My Guild Cherry Hath Been Busted

I've been drooling for one of these for some time now...and I finally have one! I've been in love with this color ever since I saw Kim Thayil whip one out when I saw Soundgarden in '94 and, as luck would have it, when one appeared locally it was that same color and in awesome shape...she was really taken care of well. Now, I've been a Soundgarden nut for some time and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a bigger Soundgarden whore alive, but I always just assumed the amazing sound coming from this guitar had something to do with wizardry and magic spells cast upon the great bearded one's fingers. Imagine my surprise to find out this guitar sounds better unplugged than my acoustic! And then once I plugged it in...holy hell, I actually pondered for a moment selling every other guitar I own, even my SG w/Tony Iommi pups...and I'm a bigger Sabbath nut than I am a Soundgarden nut, if that tells you anything. I am guessing she is a '94, based on the fact that I can only find something close to the serial number in Guild's list for the '94 model (I know is trash from what I have read), and that '94 was the first time I had seen one in this color. The serial is FB000093, if anybody has a clue as to the age and would let me know for sure I would appreciate it. Anywho, here she is...not the best picture in the world, but, meh...



Now, the hunt begins for an S-100 in white... :twisted:

What a beauty. Welcome, knowledgeable droolers should be stopping by shortly.

Hi Hammer; I don't know nuthin' and I'm drooling anyway ... Welcome! CJ

Thanx!

I have a S-100 in white but there is no way I am going to sell it!! Great looking guitar and it has the Guild pups and roller bridge that mine does not.Well done Hammer. I just wish these would crop up more often in the UK. I just missed out on a Cherry 70's in a London store.Boo hoo!

welcome and congrats to this green beauty.

Absolutely superb score. Congratulations are in order.

Yum!

Hammer said:

[...Now, the hunt begins for an S-100 in white... :twisted:

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Hammer, Is this what you seek.

I know nothing of this guitar, just happened to bump into the listing , on Orange Co, Calif CL.

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/msg/863331572.html

Wow, thanx Jeff! I'm curious though...things seem to have changed a bit between when I think mine was made and '96. Without staring too hard, the volume and tone knobs appear different, truss cover is definitely different, bridge is different and there are no pickup covers. Granted he may have just removed them and changed the knobs, but I have seen others that same year with the same differences. I have yet to pull mine apart and see what pups are inside, but what changed between (possibly) '94 and '96? Regardless of the differences, here's me hoping it doesn't sell and he brings it back to the East coast with him, so I can see it in person first!

That is a beauty, hammer! Assuming you don't have one already, now you need this to hang on your wall:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1996-Guild-S-100-Ki ... .m20.l1116


walrus

I may have to be sedated. that guitar is freaking gorgeous!!! Good luck with it. Have to find me one ...

That is one beautiful specimen. '94 must have been a very good year for the reissue. I see the switch is the old metal-capped version, the pickups are actual HB-1s and it has the adjust-o-matic roller bridge.

I wish I could have seen Soundgarden live. Thank science for You-Tube.

If I found one of these for sale in the emerald finish I'd go so weak in the knees that I wouldn't be able to carry it out after I inevitably bought it. As you can see I'm quite familiar with the glory of the S-100, and its little brother the S-90. I can certainly see why you could go without an SG after acquiring that beaut. Also, as a fellow Iommi fan, you may be interested in John Birch pickups. The Gibson Iommi pickups still don't get used by the master much. They would make a great mod for an SG (except now you have the ultimate).

One dickens of a first post. Welcome aforum.

Thanx for all the kind words guys!

The switch is indeed the metal cap, the tuners are Grovers...it must have been a good year

I've never played the John Birch pups...is there any particular model I should look into? I can understand why the Iommi pups don't get used much, the newer ones sound very weak, but I bought the set I have as soon as they came out, stamped PAF on the back, and they sound nothing like the new ones do.

Hammer said:

I've never played the John Birch pups...is there any particular model I should look into? I can understand why the Iommi pups don't get used much, the newer ones sound very weak, but I bought the set I have as soon as they came out, stamped PAF on the back, and they sound nothing like the new ones do.

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The original SG that Iommi used was heavily modified by John Birch guitars. Birch made pickups at the time and dabbled in luthiery. He then teamed up with John Diggens (JayDee guitars) to build from the ground up. Here are a couple of links. You'll have to cruise around to find information on the pickups on the John Birch site, but the picture of Iommi's original JayDee SG has the old John Birch Biflux pickup in the neck position. The new models are standard sized.

http://www.jaydeeguitars.com/ti.php

http://www.johnbirchguitars.com/index2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_(luthier)

Jeff....that is a stunning guitar....oh man. I'm wanting to live this life over, surrounded with these beautiful Guilds....maybe I will....get em now before the money is only good for monopoly :!: :lol: hmmm.....maybe that wasn't funny! :?
Jeff, I sent you a pm, check your mailbox....Steffan

Absolutely awesome.

Question for Hammer, DanR:

Hammer, that is a seriously beautiful S-100. Somebody not far from me has one in red, a reissue with a low serial number. Same look on the knobs, can't quite see from the pics, but looks like the same bridge. He says it's mid-90s, not sure of the year. DanR: you mention that Hammer's has the original Guild p/us. Which do you mean? Are these the same (HYB-1?) as were on the 70s S-100? Did the RI model switch to Duncans at some later point? What are the tradeoffs (if any) of earlier RI S-100s vs. later?

I want to go take a look at this guys guitar, so the more I can know in advance the better off I'll be. Thanks.

MD

mad dog said:

DanR: you mention that Hammer's has the original Guild p/us. Which do you mean? Are these the same (HYB-1?) as were on the 70s S-100? Did the RI model switch to Duncans at some later point? What are the tradeoffs (if any) of earlier RI S-100s vs. later?

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I would assume that the Hb-1 only changed nominally through the years from the 70s. In the later 90s, the S-100 did switch to a Seymour Duncan JB/59 setup with nickel covers. One can easily tell the difference. For my opinions on the pros and cons of the reissue of the S-100 I would do best to refer you to the other thread in which you asked about the S-90 phase switch conversion rather than reiterate what I had to say there... You can also PM me if you have specific questions about the general comparison.

mad dog said:

Question for Hammer, DanR:

Hammer, that is a seriously beautiful S-100. Somebody not far from me has one in red, a reissue with a low serial number. Same look on the knobs, can't quite see from the pics, but looks like the same bridge. He says it's mid-90s, not sure of the year. DanR: you mention that Hammer's has the original Guild p/us. Which do you mean? Are these the same (HYB-1?) as were on the 70s S-100? Did the RI model switch to Duncans at some later point? What are the tradeoffs (if any) of earlier RI S-100s vs. later?

I want to go take a look at this guys guitar, so the more I can know in advance the better off I'll be. Thanks.

MD

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Thanx for the compliment...it is purty, ain't it?

Granted, I have nothing to really base this on, but I have a feeling, based on my what I believe to be a '94 and others I have seen, that when they brought these bad boys back, they may have used some NOS on the initial runs, so early batches may have brand new necks and bodies, with old school goodies. Anybody know how accurate that may be and, if it is accurate, how long they were produced like that? I'm just guessing at this point.