1976 BluesBird M-75CS questions

jp

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Ok -- these may be stupid questions, and I feel a bit ignorant, since I feel I should know this.

I'm trying to learn more about my 1976 solid body Bluesbird M-75CS. I have two questions:

1) Is the finish poly or nitro? By touch, it feels like polyurethane to me, and there is no evidence of checking. My guess is poly.

2) Also, the Guild catalogs all say that this guitar is solid mahogany with a carved top. There's no mention of a maple cap a la Gibson Les Paul, so I'm assuming the top of the solid mahogany body is carved. I know the '69-'70 semi-hollow versions have spruce tops. Does anyone know how the body of these are constructed?

Thanks, gang!
 
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Quantum Strummer

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What color is your BB? If sunburst or natural I'd bet the finish is nitro. Dunno what Guild was using in the '70s for other colors…

-Dave-
 

jp

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Well, sorry for the lousy phone pic, and lack of cleaning, but hey, I like well-mojo'd player guitars. This is exactly what this is, and I love it! :C)

Moja4aR.jpg



What color is your BB? If sunburst or natural I'd bet the finish is nitro. Dunno what Guild was using in the '70s for other colors…

-Dave-
Black, like my coffee! It also has the cloudiness that poly finishes sometimes have. I'm guessing that Hans will know for sure.
 

SFIV1967

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Looking at how yellow the binding on the neck and body is I would say the clearcoat is NC.

Ralf
 

jp

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Looking at how yellow the binding on the neck and body is I would say the clearcoat is NC.

Ralf
Well, that's true, Ralf. And according to common sense, which for some reason, I didn't apply to this, the finish would be nitro. <sigh> As mentioned, this is something I feel I should have known.

My guess would be nitro and a solid one piece body with the top contoured.
I think you're right too, Grot!

What would I do without you guys?
 
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DThomasC

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One way to tell the difference between lacquer and poly is that lacquer will sink into the grain over time. Poly might show a little of that on soft grained woods like spruce, but not nearly as much as lacquer.

It's hard to tell from your photo, but it looks like the finish has started to take on the surface texture of the wood below. It was almost certainly very smooth when new.
 

jp

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Thanks, DTC and to all of you for the responses. I think you and the others are correct about this, despite the fact that the finish feels like poly to me. It just doesn't seem to have worn or aged in the same way as my other Guilds, and I also suspect the finish has been messed with over the ages. The yellowing on the binding isn't evenly distributed, almost as if the someone tried to apply a relic'ed clear coat with yellowish-tinted lacquer.

That, or it's all in my head.
 
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I have a 71 I traded/bought out of a Music go Round. Looks just like mine but mine is kina beat. Solid mahogany body and neck with ebony fret board and nitro finish, as heavy as my 91 Les Paul. And truly a phenomenal guitar. If your plays and sounds anything like mine your a happy man. Happy holidays.
Thanks John
 

adorshki

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Well, sorry for the lousy phone pic, and lack of cleaning, but hey, I like well-mojo'd player guitars. This is exactly what this is, and I love it! :C)

Moja4aR.jpg
Nice.. just noticed the 'guard shape, love it, is that original?

Black, like my coffee! It also has the cloudiness that poly finishes sometimes have. I'm guessing that Hans will know for sure.
(Oh for sure Hans will know but I'd be pretty surprised if it was poly, that early)
Interesting about the "cloudiness", I never heard that about poly (on acoustics, at least, but it is a well-known phenomenon in NCL especially when it's been degraded over time by sweat.)
To me it looks just like that.
Another tell might be if it's most obvious in the areas where a player's arm might be in contact with the guitar, and might explain the uneven yellowing on the binding, too.
Is it lighter where a forearm might contact the binding regularly?
In counterpoint it does appear there might be some tell-tale "orange peel" in the finish which would tend to confirm your suspicion it might have been oversprayed at some point.
Can't be sure at the level of magnification I have, though.
And finally the area that's reflecting the light around the bridge appears to show some scuffing, just like happens to cars which were polished "too hard" with an orbital buffer.
Didn't think that was something that could be done to poly (easily) but very easy to do to NCL with aggressive polishing with the wrong type of cloth.
 

jp

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Nice.. just noticed the 'guard shape, love it, is that original?


(Oh for sure Hans will know but I'd be pretty surprised if it was poly, that early)
Interesting about the "cloudiness", I never heard that about poly (on acoustics, at least, but it is a well-known phenomenon in NCL especially when it's been degraded over time by sweat.)
To me it looks just like that.
Another tell might be if it's most obvious in the areas where a player's arm might be in contact with the guitar, and might explain the uneven yellowing on the binding, too.
Is it lighter where a forearm might contact the binding regularly?
In counterpoint it does appear there might be some tell-tale "orange peel" in the finish which would tend to confirm your suspicion it might have been oversprayed at some point.
Can't be sure at the level of magnification I have, though.
And finally the area that's reflecting the light around the bridge appears to show some scuffing, just like happens to cars which were polished "too hard" with an orbital buffer.
Didn't think that was something that could be done to poly (easily) but very easy to do to NCL with aggressive polishing with the wrong type of cloth.
Just getting back to this thread now! Thanks, Al. I think you and the others have convinced me that this is a NCL finish. I think it's the flat dull physical feel of the finish the made me suspicious.

Like matsickma said, I'm pretty sure the pickguard is original.
 
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