Sunburst S-100 Deluxe: first impressions

My '73 sunburst S-100 Deluxe arrived today, and if you look at it from the front or the back, it doesn't look too bad. From the sides, well...

First all, and this one is for Hammer, the TRC is upside down.


As we saw in the listing photos, both edges are pretty chewed up.



The neck has a few nicks in it...


And worse of all, the replacement bridge was barely attached at all. In fact, I just pulled it off.


Am I bummed about the condition? Yes and no. Obviously, the bridge situation is troubling, but I was planning to replace it anyway, and it appears that I will be able to with an Adjustomatic. The finish, while chewed up on the edges, is not checked anywhere. The frets appear good. It will need to go in for some repairs, but I like its potential.

There's a cautionary tale to be learned here. Of all the guitars I've bought from photos on an Internet listing, this one by far is in the worst condition. I talked them down more than half of their asking price, but if it were half of what I paid, still few of you more discriminating LTGers would have said, "Ah, no." No one to blame but myself though, because I let my sunburst lust overrule my better judgement. I'm not writing off the whole thing, because I think this guitar, with a new bridge and possibly a refinish at some point, will still be my Holy Grail sunburst S-100 Deluxe.

Thunder, I don't know what you paid for it, but at least it's all there, and the bridge issue shouldn't be too tough to handle. The dilemna is in the finish, if you opt for a refin, you take the risk to lose the original "flavor", unless you know someone that can replicate the original burst, and that's unlikely when you hear techs say that they never really know how it's going to come out looking when working on a burst finish.....
A good luthier should be able to make those side nicks disappear with a touch up job, and you keep the original burst in the process! When you see the kind of miracles they can do when they fix a crack on an acoustic, and you can't even remember where the crack was after they're done..... So lots of hope there.
From your disappointment, I take it these cosmetic flaws were not fully disclosed?....
I say you have a nice player regardless, so give it the attention and the face lift it deserves!

Ahoy Chunderchunks.

I really don't think you should be admonishing yourself at all for letting lust prevail over sound judgment !!

Firstly, you got a holy grail, and relatively rare guitar for presumably, little money. From what I've read and inferred, S-100's are mega-value guitars, even at a premium price. You could be satisfied on that score alone.

The bridge is a non-issue, since you were going to replace it anyway. The finish, apart from the sides, appears to be better than average. And, since the edges are mono-coloured, it's surely not a huge task to sand / fill / touch-up. I certainly would not be considering a full blown re-finish.

Shame that it has a Pigsby, but that's just me and, otherwise, it wouldn't be a deLuxe.

Accentuate the positive !!

:lol: Stupid upside down TRCs!

Bummer on the bridge though. I'm sure a skilled guy can patch that right up though, so no biggie. And even if you do have to get it refinned, who knows...you may like the new burst even better than the old. :wink:

By the by, all your Deluxe pr0n has me looking at a short tail Vibramate and a B5 for my Gibby SG, so...

Thanks, fellas. I'm not as disappointed as I made it sound, and after a few minutes, I concurred with bluespicky that a full refin was not the way to go. Looking at the photos again, the finish is pretty good, save for the edges. A little touchup and away we go. I'm not even bummed about the bridge, because I wanted to replace it with an Adjustomatic anyway, and looking at how the replacement bridge was attached makes me think the swap will be very doable.

If you're going ABR-1 style, lookee what I just found after looking for ages and ages for one for my SG. http://cgi.ebay.com/CHROME-Tune-O-M...tem&pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item19bb00df79 Everything I found was all Nashville posts before that evilBay find. And with the vibrato, you really want rollers homie.

Thanks for the link, Hammerian. Actually, Dane has an Adjustomatic that should work for me.

Why not just add one of those small flat Bigsby Bridges, like John Lennon used on his Epi, and pick up one of refinshing markers at Home Depot and call it a day. The flat Bigsby bridge will cover the holes and the markers will touch up the bad marks without ruining the vintage finish.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Bigsby-Flat...tem&pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item53dfa9ae7b

http://www.homedepot.com/Paint-Inte...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

M

I was expecting worse when I first saw the thread at work (no photobucket there ). Great player guitar if you got the right price. The bridge and grover cap aren't a tough find. I'd leave the finish as is.

I think I got a decent price (less than half the ridiculously high asking price), although now I wished I would have offered less to offset the repairs. Still, I think I'd do it again, and I'm kind of anxious now to see how it turns out. I'm not going to refinish it, just have the nicks on the edges touched up. Dane has a Adjustomatic bridge that should work ... the bridge on the guitar had the metal recessed posts, and Hans said he had a period correct replacement tuner, although you say finding a replacement tuner cover is possible.

My tone in the initial post probably sounded a little more negative than I meant it to be. It's not in great shape, but it's going to be!

Thunder..It sure looks nice to me..........and I agree with Bluesy and Coasty.....be gentle in your restoration, That kind of mojo looks great to lots of us...get her up to scratch, repair her to suit your needs and PLAY HER LIKE CRAZY.............really, CONGRATS!!! fine guitar there!..and she could well mean MORE to you for all the troubles you'll take to reform her. All part of the journey.........

I dunno - looks bitchin' to me. The main stuff is all there. Those nicks and bruises on the edges? I got lots of those on my s-100 and it came by them honestly. Nothing structural to be worried about, especially seeing as you intended all along to replace the bridge. I think it's a fine guitar invested with a ton of authentic character. Congratulations.

That guitar is oozing vintage grooviness, man.

You can get those rough spots touched up without hurting the vintage vibe of the original finish. It's pretty amazing what a good craftsman can do. I had a D25 "touched up" locally and it really turned out nice without being a refin.

Dave

matsickma said:

Why not just add one of those small flat Bigsby Bridges, like John Lennon used on his Epi, and pick up one of refinshing markers at Home Depot and call it a day.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Bigsby-Flat...tem&pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item53dfa9ae7b

http://www.homedepot.com/Paint-Inte...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

M

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Refinishing markers, eh? I might have to give that some serious consideration. Thanks for the tip.

I say get it functional and play the tar out of it. Of all your guitars, this is the one you shouldn't have to be afraid to get a little crazy on stage with. Enjoy man

Jeff

That looks bitchin to me too. The guitar under that nicked up finish is the important thing. My vibe meter went off looking at the pics. Something tells me you'll be very happy with this, once put right and back to playing.

One of my first electric guitar purchases was a severely cosmetically challenged '61 strat. I long ago forgot about the finish (stripped), as it's one of the best guitars ever. Hoping the same for you with this Guild.

MD

A full body shot of the sunny DeLuxe, with the soon-to-be replaced bridge on and the TRC on properly. There will be no refinishing.

No need, either. That baby rocks. Great looking guitar, far as I'm concerned. Beautiful finish.

For the millionth time, I wish Fender would let Guild reboot its electric solid body line. I would love to see some modern takes on the S-100. For instance, I have a Hagstrom Super Swede - an LP type guitar, but with a Fender scale. Just kind of cool, happy in its own vibe. Be cool to have a contemporary S-00 variant with stuff like a Fender scale, on-board tuner and crazy tonal options like you find on those early 80s Matsumoku factory guitars like Vantages, Westones, Aria Pro IIs...

Of course, the fact that they haven't makes the existing S-100s all the more precious.

tele4tone said:

I say get it functional and play the tar out of it. Of all your guitars, this is the one you shouldn't have to be afraid to get a little crazy on stage with. Enjoy man

Jeff

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+1 Get it playing and sounding good first, and mess with cosmetics later. Mojo is mojo is mojo. I think it looks sweet, though I understand the feeling. I got burned on my '65 SF III, and it still is sitting in the case awaiting a refret. <sigh> It's bad enough to deserve a refin, though, I'm still unsure. Maybe it'll get a facelift in green! :mrgreen:

Thunderface said:

A full body shot of the sunny DeLuxe, with the soon-to-be replaced bridge on and the TRC on properly. There will be no refinishing.

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Ya got it right T'face !! 8) 8)