New Owner of a Guild BB

[East Coast Pat]

Good day all!
New to the forum and also first time Guild owner.
Firstly, I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to pull the trigger on a BB, (well maybe it has something to do with them being fairly rare around my neck of the woods lol).

Anyway, I’ve done quite a bit of research on the one I acquired and found out a lot of info on this group. It was sold to me as a 2003 US made Bluesbird, from what I can gather I think it may be? Not 100% sure on that, the serial number on this one is very faint and there is no made in the US anywhere.

Here’s a pic of the headstock and guts, if anyone can chime in it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Pat

 

[HeyMikey]

Welcome and congrats Pat! Looks like a 1997, see below. Those SD pickups should sound great in it! More pics please.

http://support.guildguitars.com/downloads/datingyourguild.pdf

 

[mushroom]

Hello

BB are awesome guitars as I’m sure you are now aware.

I’m sure there are people here who will have a build date for you.

Post a full picture if you can.

Welcome aboard.

 

[GGJaguar]

Welcome to LTG and congrats on your Bluesbird! Based on the "CM" serial prefix, your guitar was made in Corona, California and is likely from 2002.

 

[East Coast Pat]

Welcome and congrats Pat! Looks like a 1997, see below. Those SD pickups should sound great in it! More pics please.

http://support.guildguitars.com/downloads/datingyourguild.pdf

They actually do! I was actually a bit shocked when I plugged it in, I had a D’Angelico a couple of years ago with SD’s (they may even have been the same ones) but didn’t sound nowhere near as good as these ones.
(not sure) but to be honest, probably the best sounding guitar I’ve owned so far lol

Thanks, it’s been difficult yet very fun to try and decode this guitar
And yes, I will post some pics

 

[East Coast Pat]

Welcome to LTG and congrats on your Bluesbird! Based on the "CM" serial prefix, your guitar was made in Corona, California and is likely from 2002.

Thank you, the seller wasn’t too far off on the 2003 date then

 

[East Coast Pat]

Hello

BB are awesome guitars as I’m sure you are now aware.

I’m sure there are people here who will have a build date for you.

Post a full picture if you can.

Welcome aboard.

Hey thanks!
I can honestly say that I like it more than the R9 I once had, the weight, balance, sound, playability, fretwork, and that neck!!! I’ll be on the lookout for more now
Will post some full on pics soon

 

[jp]

Awesome acquisition, Pat and welcome to the forum!

Those Westerly Bluesbirds are fine guitars. Looking forward to the full pics!

 

[HeyMikey]

Welcome to LTG and congrats on your Bluesbird! Based on the "CM" serial prefix, your guitar was made in Corona, California and is likely from 2002.

Ah, you are right. I didn’t look closely enough. I thought it read CL not CM.

 

[GAD]

Moved to Solidbody Forum

 

[GAD]

Hey thanks!
I can honestly say that I like it more than the R9 I once had, the weight, balance, sound, playability, fretwork, and that neck!!! I’ll be on the lookout for more now
Will post some full on pics soon

Congrats! Does it have a fat neck?

As someone who's owned four R9s and has still has a MTM R9 and a Brazillian R7, if you like the Bluesbird you should try a maple Nightbird.

 

[East Coast Pat]

Congrats! Does it have a fat neck?

As someone who's owned four R9s and has still has a MTM R9 and a Brazillian R7, if you like the Bluesbird you should try a maple Nightbird.

The neck is a nice chunky I would call it lol not sure if they’re all similar but this one has a really nice width and I really like the taper also, the R9 was a little narrower and like a bit deeper, not much tapper to it either, almost the same all the way down (Don’t get me wrong the R9 was also a killer guitar but the BB is fantastic for the price point).
The BB’s neck reminds me a lot of the Hamer Studio I had in the past which I loved.
I’ll be on the lookout for that maple bird!
Cheers!

 

[GAD]

Nice!

For the money, Bluesbirds are a freaking steal - no doubt about it.

 

[Hobbesickles]

Can you post some pics of the front of the guitar as a whole? I also have 2002 Bluesbird, serial number CM000185, that I believe is finished in Amber but it does not have the color written in the pickup cavity like yours does. Thanks!

 

[GAD]

Love it!

 

[GGJaguar]

Can you post some pics of the front of the guitar as a whole? I also have 2002 Bluesbird, serial number CM000185, that I believe is finished in Amber but it does not have the color written in the pickup cavity like yours does. Thanks!

Wow, the figuring in that maple has some movement!

 

[GAD]

Wow, the figuring in that maple has some movement!

I love unique figure like that. I think it’s from trying to identify so many guitars in pictures that I love how easy it is to recognise the guitar from the top.

 

[East Coast Pat]

Can you post some pics of the front of the guitar as a whole? I also have 2002 Bluesbird, serial number CM000185, that I believe is finished in Amber but it does not have the color written in the pickup cavity like yours does. Thanks!

Looks like they were cut from the same cloth!!
Really hard to capture but the top looks alive! I initially thought it was a veneer on top but I really don’t think it is. I assume the fretboard is rosewood but it’s dark like ebony…even the wood grain on the mahogany is sweet!

 

[GGJaguar]

Great quilt top on that one!

 

[GAD]

Looks like they were cut from the same cloth!!
Really hard to capture but the top looks alive! I initially thought it was a veneer on top but I really don’t think it is. I assume the fretboard is rosewood but it’s dark like ebony…even the wood grain on the mahogany is sweet!

I don't know of any US-made guild that used a veneer.