BradHK
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- Joined
- Jul 1, 2014
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This NGD post is probably a little anticlimactic given that I already posted a couple photos in the Online Offerings section, but I got her cleaned up and ready to go! I did the typical disassemble (except wiring harness), inspection, cleaning, setup, and new strings. Much better! Everything other than the tuners and pickguard appear original and I could find no signs of any other pickups, bridge or tailpiece installed. I am leaning toward the pickups and Guildsby setup as being factory (especially with the chrome trim rings that match the ones in the Guild bible) but I will wait to be corrected by Hans! The tuners are older USA Grover’s but not correct for this guitar. Given the footprint on the headstock the originals would have been Grover Sta-Tite tuners. I have a set of 1960’s Sta-Tite tuners I might install with adapter bushings but I am in no rush as the current ones look and work really well. The pickguard was a newer Newark Street aristocrat guard so it did not fit around the pickups and was sitting on top of them. I was surprised the screw holes matched. It is currently without a pickguard but I might make a reproduction one. I just like the look of these with the black pickguard.
It is obvious this guitar was not a case queen but it cleaned up really well. No signs of “abuse” but plenty of signs of playing such as the finish on the back of the neck and where your right forearm rest. However, I actually like vintage guitars with honest play wear as long as they don’t look abused. There are some areas on the frets that show wear but no buzzing and I can get the action as low as I want. It plays really well. Unfortunately, I am still in temporary housing making my move and I don’t have a single amp here yet so I can’t listen to the DeArmonds!
There were two items I was worried about when I purchased the guitar: 1) the action and the ability to lower the bridge, and 2) there was a signature from an artist right on the top in black. I am not a fan of signatures on a guitar. I was pleasantly surprised that I could get nice low action and still have room to lower the bridge. Compared to my other hollow M75s and M65s from this era, this guitar appears to have a slightly steeper neck angle and there are no signs of a previous neck reset. I wonder if this was random luck or on purpose due to the Guildsby? I was also able to polish off the signature with no hint it ever existed so all good!
I have seen the “dog bone” bigsby bridge before but all the ones I have seen were flat on the bottom. This one has two pads on the outside bottom that are shaped to the curve of the top. Here is a photo:
Here are some photos with her cleaned up and shiny:
It is obvious this guitar was not a case queen but it cleaned up really well. No signs of “abuse” but plenty of signs of playing such as the finish on the back of the neck and where your right forearm rest. However, I actually like vintage guitars with honest play wear as long as they don’t look abused. There are some areas on the frets that show wear but no buzzing and I can get the action as low as I want. It plays really well. Unfortunately, I am still in temporary housing making my move and I don’t have a single amp here yet so I can’t listen to the DeArmonds!
There were two items I was worried about when I purchased the guitar: 1) the action and the ability to lower the bridge, and 2) there was a signature from an artist right on the top in black. I am not a fan of signatures on a guitar. I was pleasantly surprised that I could get nice low action and still have room to lower the bridge. Compared to my other hollow M75s and M65s from this era, this guitar appears to have a slightly steeper neck angle and there are no signs of a previous neck reset. I wonder if this was random luck or on purpose due to the Guildsby? I was also able to polish off the signature with no hint it ever existed so all good!
I have seen the “dog bone” bigsby bridge before but all the ones I have seen were flat on the bottom. This one has two pads on the outside bottom that are shaped to the curve of the top. Here is a photo:
Here are some photos with her cleaned up and shiny:
