NGD - '66 T-100D, Thoughts and advice...

[calvin006]

Hi all,

Happy to be a new member of this forum, and happier to be the new owner of a '66 T-100D. This guitar feels great and sounds fantastic. I wanted to share a few pics and get some thoughts and advice about a couple things. First the pics:

Everything is original, save for the tuners and case. It's also missing the truss rod cover, pickguard, and the metal covers that you usually find surrounding the Mickey Mouse pickups. I got it locally of craig's list for $1100. Was this a fair price? Recent eBay sales show a pristine T-100D went for $1590, while a not so pristine one went for $1050. This one is in good shape but definitely in the "player grade" category. With the Bigsby though, I thought $1100 was about right...

Now does anyone know where I could find metal covers to fit the pickups? I'd also like to find a close to original truss rod cover. The pickguard holes have been filled, so I probably won't try to get a replacement for that. I kinda like it without anyway. But if anyone can help with the pickup covers and truss rod cover, please let me know!

 

[Thunderface]

Let me be the first to say Welcome!. That's a great '66 T-100D you have there, excellent score! I'm sure someone here might be able to steer you towards the parts that you need. And for what it's worth, I kind of like the non-pickguard look of it. 8)

 

[taabru45]

You know what......... there aren't metal covers for your pickups....mine either.... :wink: ....Ok, guys, now how do you like the 'stain' on mine....pretty close to original I'd say .....amazing what you can do with iodine.. :shock: Steffan

 

[Thunderface]

I'll back up with Steffan said with this current eBay posting. Gives you an idea of what pickguard, TRC and original tuners would have been on your T-100D as well. And the coolest thing about yours is the Guildsby.

 

[calvin006]

That's interesting, Steffan. I guess those covers weren't secured very well. My pups definitely had covers at one point, as you can see more yellowing of the white plastic in the center where there was never a cover.

I've seen that listing, too, Thunderface. Price seems kinda high. Wonder if it will sell. But yeah, the Guildsby really did it for me. It's been a while since I used a Bigsby, and this one creates a surprisingly smooth and sensitive vibrato. Seems to hold tune well, too. And it doesn't hurt that it looks great...

 

[Thunderface]

That's interesting, Steffan. I guess those covers weren't secured very well. My pups definitely had covers at one point, as you can see more yellowing of the white plastic in the center where there was never a cover.

I've seen that listing, too, Thunderface. Price seems kinda high. Wonder if it will sell. But yeah, the Guildsby really did it for me. It's been a while since I used a Bigsby, and this one creates a surprisingly smooth and sensitive vibrato. Seems to hold tune well, too. And it doesn't hurt that it looks great...

Even though the tremolo on the Polara in the middle is a Hagstrom, I couldn't agree more on the look of a Guildsby. :wink:

 

[guildfan7]

Congrats and welcome. Just got here not long ago myself but really enjoy it....super cool git---A t100 is such a classic guitar and that one is a real jewel.

 

[Zelja]

Cool guitar & welcome to the forum.

What do those mickey mouse pickups sound like to you & what type of music do you think suits the guitar best?

 

[walrus]

Looks great without a pick guard - I've always taken the pick guard off any archtop I've ever had.

Welcome to LTG!

walrus

 

[calvin006]

Zelja - It's hard to compare the Mickey Mouse pickups to something else, as I think this guitar is adding a lot to the sound. The metal bridge (for the Bigsby) seems to add a metallic quality to the high end, which actually sounds really cool. There's also this airyness which I can only assume is due to the hollow body (all my other guitars are solid).

But if I had to compare, they sound similar to the pickups in my JV tele, which are suppose to be vintage spec. Perhaps more bass in the Mickey Mouse pups. Similar to those tele pickups, when I role the treble completely out of my Guild with the tone control, the resulting sound still has a great definition. Often times I find rolling all the treble out yields an unusable sound that lacks any attack. Though I mostly play rock, and maybe can't appreciate those really mellow jazz tones.

In short, they sound like old school single coils. The bridge pickup can a little edgy when cranked (perhaps do to the metal bridge), but rolling the tone knob a bit takes care of that and you still get some nice drive. The neck pickup has great warmth without loosing definition and attack. Overall they are really pretty unique sounding pickups. I'd say they would please anyone who likes the sound of a single coil.

 

[Zelja]

Thanks for the reply Calvin. Sounds promising. I like that you think they are unique sounding. Gives me an excuse to get a guitar with these type of PUs in them in the future.

Is the volume/output about the same as a tele?

How noisy are they? I saw an ebay ad which made mention of noiseless single coils for a guitar equipped with these which seems odd. At the same time, I found that the Franz pickups I have on my CE100D are not that noisy for a single coil.

 

[calvin006]

The output of the pickups is similar to those of my tele, that is, on the low side.

They are not noisy at all. They have the normal hum that you'd expect from single coils. Nothing unmanageable.

 

[taabru45]

When the volume is at max on the guitar, mickey mouse pups, totally quiet, but if turned to less than 10 then there is some hummmm.....I don't get it, but that is very obvious on my guitar...Steffan

 

[Zelja]

That's interesting Steffan. That's with just one pickup on rather than both pickups on? If both pickups on I can understand it. As I mentioned earlier, an ebay ad described them as "noise cancelling single coils" or something similar. Almost sounds like there is some dummy coil somewhere for noise cancelling but that's rather new technology as I understand it.

 

[taabru45]

Top, bottom, or both together....quiet at full, some hum when less than full...in the middle position, if I turn down the volume a bit on either knob, there is some hummmm....strange, but true...Steffan

 

[Zelja]

Hmmm, purely in the interests of science & for my research, I will need to purchase a similar guitar to investigate this...

 

[taabru45]

Don't mean to sound like an enabler, but I think you should.. :lol: :lol: Steffan

 

[fearless]

I used to have a 66 T100D too, sold it regretfully when I needed the cash
I agree the sound was classic old school single coil, with an added something to the character, no doubt from the hollow body. A versatile and sweet guitar. Congratulations and welcome!
Finding those metal surrounds will be akin to finding hen's teeth.

 

[calvin006]

Haha, yeah, the metal surrounds are a long shot. I'm getting used to the look of it though, so it's no biggie.

Anyone want to chime in about price? I think I might have paid a bit much, given the condition. I'm realizing it needs a fret leveling, or maybe an all out refret.

 

[fearless]

No, I don't think you paid too much for it. I paid a little less for mine, sold it for much more 4 years later. I think is unusual to find one that doesn't need at least a little work. Mine was getting close to need a neck re-set, although would be fine for another decade for someone not chasing super-low action.

A couple of hundred bucks either way is not that important in the long term IMO -you can spend or not spend that on a couple of nice dinners. I think you've got a beauty there. Enjoy!