Need vintage Guild electric guitar buying advice, please.

[lungimsam]

If I run into a vintage guild electric do I need to avoid any models/years/features?
Don’t know if it’ll be a semi hollow or solid body yet. I seem to like the looks of S-100,S-300,Starfires so far.
Anything else to look out for?
Thanks.
PS- I’m a player, not a collector so it won’t matter to me if electronics are original or not. But I do need structurally sound, straight neck, intonatable.
BTW- do NS pups fit in Guild vintage guitars if I need replacements?

 

[GAD]

If I run into a vintage guild electric do I need to avoid any models/years/features?
Don’t know if it’ll be a semi hollow or solid body yet. I seem to like the looks of S-100,S-300,Starfires so far.
Anything else to look out for?
Thanks.
PS- I’m a player, not a collector so it won’t matter to me if electronics are original or not. But I do need structurally sound, straight neck, intonatable.
BTW- do NS pups fit in Guild vintage guitars if I need replacements?

There aren't really any dud models out there, though there's some weird stuff from the '80s. It doesn't sound like that's what you're after, though.

I like the Bluesbirds a lot and LOVE the Nightbirds, but Nightbirds get pricey. Hell, these days everything has gotten pricey.

As for NS pickups, it depends on the model. The HB1s were designed to be the same size, and the LB1s were designed to be the same size as the AntiHums. The NS HB2s (Not to be confused with the vintage bass pickups) were designed to fit into standard modern pickup routes (think Gibson Les Paul pickups). Just know that the NS pickups are Nickel while the vintage hardware is chrome, so they don't exactly match if that bugs you.

 

[mushroom]

As for solid bodies I’ve got s100 s300 and bluesbird models and they are all different but all good. I guess that’s why we’re all here

I’ve really not ran into a bad one unless it’s been totally abused.

Try them out if you can cause there can be quite the difference between models (and guitars).

 

[Guildedagain]

You need this.

 

[mavuser]

if i could only have one Guild electric, i'd make sure to have one with the neck mounted to the body at the 18th fret, but that is just me. and I do love my Nightingale, but if I were to choose only one...Guild makes the best 18'ers out of anyone (S-50, S-100, Starfire 4/5/6). that S-50 in above post #4 would be a great move!

 

[Horuss]

With S-300s, you will see models called 'S-300," "S-300A," "S-300D," and "S-300AD".

The 'A' means the guitar has an ash body. The 'D' means it has DiMarzio pickups.

If it's just called an S-300, or S-300A, if it hasn't been modified it should have Guild HB-1 pickups.

The HB-1 pickups sound a lot different than the DiMarzio pickups. DiMarzios, to me, are kind of the standard for the hard-rock sound of the 70's, like Molly Hatchet or something. Nothing wrong with that, if that's your deal.

HB-1s are often described as 'airy.' Perhaps not as much of a compressed sound as most humbuckers. They produce really lovely, full clean tones, like no humbuckers I've ever heard, but in the bridge position especially, they can give you a nice bite that almost sounds like a single-coil.

 

[Groundwire]

With S-300s, you will see models called 'S-300," "S-300A," "S-300D," and "S-300AD".

The 'A' means the guitar has an ash body. The 'D' means it has DiMarzio pickups.

If it's just called an S-300, or S-300A, if it hasn't been modified it should have Guild HB-1 pickups.

The HB-1 pickups sound a lot different than the DiMarzio pickups. DiMarzios, to me, are kind of the standard for the hard-rock sound of the 70's, like Molly Hatchet or something. Nothing wrong with that, if that's your deal.

HB-1s are often described as 'airy.' Perhaps not as much of a compressed sound as most humbuckers. They produce really lovely, full clean tones, like no humbuckers I've ever heard, but in the bridge position especially, they can give you a nice bite that almost sounds like a single-coil.

That is an excellent description of HB-1’s. They have an uncompressed bite which makes them excellent for rhythm guitar work. Normally I only like humbuckers for crunchy power chord stuff, and prefer single coils for chords and comping, but my S-100 can do both really well. Very expressive.

 

[lungimsam]

Thanks for the info. I was wondering what the diffs were! I think I would like the HB1 better than the DiMarzios