Guild Bass Chronology 1971-1982

H

hagmeat

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2011
Messages
491
Reaction score
15
Location
Australia


kbpy.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

 
Last edited:
twocorgis

twocorgis

Venerated Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
14,110
Reaction score
6,742
Location
Lawn Guyland
Guild Total
18
Fine looking family you have there Rob! :cool-new:
 
mavuser

mavuser

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
8,228
Reaction score
2,760
Location
New York
nice! especially for Australia. I like what you did with the later pups in that one JS2. I had read that those later model black pups sounded great, and wondered if anyone ever considered that as an alternative replacement to the Humbucker (instead of a hard to find dark star), in a JS or a starfire. is that what you did there? or did the long scale model JS come that way? beautiful collection!
 
Last edited:
H

hagmeat

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2011
Messages
491
Reaction score
15
Location
Australia
Thanks for the compliments Fellas.
Mav, it is very hard to find Guild basses here and I had to get all of them from the U.S except the black `71 JS2 which I got from the U.K.
That was my first Guild bass. As for the `77 JS2 LS, that came stock with the single coils which are really great pickups and are
just as hard if not harder to find as Darkstars. It was a protoype model that Guild canned and they came out with the new B series
shape instead. See here http://letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?169654-1977-JSB-2LS
That is my number one bass and it being a `77 (birth year guitar) makes it even more special.
 
mavuser

mavuser

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
8,228
Reaction score
2,760
Location
New York
hagmeat said:
Thanks for the compliments Fellas.
Mav, it is very hard to find Guild basses here and I had to get all of them from the U.S except the black `71 JS2 which I got from the U.K.
That was my first Guild bass. As for the `77 JS2 LS, that came stock with the single coils which are really great pickups and are
just as hard if not harder to find as Darkstars. It was a protoype model that Guild canned and they came out with the new B series
shape instead. See here http://letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?169654-1977-JSB-2LS
That is my number one bass and it being a `77 (birth year guitar) makes it even more special.
Click to expand...

That is all totally awesome, and thanks for the info. 1977 is also my birth year...will keep that LS JS w/single coils tight on my radar...they are rare but there must be a few more out there. Cool pickguard too!

and cute kid!
 
H

hagmeat

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2011
Messages
491
Reaction score
15
Location
Australia
mavuser said:
That is all totally awesome, and thanks for the info. 1977 is also my birth year...will keep that LS JS w/single coils tight on my radar...they are rare but there must be a few more out there. Cool pickguard too!

and cute kid!
Click to expand...

Thanks Mav. Cool that you`re also a `77 child - great year ! I have seen a few short scale JS2`s with that muller bridge but I`ve never seen another JS2 LS with Guild single coils.
Hans said that mine was part of a small batch, so there must be others out there. Come to think of it, I`ve never sighted another JS2 with a Long Scale neck, but it was
an option at the time so there must be others out there as well. It would be cool if they started making JS2`s again but with the single coils instead. Never say never, they
reissued the S-100 with different specs so there still is hope.

Cheers mate. Rob
 
fronobulax

fronobulax

Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
24,761
Reaction score
8,895
Location
Central Virginia, USA
Guild Total
5
I've seen several long scale JS II's over the years but they don't appear that often.

I'm relying on memory but the story behind the JS II with single coils is that near the "end of life" for the JS, Guild slapped the B-30x PUs, pick guards and electronics on a JS body. My belief is they had some JS bodies and necks lying around so they decided to make basses out of them using parts that were in stock. An alternative is they they were experimenting to see whether the JS body shape still had a place in the market circa 1977. Regardless the configuration was a factory configuration, is probably rare, and was not in a Guild catalog. My memory is that I have seen pictures of at least two but I am also told I remember things that never happened.
 
mavuser

mavuser

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
8,228
Reaction score
2,760
Location
New York
I have to say, I have seen more than one JS bass online that claim to be the "LS" but do not appear to be. Hagmeat's picture tells the tale. The long scale has 20 frets and the short has 21 frets (as there is more space between the frets on the long scale, there are less of them...). also the long scale has the different bridge and it is set much further back on the body-at least it is in Hagmeat's picture.

But there are others advertised as "LS" that look just like the short scale. The ones I saw did not have the model # on the truss rod cover, so the info must have come from the hand written label on the inside of the control cavity cover on the back of the bass. I am wondering if it is a case of human error/mislabeling as we have seen with other Guild instruments (at least one other model that I know of)...or they just ran out of long scale necks and didn't change the sticker...or something like that. any previous knowledge of a JS LS mis-labeling issue?

or was there another JS LS bass that looked just like the short scale with 21 frets and the traditional bridge, yet somehow, still a long scale?

here is one example-
http://www.gbase.com/gear/guild-js-bass-ii-ls-1972-sunburst#

there is also a CARVED JS 2 bass for sale about 5 minutes from my house, that says "LS" but looks like the short scale. I would imagine if it were actually a carved LS JS2, that would be a somewhat rare Guild. Doesn't look like it though from the picture (and sounds like it might have some miles, and hes asking a lot of $$$...)
 
Last edited:
fronobulax

fronobulax

Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
24,761
Reaction score
8,895
Location
Central Virginia, USA
Guild Total
5
Somewhere there is a thread about identifying JS basses that are long scale. The answer is count the frets. I was thinking the LS had 19, not 20 but either way a LS does not have 21. Furthermore the relationship between the bridge and the rest of the body contours is visually different although camera angle can sometimes lead to the wrong conclusion. Truss rod covers can be swapped, labels can be wrong and lots of folks will just quote catalog specs without trying to determine whether they actually apply to the instrument on hand. Furthermore there are people who will define "long scale" differently. Bottom line, count the frets and/or make measurements.

That said, I believe the bass cited above is a short scale bass (30.5 ") and the dealer is in error when stating otherwise. The description makes me wonder if someone jumped to the incorrect conclusion that all JS basses after the introduction of the LS were long scale.

As for hagmeat's bass my understanding is that it does not represent any catalog spec so it is not really appropriate to use it to make any generalizations about catalog specs.

I should look for my archive photo of a "traditional" JS II LS.
 
mavuser

mavuser

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
8,228
Reaction score
2,760
Location
New York
here is a pic of the JS 2 LS. It has the traditional "harp" bridge but its set further back on the body that the short scale (saddles closer to the rear set of controls, as opposed to the front set of controls on a short scale). It has 20 frets (not 21). this is the long scale.

also it is the same red LS bass pictured with and without a flash...in the 2 pics. You are looking at 2 pictures of the the same bass

Uploaded with ImageShack.com

here is the "carved" one by my house (its on ebay too). looks like a short scale. so this would be the second mis-labeled one. There is a pic of the open control cavity so he must have seen the model # inside on the sticker-

http://reverb.com/item/7650-guild-js-bass-2-ls-acorns-and-maple-leafs-1974-walnut

Either way yes, Hagmeats JS LS is super rare/cool!
 
H

hagmeat

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2011
Messages
491
Reaction score
15
Location
Australia
Thanks Mav. Now I can safely say that I have seen another long scale JS2. I usually count the dot markers after the twelfth fret.
Besides the bridge being set further back, a long scale has 3 dots and a short scale will have 4. Here is the older thread in which
this topic was discussed.
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?170646-The-long-and-short-of-it-JS2-s-(for-Frono)

It`s also interesting to see no chesterfield inlay on that headstock, but that`s another can of worms that I`m sure has been discussed
here already in the past.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top