Guild Pilot

katthestar

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Aside of my Gibson related adventures, I did find it in my wallet to buy another Guild bass. It might be the first time someone has bought one out of spite.
I like to look at Guitar Center's used stuff, and they just happened to have a Guild Pilot at the store near me. I've always meant to try one, more out of curiosity than anything else. I thought I wouldn't like it because I'm not a fan of Fender basses, and I kind of assumed the Pilot was just a P or J copy.
I ended up going on a Saturday night, and it wasn't on the store's website anymore, so I wasn't sure it would be there.
It's pretty dead (as always) and I find the bass quickly, since it's a bright blue.
The only problem is, it's up too high and even my Dad couldn't reach it.
I tried to ask the guys there for help, but they didn't seem to care much about helping people in the store.
Finally a guy says he'll be with me in a minute, which somehow turns into 5.
I tell him about the bass, and he takes it down, telling me that it has been sold and he's on the phone with the guy now.
He takes off to the front of the store with it.
I was pretty pissed then, because I waited a while just to try out this bass, and I'm not the type of person who's going to destroy it. (I also couldn't buy it with my Dad right there anyway, but I was too lazy to drive that night).
Another guy comes over and manages to bring the bass over to me and I play it for a few minutes.
The bass itself was only $500, but it was in bad shape. No case, quite a few dings where the paint had totally chipped off.
I also hated the look of the nut for some reason, it looked plasticy to me.
I give it back to the sales guy and he tries to get me other basses I might like, but they're all kind of meh.
I go back on GC's website when I get home and notice that the bass I just played is back on the website, which means it didn't sell.
I thought about buying it, but I just wasn't a fan of the dings and the bright blue.
I look through what's on there and there's a cool red one, but it's too expensive.
Then this black looking one catches my eye.
It's $550, so it's more than the one near me, but it looks like a dark blue, but I can't tell for sure.
It says it comes with a case, and I figure a case is worth at least $50 more, so I pull the trigger.
I ended up picking it up a week later.
My last GC Guild bass experience went poorly, so this time I brought some of my music and asked to play the bass before leaving the store.
It did come with a "case" but it was cardboard and fell apart when the bass came out of it.
I ended up buying a case for $100, but it's actually lightweight and really great.
I wasn't sure if I liked the bass at first, it's kind of dinged up and beat around.
The tuners are Carvins, not Guild, which I found odd.
I almost wanted to call up my luthier and see if he had any before taking the bass home, but I've learned to love the Carvins.
It's so lightweight, and the neck is so comfy and thin!
It sounds just like a Fender bass, but doesn't have the weight, the thick neck or the gloss!
It's odd, I love this bass so much, but if it got stolen, I'm not sure I would be insanely upset, like I would with my X-702.
Perhaps because I've been told that there are still quite a lot of Guild Pilots around.
It has a 1984 SB-604 serial number, but when I send pictures of it to my luthier, he tells me it is likely a 1986.
I opened up the back the other day to find out it's an active bass (it works on the passive setting of my amp, so I didn't think it was).
I also looked up the pot codes and they date to July of 1986.
My luthier said that they had extra necks lying around for a while, and that he even has a neck just like mine.
The only issue I have with it is that someone either replaced the back cover or it shrank, because it doesn't fit cover the back hole properly.
I actually thought the bass was a refin because of the dark blue color, which is why I sent pictures of it to my luthier, but he confirmed it wasn't.
It's odd that most of the blue Pilots are that very bright blue, and not this color (which I like better).
Anybody else fall in love with a Pilot?
I feel bad, but I hated them at first because I assumed they were Fender copies and the reason my beloved X-702 was discontinued.
Now I'm in love with it! (Just don't tell my X-702).
I'll add some pictures later.
Having issues getting pictures taken on my phone to come up on my computer.
 

katthestar

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fronobulax

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Wow. Never seen that color.

I spent years thinking I could not handle a 34"' scale because I had tried to play my college roommate's Precision. Someone got me to try a Pilot and my hand didn't hurt. It is never going to be my favorite bass but when I don't want the sound of a bisonic that is what I grab. Kurt (guildsofgrot) owns a whole lot of Pilots and a Pilot is his "go to" bass for gigs.

On the amps I've used the passive/active "switch" just attenuates the signal on an active bass so if you are not driving the preamp to the point where it breaks up or distorts using an active bass in passive position doesn't really make a difference.

Glad you got one. Sorry GC is still a PITA to work with.
 

The Guilds of Grot

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Guild Pilot eh? I can take 'em or leave 'em!

FacebookCover.jpg


(Strangely enough, that's not even all of them!)

There's also his one!

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lungimsam

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Congrats on the new bass!
See if your luthier can make a clear acrylic cavity cover plate for you. That would look cool!
 

katthestar

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That’s an awesome collection, Grot!
I’ve been thinking of getting a 5 string Pilot Pro at some point. If I can find one at a decent price. I think there’s one 5 on eBay, but it’s in Japan. :(
I must ask: how are you able to have so many basses?
I have 7 now and my Dad is not a fan.
He doesn’t know about the Pilot because I’m trying to unload my Fender PJ before telling him about this one.
 

katthestar

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I’ve never thought of a clear acrylic cavity. That sounds cool! It might also give me a visual reminder to change the 9V battery.
 

chazmo

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Congrats, Katthestar. I really like the color on that. Is it grey or blue? Looks like Grot has a similar finish on the right there, but that might be green ??
 

adorshki

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Wow. Never seen that color.
Special order for the color, maybe?
Looks like the Woodgrain Blue (code "WGB") seen on acoustics of the era, but yeah, can't recall seeing it on an electric of any type before.
Corona D25, but the color's been seen on late '80's JF30-12, too:
hgbnzgzh0wn17ngfcafx.jpg
 
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adorshki

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Don't know how accurate the color is in that photo, but that looks like 'Charcoal' to me!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

Definitely not green. I forget what the official color is.

Picture003b.jpg

Wow, Just goes to show ya what happens to color on different display devices.
Before one even considers the image source.
I can see the blue in Kat's photos (which Hans is referring to) but it is very "gray" and I even did a search for Trans. Black to see if it might be a better match.
Didn't remember a "Charcoal"
 
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mavuser

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Don't know how accurate the color is in that photo, but that looks like 'Charcoal' to me!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

I believe the color to be accurate in the photo Kate posted. There was a charcoal Bluesbird that 2Nevets had from Hans which was the same charcoal finish. the top on the BB was quilted maple and the bass Kate posted is not maple, hence the darker/more blueish hue than the charcoal BB. Quite a looker!
 

katthestar

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It’s a dark blue with hints of green due to the poplar wood. I thought it was a refin, but I have seen another Guild bass with the same color, just not in person. I think it’s called translucent blue. I might see if my luthier has any serial number specific information. I know he used to call up Guild and ask for information. I do wonder what the color’s name is and how common it was. The other basses with a similar color to mine appear to be maple.
 

twocorgis

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Definitely not green. I forget what the official color is.


Picture003b.jpg

I'm guessing that's the sam color as my fretless, which is something like a translucent black, but really looks more like chocolate, over the maple body at least. Probably my favorite finish for a Pilot, and I'd love to have a fretted one to match.

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adorshki

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It’s a dark blue with hints of green due to the poplar wood. I thought it was a refin, but I have seen another Guild bass with the same color, just not in person. I think it’s called translucent blue. I might see if my luthier has any serial number specific information. I know he used to call up Guild and ask for information. I do wonder what the color’s name is and how common it was. The other basses with a similar color to mine appear to be maple.

I didn't want my first post to be to complicated, but there was a "Transparent Blue" and most frequently it looks a whole light brighter on sitka and maple tops, especially from the late '90's.
The first time I saw Woodgrain Blue it looked much grayer like yours, so that always stuck with me about that color.
And finally, over time, it's been reported that the same paint color might have had different names over the years, so I've even seen that Corona D25 color called Transparent Blue (TPB) even though to my eye it's much greyer than the other Transparent Blues I've seen, like this:
156140928_guild-jf30---12-string-in-super-rare-blue---westerly-.jpg

That's an '89 JF30-12 with a "Limited Edition" TRC for the color, except I can't remember now if it was a "WGB" or a "TPB", but I'm pretty sure it was actually a "TPB", you can see it's pretty bright..
First posted here:
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/sh...-30-12-String-1989-Limited-Edition-Blue/page2

Here's a late '90's Starfire with what I'm pretty darn sure is either the "TPB" or possibly even "Sapphire" on maple:
rxupyqai4opix6zjokgj.jpg


So from what I've seen 2 of the blues really "popped" and one was much more muted, and that's before trying to account for possible lighting and imaging device "distortion".
None of 'em were very common compared to the usual Naturals, Reds/Cherrys and Sunbursts, and they usually cause a bit of a stir when they're shown here.
Final note is that Hans and Mavuser's input is not to be taken lightly.
I don't think I've ever seen "Charcoal" even in pics and I'm inclined to believe 'em except for your comment that it's definitely "blue".


More pics of the Pilot on a more neutral background under sunlight should yield best color.


Couple more notes: Have ven seen instruments from the late- '80's to early '90's periods simply called "Blue" and it looks like the sellers lifted the code directly from the labels.
One of things leading to my uncertainty is that we rarely get to see shots of the labels of 'em:
"S4ceBLU":
guild_s4ce_8601_up.jpg

The solid hog back and neck:
guild_s4ce_8601_sb.jpg

Actually the shot of the label on that one doesn't even appear to show a color code.

X3000BLU:
maple top:
p1_uk1ig4uk3_so.jpg

Not sure about neck but looks like 'hog:
p4_uwez5kox3_so.jpg


I might see if my luthier has any serial number specific information. I know he used to call up Guild and ask for information.
Oh, walked by this on my first pass but chances of that happening anymore are virtually nil, as Oxnard doesn't have any of that info.
That's what we look to Hans for.
He's actually the authoritative source for info on Westerly stuff. He actually has production records now, or at least whatever he could copy or recover of 'em when Westerly closed.
 
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