Guild Songbird

theonemanband

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Went to an acoustic open mic last night here in the UK (near birmingham). Fellow walks in and performs 4 songs with his Guild "Songbird" elecro/acoustic!!
Wow, Wow and Wow again; WHAT a stunning guitar; westerly built, the quality was superb; second to absolutely none!! The sounds it produced were truly awsome, awarm rich mix if electric & acoustic!!
Well contoutred neck; beautiful small cutaway body that produced a woderful full warm rich & creamy sound and all this complimeted by a superb built in pickup/pre-amp system that totally enhances the whole experience!!

If I can find one I will Definitely buy one!!!
 

adorshki

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Went to an acoustic open mic last night here in the UK (near birmingham). Fellow walks in and performs 4 songs with his Guild "Songbird" elecro/acoustic!!
Wow, Wow and Wow again; WHAT a stunning guitar; westerly built, the quality was superb; second to absolutely none!! The sounds it produced were truly awsome, awarm rich mix if electric & acoustic!!
Well contoutred neck; beautiful small cutaway body that produced a woderful full warm rich & creamy sound and all this complimeted by a superb built in pickup/pre-amp system that totally enhances the whole experience!!

If I can find one I will Definitely buy one!!!
Definitely have some Songbird owner/lovers here.
Nuuska in Finland even has 2 of 'em.

AND if you're searching listings you can put "S4ce" on your list.
It's the handrubbed (economy but still NCL) finish version of the Songbird.
Later ones also got High Gloss versions, though: S4ceHG
Also be aware the earlier 'Birds were slightly thinner than later versions which needed extra depth to accommodate the control panel of the new Fishman system, which it sounds like the one you heard, had.
Don't recall anybody noting any particular difference in amplified sound, though.
And if you're interested in something with full unplugged acoustic capability, consider any of the "Fxxce" models, ie, F15ce, F47ce, F65ce, which also used the same Fishman systems available to the Songbird but are slightly larger and full traditional flat-top construction.
The Songbirds were constructed using a solid routed mahogany body with a spruce top so were actually intended (and are at their best) when plugged in, and not really intended to yield optimum unplugged sound, except maybe for "practice".
The Fxxce's do both very well.
Got a vicarious thrill reading your review, though.
Brought memories of the discovery of something new and exciting and a smile to my face.
:smile:
 

davismanLV

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TOMB, do you know if it had the original electronics in it? They're super nice guitars and I love them but the electronics from those days are becoming a bit dated and you can update and do better, I think. Did you find out if it's all original??
 

theonemanband

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TOMB, do you know if it had the original electronics in it? They're super nice guitars and I love them but the electronics from those days are becoming a bit dated and you can update and do better, I think. Did you find out if it's all original??

This was , what I suppose you might call a "slimline" model guitar, about two inches thick and hollow; (bear in mind I'd never seen one before)!

Yes, it was all original; one single and one double (stacked) controls; (didn't get time to find out what each did mind).

As for the electronics becoming "a bit dated", if I owned that guitar, I would leave it well alone, the tone was truly superb.......truly, Guild at it's very, very best!
 

The Guilds of Grot

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Here's one of the first Songbirds Guild produced. (#14)

Songbird.jpg

Note the body thickness and control knobs in the bass waist.


Here is the next generation with a deeper body to accept the new inset control panel.

SB-NT.jpg
 

walrus

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My favorite variations are the Barry Gibb models. Here's a blue one just for fun:

bg.jpe

walrus
 

D30Man

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Same here Al.. Always great to read where someone has discovered something new and cool for the first time and the inspiration that it yields.. Hell now I want one..
 

beecee

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It's my go to guitar for late night playing in the yard or couch. Haven't plugged her in in years. Yeah, not a lot of volume, (which is why it is superb at 2:30 a.m.), but even unplugged it has a nice sound

I'd love to have a true acoustic that feels like this...it just fits me perfectly with my short fat fingers. Great neck.

My F4CE doesn't fit me quite as well
 
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adorshki

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This was , what I suppose you might call a "slimline" model guitar, about two inches thick and hollow; (bear in mind I'd never seen one before)!

Yes, it was all original; one single and one double (stacked) controls; (didn't get time to find out what each did mind).

As for the electronics becoming "a bit dated", if I owned that guitar, I would leave it well alone, the tone was truly superb.......truly, Guild at it's very, very best!

Yeah that's the original body and that's a Fishman system.
Fishman and Guild worked very closely together so the system was literally tailored to their needs and as you mention is still mighty damn fine even by today's standards.
Wouldn't worry about upgrading unless replacement was actually needed.
Make sure you saw my post #2 just before Davisman's, I know seeing all posts can be problematic on some mobile platforms.
:friendly_wink:
 
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Dadzmad

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I have a last year Westerly made S4CE bought to teach my son how to play (he is a better player than me these days)

I think it's a sleeper.

I had a "Pickup the World" sound board transducer mounted on the inside behind the bridge and wired in parallel with the original UST. This mod really fixed the "quack" that the Songbird is known for. The two transducers wired together make the spruce top on the hollowed out solid body shine. I run it through an old Trace Elliot TA30 amp with the line out to a recent Marshall Stanmore speaker (for some added high end)

I have a kind of different take on the Songbird/S4CE - it's not a amplified acoustic guitar but more an electric guitar that amplifies the vibrations in the bridge and top to sound like an acoustic guitar. At home, I generally always play it plugged into either an amp sim to powered speakers or a turned down amp.

It's an excellent change up from my Kingpin or Tele
 

davismanLV

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Yeah that's the original body and that's a Fishman system.
Fishman and Guild worked very closely together so the system was literally tailored to their needs and as you mention is still mighty damn fine even by today's standards.
Wouldn't worry about upgrading unless replacement was actually needed.
Make sure you saw my post #2 just before Davisman's, I know seeing all posts can be problematic on some mobile platforms.
:friendly_wink:
Hey Dadzmad, thanks for chiming in on your guitar and your modifications along with the outcome. Al can be a purist and tends to want everything "as it was" originally, although I'd like to see how he'd do incorporating Stone Age technology into his life. If you want good sound, you have to understand that time goes by and technology evolves. I'm glad you took into account the limitations and eccentricities of the older system and found your own way around it. Just because the guitar was made way back when, doesn't mean every song or show has to be a tribute to history. Thanks for the input. It's greatly appreciated...... :encouragement::applouse:

Nods to the old ways and look forward to what's to come......
 

davismanLV

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A man needs his secrets. Or something.
I, too, was surprised to know that you had a Songbird in the pile, GAD. I'm fascinated by these guitars for some reason and will wait a bit impatiently for your review. How big IS the pending pile??? My curiosity will get me in trouble one day..... :devilish:
 

The Guilds of Grot

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I, too, was surprised to know that you had a Songbird in the pile, GAD. I'm fascinated by these guitars for some reason and will wait a bit impatiently for your review. How big IS the pending pile??? My curiosity will get me in trouble one day..... :devilish:


Probably what happened is he got the GX Series from me and then realized he needed a Songbird to compare it to!
 
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mavuser

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My favorite variations are the Barry Gibb models. Here's a blue one just for fun:

bg.jpe

walrus

the Barry Gibb model is the deeper one w the Fishman barndoor electronics. He is always playing the earlier, skinnier ones w the knobs on the side.
 

adorshki

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Al can be a purist and tends to want everything "as it was" originally, although I'd like to see how he'd do incorporating Stone Age technology into his life.
Jut because I like factory stock and have the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy doesn't mean I want to go backwards.
On the other hand, as long as it's got 6 strings I'd probably be happy.
H4399-L170489580.jpg


:tongue-new:

Ohwaitaminnit: Fretboard....gotta have a fretboard.......
:glee:
 
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GAD

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Yup. I've got a Songbird:

Guild-Songbird-TopFull.jpg

And because I know this will be the next question:

5D3_7872_1600.jpg
 
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