CE100D - hollow body or has center block?

[jcwu]

Hello Guild hollowbody experts,

I've come across a puzzle. I'm in the process of talking to a seller about a CE100D. After exchanging many emails, it turns out that when he bought the guitar, it had a Gibson style tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge. Is it even possible to have a Gibson style tailpiece on this guitar? I thought these things were hollow bodies and didn't have a center block for mounting a stop tailpiece (all the ones I've seen have either harp/trapeze or Guildsby/Bigsby tailpiece).

Was I wrong in my understanding about the construction of the CE100D? Or did the previous owner do some crazy mod to allow for installing the Gibson tailpiece?

Jason

 

[john_kidder]

I'm not an expert, but a '50s CE-100D passed through my hands some years ago, and I believe it was a true hollowbody, no sound post that I recall.

 

[Zelja]

CE100Ds are hollowbodies, with a floating bridge. Perhaps the seller means an updated type tunomatic bridge/saddles on a wooden archtop base & maybe a Gibson type hollow body tailpiece instead of the classic Guild harp tailpiece? I can't imagine putting a Les Paul type arrangement on a hollowbody. Have you got pics?

 

[jcwu]

Here are some pics (should've put them up in the first post!):

This is what the seller said:

The bridge is a tune-o-matic like the ones found on Gibson guitars. It is
not held down by string tension. It must have been changed. It's funny, but
when I bought it I didn't know it originally came with a harp tail piece,
because I had never seen another Guild hollow body before. I have never
taken a mirror and looked under the bridge, I will do that tomorrow and
tell you what I see.

When I bought it, it had a Gibson style tailpiece, Gibson speed knobs and
apparently, a Gibson style tune-o-matic bridge (TOM). I got the impression
from the guys in the music store that the former owner was a bit particular
about his guitar setup.

I'm really puzzled by what looks like bridge soundposts - I'm trying to find out from the seller if they're drilled into the body or floating. I'm assuming floating, but we're kind of crossing wires with different terms. A phone call in the morning is in order, but I'm trying to find out as much as I can here before calling tomorrow. I like that it's already converted to a tune-o-matic - that would've been one of the first mods I did upon getting a hollow body. I just can't make heads or tails of the posts.

The guitar is currently outfitted with Lindy Fralin P92's and seller says it comes with the original '77 Guild pickups, but at this point, with all the mods that had been made by the previous owner, I need to verify that they're HB1s and not DiMarzios or (gasp!) Gibson humbuckers.

 

[Walter Broes]

Those discs under the bridge posts look like the kind you see on Valco made guitars and Guild M75's, and usually they "float", but it's entirely possible the bridge posts go through them into the guitar top. And if they do, they possibly go into the top and the bracing, doesn't have to mean someone put something inside the guitar for support - a Gibson ES330 (or Epiphone Casino) is configured the same way, and they seem to hold up just fine.

 

[jcwu]

Just to follow up, the Gibson style tailpiece he mentioned was a floating tailpiece, not a stop tailpiece. The guitar IS hollow, not semi-hollow.

The bridge posts seems stuck pretty good into the body, so like Walter said, they're probably screwed into the body. Seller mentions there are two strips of wood that run along the top on the inside.

 

[Treem]

Seller mentions there are two strips of wood that run along the top on the inside.

a sign of a hollow body. 8)

Can you please post a full shot of the CE-100D, please! :mrgreen:

Thank you Jason!

 

[jcwu]

Can you please post a full shot of the CE-100D, please! :mrgreen:

I've been afraid to, because this one's been modded quite a bit. Apparently the original owner wishes it was a Gibby... it's got Fralin P92s, a Bigsby (not Guildsby) and tuneomatic bridge, and Gibson speed knobs. I figured if I posted a pic, you guys would scream bloody murder! But I buy them not to collect, but to play, so it's all good with me.

Anyhow, the guitar's not in my hands yet, but I'll post pics soon as I get it!

 

[AlohaJoe]

The Fralin P92s are killer.