D-40E pickup question

[jciampa]

Note: I incorrectly posted this in the archtop section -- my apologies.

There's a D-40E posted on Craigslist Boston -- http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/msg/1476754065.html.

I'm curious about the stock pickup. What did Guild use for acoustics from this period, and how do they hold up today?

As a side note, though I'm not interested in this guitar, since I live close by I'd be happy to check it out for any LTG members.

Best,

John

 

[jazzmang]

Hmmm that pickup doesn't look stock at all...

 

[hansmoust]

There's a D-40E posted on Craigslist Boston -- http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/msg/1476754065.html.

I'm curious about the stock pickup. What did Guild use for acoustics from this period, and how do they hold up today?
Best, John

Hmmm that pickup doesn't look stock at all...

Hello John and jazzmang,

That set up became an option on all flat top steel string guitars by the end of the '60s. Like most magnetic pickups for acoustic flat top guitars from that period, it didn't sound all that good.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[jazzmang]

Hmmm. Thats a pretty interesting placement of the knobs there.

Its like a jumbled up Lennon J-160 arrangement!

As usual, thanks for the info, Hans. We bow to your vast knowledge of Guild-dom!

 

[hansmoust]

Hmmm. Thats a pretty interesting placement of the knobs there.

Yeah, it's pretty weird. Here's a scan from the '69 catalog:

Its like a jumbled up Lennon J-160 arrangement!

On some models they placed the controls in a somewhat more 'regular' location ...... but still!

Here's my personal M-20 with that same style pickup:

http://www.guitarchives.nl/guitarsgalore/gallery_detail.php?id=171

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Buzzy Linhart played a few different electrified Guilds from this era.

These electrified Guilds sound a lot better, if played plugged in, if you either use DR "Zebras" or GHS "White Bronze" string sets, both of which were designed for acoustics set up w/ a magnetic p/u.

Or you can use electric strings, but then the "unplugged" sound is not too great.

Anyone know who made the p/us? Possibly DeArmond?

 

[Firebird]

My 1967 D40 is an original "electric" version that looks very similar to the picture of 12 string that Hans posted. It has the original magnetic pickup mounted at the very end of the fretboard just above the sound hole. The tone and volume controls are in the same region as the Hans picture shows. The input jack was on the bottom side of the guitar but I changed that to the endjack position a while ago.

Tonally, the pickup sounds like an old-school magnetic guitar pickup. The B string is much louder than the other strings with no way to adjust individual string volume. The tone and volume controls work great. I do not notice that they interfere with the acoustic sound of the guitar.

Three years ago, I had the neck reset and at that time, I had a Fishman preamp endjack installed. That made a good improvement to the tone and made the line signal much hotter. Still, nothing can compare to the K & K pickup that is in my D55.