1965 Thunderbird 6 on a side tuners

w eddy

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I bought this guitar at a garage sale and I'm looking for some info (production total,value etc). I think This headstock (reverse fenderish)better matches the body .Anyway It is a GREAT playing , sounding,and looking guitar. If anyone is hip to this model please let me know. THANKS
 

hansmoust

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w eddy said:
I bought this guitar at a garage sale and I'm looking for some info (production total,value etc). I think This headstock (reverse fenderish)better matches the body .Anyway It is a GREAT playing , sounding,and looking guitar. If anyone is hip to this model please let me know. THANKS

Hello w eddy,

So far I've seen different versions of the S-50 Jet-Star and the S-100 Polara with the 6-on-a-side tuners, but never a Thunderbird. I'm not saying that it can't be and if such a beast exists I definitely would like to see it. Can you show us a picture?
If you don't know how to post pictures, just send them to me at: guitarchives@wxs.nl
and I will take care of it.
What's the serial number?

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

hansmoust

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Hello everybody,

Like I said in my earlier posting, I've seen the 6-in-line headstock on Jet-Stars and Polaras from the mid-'60s, but never on a Thunderbird.
Well, here it is:

w eddy's very rare variation of a Guild Thunderbird from 1965:

Thunderbird_65.jpg


Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalaore.nl
 

FNG

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At a garage sale? C'mon, Eddy..fess up. Tell us the tale.
 

w eddy

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My cousin calls me up and says, My friend is having a garage sale this weekend.She has a guild guitar that she bought in 1963(and used it in a all girl band throughout the 60's),would I be interested? So it really didn't make it to the sale.It's more of a pre garage sale purchase. I told him the serial # makes it a 65 but she swears it was bought in early 63,in New Jersey.Anyway she took the money I offered and he brought it to me that monday.when I saw the case I knew I hit a home run,when I opened it ,well you could imagine .
 

matsickma

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WOW! Very sweet deal!

To Hans...

Hans, about 2 years ago a refinished (dark stain) Thunderbird with the reversed "fenderish" head appeared on ebay being auctioned by a guy from Harrisburg, PA. I remember the auction stated that the when the guitar was origionally purchased the origional owner was told at the music store that the guitar was a one of a kind prototype. These look to be pretty rare but is now the 2nd one I have seen online.

M
 

hansmoust

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matsickma said:
To Hans...

Hans, about 2 years ago a refinished (dark stain) Thunderbird with the reversed "fenderish" head appeared on ebay being auctioned by a guy from Harrisburg, PA. I remember the auction stated that the when the guitar was origionally purchased the origional owner was told at the music store that the guitar was a one of a kind prototype. These look to be pretty rare but is now the 2nd one I have seen online.

M

Hello Mike,

Remember the 'prototype' claim but for some reason I think it was not a Thunderbird.
Did you 'save' the photo of the auction? Anyway, knowing how they worked at Guild, there must be at least a few of those. Just finding them!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

matsickma

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Hi Hans,

I tracked down the info on the Thunderbird. It was origionally listed in Feb 2005. It was then relisted June 2005 where it sold for $1825. I have the old ebay HTML for both auctions. The June auction has the best info because it shows a close up of the head. It definitely has the reverse 6-in-a-line but it has the additional feature of a Thunderbird emblem near the round top of the headstock. This one has the "mickey mouse" pups without the chrome surround. I am not sure how to post it here so I'll send it to you. Check your email.

Mike
 

hansmoust

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Thanks Mike,

Yup, that's another one, although they are obviously not from the same batch. Another good example of Guild's pragmatic approach when finishing the guitars: 'Just use whatever good parts you have available to get them out the door!'

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

The Guilds of Grot

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So come on w eddy, how much did you pay? After all, we're just amongst friends!

It's really cool when a Guild shows up that Hans hasn't seen before!

Any idea as to where in New Jersey she bought it.

Inquiring minds want to know! (Well maybe just nosy ones)
 

krysh

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The Guilds of Grot said:
So come on w eddy, how much did you pay? After all, we're just amongst friends!

It's really cool when a Guild shows up that Hans hasn't seen before!

Any idea as to where in New Jersey she bought it.

Inquiring minds want to know! (Well maybe just nosy ones)

hey kurt,

good to see you back again, how are you?

all the best.

michael
 

hansmoust

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The Guilds of Grot said:
It's really cool when a Guild shows up that Hans hasn't seen before!

Believe me Kurt, that still happens on a regular basis. That's what makes the Guild research fascinating and frustrating at the same time.
When I posted Another good example of Guild's pragmatic approach when finishing the guitars: 'Just use whatever good parts you have available to get them out the door!' I wasn't joking. There are a lot of variations of Guild guitars floating around that were never catalogued and so you will only know about them, after you've seen them. Of course you still need to figure out if what you have is a real Guild or something that was put together outside the Guild factory. But that part can be fun as well!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Jahn

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Eddy, thanks for proving the value of LTG to us again - where else would we have ever seen such a beastie? Congrats!
 

matsickma

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I'll post a frame grab so all can see the "other" Thunderbird with 6-in-line tuners.

IMG]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a343/matsickma/Guild_Thunderbird/GUILD_Thunderbird_6_IN_LINE.jpg[/IMG]

M
 
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hansmoust said:
w eddy said:
I bought this guitar at a garage sale and I'm looking for some info (production total,value etc). I think This headstock (reverse fenderish)better matches the body .Anyway It is a GREAT playing , sounding,and looking guitar. If anyone is hip to this model please let me know. THANKS

Hello w eddy,

So far I've seen different versions of the S-50 Jet-Star and the S-100 Polara with the 6-on-a-side tuners, but never a Thunderbird. I'm not saying that it can't be and if such a beast exists I definitely would like to see it. Can you show us a picture?
If you don't know how to post pictures, just send them to me at: guitarchives@wxs.nl
and I will take care of it.
What's the serial number?

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

I have a '65 S-100 with the "6 on a side" tuners. To date I've only seen pictures of one other, but that one had a 'natural' finish on the headstock and mine is black. I understand that these are rare, but do you know which of these would be 'stock' or modified?

Thanks,

Mike
 

matsickma

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I know from personal experiance that both S-100's are stock. Guild experimented. At first I thought the black headstock was for the "red" ones and the blond wood headstock was for the "sunburst " ones. However I have seen the opposite. The S-100's with these variations is the 2nd version that have the white Mickey Mouse pickups and the pickup selection switch and Master Vol/Tone control similar to a Thunderbird. The earlier S-100's had the chrome or white-top soapbars, traditional Vol/Tone control for neck and bridge pickup and the Thunderbird styled "Merle Travis" assymetric headstock.

M
 
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