I finally got a (Newark Street) M-75!!

[guitarlover]

I do have one question for the forum : did the Korean M75's always have pinned "bridge feet"? Mine does : superficially, it looks like it has the vintage model's floating metal "cups" as bridge feet under the height adjustment wheels....but it doesn't.
There's a metal pin underneath that cup that fits into a hole in the guitar's top. Works great, not a problem, but I was under the impression the first couple reissue years (mine is a '14) had the vintage style cups, no pin.

The goldtop did not have the pins. My two other black Aristocrats have pins.

 

[guitarlover]

Ah, OK, so I didn't dream that, good.

The pinned feet do work of course, but they severely limit my choice of wood bridge saddles - to the extent I'll probably end up having one made with the right compensation for my choice of string gauge and the built-in bridge slant.
And the same post hole spacing and -size as the supplied tune-a-matic.
Oh boy..

The bridge saddle that was on the guitar when I got it turned out to be some kind of synthetic material (!), and it's compensated for a wound G. The original TOM was in the case pocket.

I have one of my black ones with a setup for flatwounds and a wooden bridge. The pinned cups were "repositioned" "new holes" but the old ones are still covered by the pins. No visible "damage".

 

[jp]

The goldtop did not have the pins. My two other black Aristocrats have pins.

Hmmm . . . another interesting Guild inconsistency to log in my brain. I wonder what the backstory is on this difference?

 

[guitarlover]

Hmmm . . . another interesting Guild inconsistency to log in my brain. I wonder what the backstory is on this difference?

This is not just Guild. I've seen it with the Gretsch Electromatic series too. Some older models have "movable" bridges, later models have pinned bridges.

 

[GGJaguar]

My early (2012) NS Starfire IV has a floating bridge. That didn't last long before they were pinned.

 

[Blues&BebopFan]

beautiful ! Wish you tons of fun with it !!

 

[Walter Broes]

I'm in a hotel bed after a show in Switzerland, and I have this guitar with me, a hotrodded 1960 X150 :
and everything's working and sounding good and staying in tune. Somewhere after half the set I put the big guitar aside to do two tunes on a baritone guitar.
When I grab it again after that and want to plug it back in, I notice to my frustration that Somehow the nut on the output jack has worked itself loose, and the jack socket has fallen.. into the guitar.

BUT...I'd taken the black M75 as a backup, and I'm glad to report it performed like a champ! It hits the amp about as hard as the big guitar, doesn't sound all that much smaller, and stays in tune great! It's definitely staying, and because of its handy size and surpringly big sound, it'll probably be my backup from now on! This kind felt like the final confirmation I needed - it' a keeper!

 

[Harp Tail]

Glad it went well and agree with you fully, Walter - extraordinarily fine guitar for the money. The neck grip on mine is very enjoyable and the ebony board complements it elegantly. I wonder if the rosewood fretboard ones sound any different, especially unplugged.
I actually do play it unplugged often as it's the perfect volume for late night living room strumming.

I have the Aristocrat sitting next to two very nice vintage Westerly Starfires but I often grab the lil one for a number of reasons, including ergonomics.

 

[guitarlover]

I'm in a hotel bed after a show in Switzerland, and I have this guitar with me, a hotrodded 1960 X150 :
and everything's working and sounding good and staying in tune. Somewhere after half the set I put the big guitar aside to do two tunes on a baritone guitar.
When I grab it again after that and want to plug it back in, I notice to my frustration that Somehow the nut on the output jack has worked itself loose, and the jack socket has fallen.. into the guitar.

BUT...I'd taken the black M75 as a backup, and I'm glad to report it performed like a champ! It hits the amp about as hard as the big guitar, doesn't sound all that much smaller, and stays in tune great! It's definitely staying, and because of its handy size and surpringly big sound, it'll probably be my backup from now on! This kind felt like the final confirmation I needed - it' a keeper!

Great guitars indeed !
Did you change anything on the M 75 or did you leave it stock ?

 

[Walter Broes]

Did you change anything on the M 75 or did you leave it stock ?

I Still had a brand new gold Tonepros abr-1 style tune-a-matic I was going to use on some project but never did, and I put that on it. Otherwise stock