NGD: '77 S-100 Sunburst

Okay, I don't get overly excited and remain pretty level-headed when a new guitar arrives. I mean, I'm a little excited and all, but I don't overdo it. However, when I opened the case today I literally gasped.

:mrgreen: HOLY MOLY MOTHER OF GUILD GOODNESS! :mrgreen:








Now, before I get any further with this I need to tune it up and plug it in and do some other inspecting. Looks like the frets may have been filed a bit flat towards the edges. Well, other than that it looks pretty damn SAH-WEEEEET!!!

Oh yeah, then there's that bridge pickup with the missing screws to check out. Hey! Guess what I just happen to have!





:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Congrats!! She's pretty. And I mean that in a platonic way.

Niiiice. Wicked shape for its age. Congratulations Qvart!

So far so good. There are a few nicks and dings but they're all small and the dark parts of the 'burst finish hide them pretty well. Around the bottom edge on the back is a black line that looks like a scuff or rub mark. No buckle rash, no indentations. Fretboard is nice but needs some conditioning. Needs a little bit of a cleanup and the bridge needs to be disassembled and cleaned (per usual). I'm not sure about the frets. They look like they've been filed a little low and there's a couple sketchy frets high up the fingerboard on the high E. I think I'll get a hold of my guy to have a look at it before I finish up with feedback and whatnot.

The good (or even better, maybe) news - the electronics are PERFECT. Nothing has been touched - no scratchiness, phase switch works, wiring is intact and looks almost new. Needs a good setup and the intonation is off. But I'm not getting into that tonight.

At this point all I can say is it doesn't get...

The bridge pickup was missing two screws, which made me a little apprehensive about what I would find when I pulled it. Turns out the missing screws are just that - missing. The springs were still in place and the wiring hasn't been touched. Good thing I had some extra screws and springs for just such an occasion. :lol:

Man, all things considered, that thing looks really clean. And not just clean condition, but it actually looks pretty clean, dirt and grime-wise, too!

Very pretty guitar. So weird that somebody unscrewed the two pickup screws to the point they fell out, but I've seen my share of inexplicable things done to instruments and at least that's reversible, lol!

Cool snag man, I hope you enjoy it. I always wondered how the close tailpiece sounded compared to the longer spaced ones like mine.

Makes me feel sad about having mine up for sale but, at the same time, seeing this one reinforces why I'm selling. If I have to get rid of one of my Guilds and ever have the $$$ down the road to replace it, another S-100 is a lot easier to find than another mahogany SF-VI, super clean SF-XII or 1st year X-700, so for sale she stands...

Now, if I had this S100, I might have to reevaluate the ease of replacement factor.

P.S. I see you seem to have escaped weatherchecking-free.

kakerlak said:

Man, all things considered, that thing looks really clean. And not just clean condition, but it actually looks pretty clean, dirt and grime-wise, too!

Very pretty guitar. So weird that somebody unscrewed the two pickup screws to the point they fell out, but I've seen my share of inexplicable things done to instruments and at least that's reversible, lol!

Cool snag man, I hope you enjoy it. I always wondered how the close tailpiece sounded compared to the longer spaced ones like mine.

Makes me feel sad about having mine up for sale but, at the same time, seeing this one reinforces why I'm selling. If I have to get rid of one of my Guilds and ever have the $$$ down the road to replace it, another S-100 is a lot easier to find than another mahogany SF-VI, super clean SF-XII or 1st year X-700, so for sale she stands...

Now, if I had this S100, I might have to reevaluate the ease of replacement factor.

P.S. I see you seem to have escaped weatherchecking-free.

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Yup, it's purty!

I don't see much cleaning that needs to be done with this one. The fretboard could use a little TLC and there's a little gunk inside the bridge but that happens with the way they're designed.

I'm thinking the screws went missing from the pickup because with the neck set and string break angle on this one the bridge pickup is very close to the strings. I suspect someone tried to get the pickup set lower to the point that the screws came out and somehow they went missing. Luckily I had some spares (they're rusty but they're the correct screws). Ideally the bridge pickup mounting ring could be a little lower, but I don't remember the pickup on my '75 being quite that close to the strings. I'll have to do some comparing/contrasting with the other three S-100's to see the differences a little better. I can tell you that the ones with the tailpiece further back have a much more flatter feel end to end and this one feels like the neck is angled more (kind of a like a Gibson). It's hard to say just eyeballing it and pictures might show it better than trying to describe it.

The closer tailpiece doesn't seem to effect the sound at all but the feel of it is different than my '73 and '74. More string tension but it's not too stiff. I dig it.

I was right about the finish on this one too - it's not nearly as heavily-lacquered as the '73 and '74 and the finish doesn't feel quite the same. Maybe it's more resistant to checking.

Yeah, it would be nice if you kept your S-100, but I guess you'll have to figure out how to console yourself with those other guitars. Such a hard life! :lol:

Okay, I stayed up way too late messing with this guitar last night. Off to work with very little sleep.

8) 8) It's a beauty Q! 8) 8)

I have known and owned a great many sunburst guitars in my time, but that is the sunburst to beat all sunbursts. HMMOGG indeed. :shock: Qvart, I am bowing in your general direction. You sir, didn't just score, you SCCCCCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDD! (Think Brazilian soccer announcer, or wherever that guy is from).

I couldn't weigh in earlier because my wife was monopolizing the computer for work purposes, but I knew your new sunburst was in 'da house, so I was down in the basement playing and looking over my sunburst Deluxe in all its non-GAD inflicted mojo wondering just how a sunburst S-100 could be more beautiful than mine. And this ain't no beauty is in the eye of the beholder thing. Yours is flat out gorgeous! Without question the best-looking S-100 I have ever seen. Period!

All I can say is ...

I can vouch for the sweetness here. My SN is an astounding 4000 off from yours. How late does that push this one?

danerectal said:

I can vouch for the sweetness here. My SN is an astounding 4000 off from yours. How late does that push this one?

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I don't know, but the SN on this one is quite a ways past that bolt-on neck S300 walnut that's been threaded here.

BTW - Stig's '77 is 214 digits after mine.

Congratulations Q-Burst! Dat thang is beautiful!!!! :mrgreen:

You should wear that one proudly, even when it's not strapped around your neck.

Thunderface said:

You should wear that one proudly, even when it's not strapped around your neck.

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Haha! That would be an awesome shirt! :lol:

(But dogman would need a shirt with an M-series on it).

Qvart said:

danerectal said:

I can vouch for the sweetness here. My SN is an astounding 4000 off from yours. How late does that push this one?

Click to expand...

I don't know, but the SN on this one is quite a ways past that bolt-on neck S300 walnut that's been threaded here.

BTW - Stig's '77 is 214 digits after mine.

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For those scoring at home, my cherry '77 S-100 is nearly 4,900 digits before your sunburst S-100, and althought it's not an S-100, my cherry '77 M-80 is 16 numbers after Stig's.

Very nice Sunburst Qvart. I was seriously lusting after her when I saw her on the bay. Glad you got it.

I am considering refinishing my NB in a Sunburst like this...I think it looks fantastic and mine needs a refin anyway.

Craig

Hot as hell...... 8)

Thanks everyone!

I spent a bit of time wailing on it today and I gotta say I dig the hell out of it. It's identical to my red '75, which means it's a little different than the '73 and '74 (I'm gonna start a new thread about that topic).

I took it outside today to have a look and there are quite a few scratches and scuffs, but most of them are minor, not through the finish, and difficult to see against the sunburst. Everything works great and it sounds just like my other three S-100's. I am going to have my guy check out the frets this week as there are a couple dead ones high up on the neck. Just wanna make sure they can be straightened out. If it needs a refret then the seller's going to have to kick me back some of the cash I dropped on it.

When the weather improves I plan on taking some good family pics outside. For now, here are some inside pics of the kids. :lol:

Qvart said:

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This photo looks... LOUD.

jcwu said:

This photo looks... LOUD.

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Oh yeah. A helluva lot more than that one corner of the man cave needs. :lol: