all of them have been magnificent, so I'm not surprised to hear their bass pickups deliver too! Assuming it's a nice vintage-voiced P?

Not sure. I know it's a 5% overwind, and sounds far better than either the OEM pup (which was never very good, and ended up getting lost in a move), or the EMG that replaced it. If I knew back then what I know now, I would have had the OEM pup rewound and skipped the EMG "upgrade" entirely. Love the neck on Pilot basses, and the comfortable body on the contoured models, but never liked the EMG pickups much.

 

[mellowgerman]

Not sure. I know it's a 5% overwind, and sounds far better than either the OEM pup (which was never very good, and ended up getting lost in a move), or the EMG that replaced it. If I knew back then what I know now, I would have had the OEM pup rewound and skipped the EMG "upgrade" entirely. Love the neck on Pilot basses, and the comfortable body on the contoured models, but never liked the EMG pickups much.

I was also never a big fan of EMG pickups. My experience with them is limited though to the most common types of their soapbar humbuckers, precision and jazz pickups, so it's certainly possible they made one or the other model that I would actually appreciate. Certainly not saying they're bad pickups, I just never felt particularly excited or inspired by what I heard.

 

[twocorgis]

I was also never a big fan of EMG pickups. My experience with them is limited though to the most common types of their soapbar humbuckers, precision and jazz pickups, so it's certainly possible they made one or the other model that I would actually appreciate. Certainly not saying they're bad pickups, I just never felt particularly excited or inspired by what I heard.

Me either, Ingo. They certainly were all the rage in the ‘80s when I installed mine, but I never really bonded with it, that’s for sure. I never fancied active electronics much until I heard the tone of the pickups in my G&L ASAT bass. Once I solved the neck dive issue they all have (with a wide, grippy strap), I’ve really been loving that bass.