SJS
Member
Who has one? I thought my guitar lust was under control and I saw Shawn Colvin playing one. Now I want one. I'm not going to put electricity in my 1978 G37 so these Songbirds look like the perfect solution. Who has a thought?
Songbird Lust
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davismanLV
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I'd love to see Shawn Colvin playing one!! 
SJS
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I'd love to see Shawn Colvin playing one!!
Cool clip!
But the only Guild I see is Rosanne Cash with an F65CE(?).
walrus
But the only Guild I see is Rosanne Cash with an F65CE(?).
walrus
davismanLV
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That's Rosanne Cash on the F65ce. Shawn is playing a Taylor!
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I'm prepared to be corrected, but I don't think Songbirds had an oval soundhole...
walrus
walrus
davismanLV
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I'm pretty sure that's an F65ce in blonde.
SJS
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I stand corrected. And it's not a Songbird apparently but close. I'm definitely wrong on that. I saw it and guessed but upon closer inspection, it looks like it might be maple.
SJS
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I stand corrected...and still want one. It would look great next to the G37
davismanLV
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davismanLV
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If you want an actual Songbird, our member @hearth_man has one for sale here. You might take a look.
If you want info on the Songbird or later model S4CE you have come the the right place - we love em. The original Songbird is thinner and has a round control knob the S4CE is slightly thicker and has an on board preamp with sliders for EQ. Build quality is as good as a Gibson. I traded an old flat top for a like new model and an amp in 2001 to teach my son to play (mission accomplished and he is a better player than I these days) These were intended to be an electric guitar that sounds acoustic. However the stock UST is dated and very "quacky' so most use them unplugged to play at home quietly and they are excellent for this. The best way I can describe the tone is a strip of spring steel in a large vice where you feel the vibrations long after the sound has died. This is what the transducer is intended to pick up. I was never happy with the stock UST. What I did do is wired a Pick Up the World (Quackbuster) in parallel with the UST inside behind the bridge. This is a tough install so have someone do this and save a lot of grief. This is a sound board transducer and absorbs the peaks of the quacks smoothed out the sound. I did not want to alter the basic stock pickup as I think it's a sleeper and didnt want to do an irreversible mod. For an amp I have a 90's Trace Elliot TA30 for this one and run the line out to my Excelsior Pro if I need more volume but it does not sound line an acoustic at that point - good luck in your search you will not be disappointed
SJS
Member
Thank you for the info. With todays electronic wizardry, and maybe run it through a good preamp, the quack can probably be dealt with. Anyway, great info.
adorshki
Reverential Member
CO-rrect.
CO-rrect.
The thing to know about Songbirds is that they're actually solid hog bodies, routed for a resonant chamber and fitted with traditional braced sitka tops. Pretty quiet unplugged. F65ce's are traditional flat-top construction with a UST and later an additional soundhole mic with a blender pre-amp.
Songbirds and early F65ce's used a 24-3/4 scale but the F65ce's neck was a full 24-fret / 1-5/8" nut. Songbirds 24-3/4" 22 fret necks, I thought with 1-11/16 nuts, but a '96 catalog shows it with 1-5/8 nut, then a late '97 catalog shows it with a 25-5/8 scale (which the F65ce definitely went to in late '94) and 1-5/8 nut, which I question. That catalog also shows rosewood pickups spec'd for the S-100 for example:
Anyway, although I do know they had a body depth change, I don't recall any refs to Songbirds getting longer scales later on, and that also entails relocation of the bridge and bracing adjustments which the F65ce did get.
Our members @Nuuska and @GuildFS4612CE (Jane) both have pretty good familiarity with Songbirds and can confirm or correct my recollection, I think.
These are Songbirds:
This is an F65ce Blonde (sadly Peter's not playing it but at least his partner was great!):
Hope that helps.
SJS
Member
Yummy, Grot!I think this might be what he wants now!
hansmoust
Enlightened Member
That's a tricky one, but actually that's an F45CE from the early '90s.
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
SJS
Member
So now I'm torn between the two... Songbird or F45CE. Or something else as long as it says Guild on the headstock. Thank you, Hans.
davismanLV
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@hansmoust , for educational purposes, how do you tell the difference if you don't mind saying??
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hansmoust
Enlightened Member
An F65CE would have the G-shield headstock inlay and 'deluxe' two-tone mother-of-pearl/abalone fingerboard inlays.
It's just a matter of looking at the specs, although I must admit that looking at a grainy 'YouTube' clip is not always an easy way of figuring these things out.
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl