Guild vs. Fender

dane

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I moved this from Amps and Effects. I could go into a long drawn out story on this but instead I’ll get right to the point. For a long time my dream amp has been a Fender Twin Reverb. One problem though…there is no way I can justify paying the going price on one. For now I use my Guild Thunder 1that I bought back in the 1970’s, or if I need reverb my Peavey Bandit 112. The Peavey really doesn’t blow my sox off, but I got it cheep. So here is the question, did Guild ever build an amp to compete with or is comparable to the Fender Twin? As my dear old dad use to say, “I got champagne taste but only beer money”. :oops: Thanks.

Dane
 

capnjuan

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Hi Dane; probably have to wait for matsickma for a definitive answer but with one or two exceptions, I have nearly all the schematics for the larger, late-60s Guild amps and none of them are 4X6L6; mostly pairs of 8417s, 6L6s, and 6550s ... 50-70 watts. CJ
 

matsickma

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I don't think Guild ever tried to pack the power of a Twin with 4 6L6's in a combo 2-12 cabinet. So I would say no. On the other hand the Superbird II was pretty powerful. I had seen a reference that the Superbird II was trying to compete with Sunn amp of that era. I don't know that to be true. Their was one amp called a "747" that never went to final production. Their is little info available but from what I presumed I think the "747" would have been the most powerful guitar amp released by Guild- we'll never know.

M
 

dane

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Hummm… :? Ok let’s go at this from a different direction. What Guild amp would you recommend that is rated at around 50 watts that has great reverb and a warm rich tone? Thanks again.
Dane.
 

jmac

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Dane,

I play a Fender Princeton 112. It's got 65 watts, a warm tone and reverb. With my Guild X-160 plugged into it, its a beautiful sound. They don't make the Princeton anymore, but the Fender Frontman 65R is available and it looks like essentially the same amp. It lists for $450.

I've been thinking about getting the Frontman 212 (100 watts), but its a lot heavier than my Princeton.
 

matsickma

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Well there is only one amp close to your request: a 1969/70 Thunderbird amp with 2-12 inch Jensens and a pair of 6L6's.

However the amp that I find to be the best sounding of all the Guilds are the black 2-12 late 1967/1968 Thunderbirds. I run a pir of JBL's K120's in mine. This model Thunderbird has a pair of 7591A power tubes and puts out a little over 30 watts.

Guild had 3 versions of the Thuderbird amp. Version 1 and 2 use 7591A power tubes and has two channels and a master volume control. Version 3 uses the 6L6's and a different preamp stage. The electronics are identical to a Superstar except the Thunderbird has 2-12 instead of 1-15. In general I like the tone of the 7591A amps by Guild. Guild also made a nice little single channel Maverick amp that sound pretty good with its pair of 10 inch speakers and 7591A's.

These amps are hard to come by. In general Guild amps have very good sounding reverb and tremelo.

M
 

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+1 on the Maverick, although I'd suggest some more efficient speakers than the stock CTS 10". It projects pretty well, but it's not as loud as my Vibrolux (35 watts).
 

dane

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Thanks all for your input. I think you got me heading in the right direction. :D
 

capnjuan

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Hi Dane: Guild Thunderbird (later version) on eBay Reverb, tremolo, 2-channel, master volume control, pair of 6L6s pumping out 50 watts of Guild beastie boy power! Fair to good condition with a pair of probably original Jensen 'Concert' C12Ns. Got roadies? 75 - 100 pound range .. :shock: :)

thunderbirdv2.jpg
 

jmac

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It would be so sweet to gig with that amp. I wonder how much it cost to deliver it once you buy it on ebay?
 

matsickma

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The Guild Thunderbird amp shown in the picture and in the auction is the 2nd version of the Thunderbird (note the Master Volume control) which means it's finals are a pair of 7591A's and not 6L6's.

M
 

dapmdave

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jmac said:
It would be so sweet to gig with that amp. I wonder how much it cost to deliver it once you buy it on ebay?

Seller says $99.

Dave
 

capnjuan

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sfIII said:
Anyone know where Waverly is????
Hi Howard; it's everywhere .... based on some occasional ebay listings, wherever it is, they used to make a few Guilds there ....
 

gregsguitars

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The only side by side I have had the chance to do was with a Guild 59/60 model amp single 12 speaker up against a Tweed Princeton...very close on these two , with the "balls" going to the guild for its breakup and overdrive at much lower levels than the Princeton. They were both great at clean tones although like I have said the Guild got a little hairier than the Fender earlier, It was to close to say which of these two were the best , I am thinking of getting my friends Princeton back and piggy back one to the other as they both have several inputs and see what I can come up with. Overall I preferred the Guild with all the three guitars I used (1961 Gretsch Nashville model, 72 Reissue Telecaster with a bigsby, and A 1996 Les Paul standard.), and the Fender with just one... The Gretsch (hollowbody) only because the Guild amp would feedback at lower volume levels than the Fender amp....
 

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gregsguitars said:
only because the Guild would feedback at lower levels than the Fender amp....

You're talking about that like it was a problem. :?: :?: :?:
 
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