Brian Bowdren's Pilot article

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fronobulax

fronobulax

Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
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The late Brian Bowdren (1954-2004) wrote what I understand to be a fairly compete and comprehensive guide to the Guild Pilot. At one point he was selling it but eventually a PDF was free to download. His site (www.bassguild.com) is partially archived at www.archive.org but the archive does not seem to have captured the PDF. Now that I own a Pilot, I am very interested in the article and can't seem to find it. Anyone have a copy they could email to me?
 
Hello, I notice this thread is a couple of years old...I did business with Brian on an SB-605 that I still own, and I have his article. I'd be happy to scan and email it to anyone that wants it.
His article was called something like "Workingman's Bass."
I traded an X-701 straight across for the SB-605. He tried to sell me on his Butterbass but I didn't bite. I'd love to know where the X-701 ended up. It was my first Guild. $399 at Rondo Music, Union, New Jersey in 1982. I still have the warranty somewhere.
 
stanley said:
Hello, I notice this thread is a couple of years old...I did business with Brian on an SB-605 that I still own, and I have his article. I'd be happy to scan and email it to anyone that wants it.
His article was called something like "Workingman's Bass."
I traded an X-701 straight across for the SB-605. He tried to sell me on his Butterbass but I didn't bite. I'd love to know where the X-701 ended up. It was my first Guild. $399 at Rondo Music, Union, New Jersey in 1982. I still have the warranty somewhere.
Click to expand...

Yes please, and thank you. You may PM me for an email address and then I can pass it on to Kurt and Sandy.
 
Okay, I've gotta dig through the basement and find Brian's article.
I actually regret the 701 / 605 trade. Pound for pound (and it was heavy) the 701 was a better instrument. It was weighted better, better tone, passive pups, better bridge.
Once I stopped using dope I just couldn't deal with the style anymore - black sparkle, very pointy - but I could fly on that thing.
The EMG active 605 is a much different animal, lends itself well to hard rock / metal but it has its limits. I mostly play my mexi-jazz due to its versatility. The Pilot is on loan to my guitar buddy's kid who is very into that fat B and wishes he could go lower still.
The 701: I would buy it back if I could find it. I think Brian converted it to a 702. The cavity was factory routed for the second pup so it was easy to convert. I busted the pickguard, twice, by stepping on the cord. Spares were available direct from Guild so I bought the 702 pickguard. I believe Brian sold it to a guy in upstate NY or maybe Toronto, I don't recall. Somewhere I have the serial number and original warranty. I'll probably find it when I find the Pilot article.
 
fronobulax said:
Grot, who owns several Pilots, says the early ones that are just a slab across the back are a pain to play. The contour really helps.
Click to expand...
Close, but not quite right. The very early "20-fret" Pilots didn't have an arm bevel on the lower bass bout. That's what hurts!

Pilot-Pickguard.jpg

Red one on the right.
 
Well, you see, it's my duty to make statements that are almost right so that folks have the opportunity to increase their post count by correcting me and not resorting to threads about nothing. (Which is an opportunity for someone else to add to their count by finding the link to that thread).

That said, I really was thinking the problem was a belly and not an arm, but I stand corrected.
 
Fascinating article. Link below is to a copy in my Dropbox. Please save your own copy because I will eventually clean out my Dropbox and those who want future reference will have to PM me. Thanks very much for scanning.

In a quick skim the two things I noted is that "Cake Knife" seems to be the official Guild term for one of the headstocks and I'm not sure where the passive PUs fit into the mix, although that may be the difference between skimming and reading and a more leisurely time will answer the question.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/62319215/BowdrenPilot.pdf
 
It seems Brian had great access to the guys that built these bass guitars. I've always wondered about the array of peg heads these came with. Looks like marketing was pushing design and build to me. The Hockey Stick and Charvel struck me as a misguided attempt to capture market share.
 
Some interesting info in the article. I was not aware that the pick guards varied. I'll have to look into that! I'll also have to look at my bridges closer! It's a cool story about the "P" pick-ups getting flipped but eventually all the "post pick guard Pilots had that arrangement. I have to disagree with Mr. Dronge though, as I think the original position sounds better.

So he claims the SB601 had a single DiMarzio and the SB-603 had a single EMG. Hmmm, so that means that what I thought was an SB-601 would really be an SB-603! (Note the pick-up hasn't been reversed yet.)

SB-600s.jpg


Guess I'll have to wait for "Volume II" to find out the truth! (Unless Hans would like to comment about it now...:wink:)

I will agree that with the one pick-up and a super lightweight poplar body that the bass does suffer from neck dive.

He didn't mention about the early Pilots only being 20 frets and the lack of a arm bevel and he could have elaborated a little more about the various strap buttons and their two different locations.

Also, there were two different height roller string trees.

100_6683_zpsab46bc92.jpg



Here's my Pilot "Timeline": (Minus the "Pros")

Pilots-All_zps1314b5d2.jpg
 
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