S300/S60/S65/S70 enthusistasts out there?

GAD

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I should add my reviews for posterity:

Guild S60: http://www.gad.net/Blog/2017/04/14/1977-guild-s-60/

Guild-1977-S60-FullTop.jpg




Guild S300: http://www.gad.net/Blog/2017/03/26/1981-guild-s300/

1981-Guild-S300-TopFull.jpg





There's an S300A-D review coming eventually, too. Stay tuned!
 

DrumBob

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Not feeling deprived at all. Just thankful I don't own one! I can understand how some people like the freaky uniqueness of the S models, but the shape and the thin neck always turned me off. Here I was, working for a company that had a line of electric guitars that was so controversial and unpopular at the time. It was a real challenge for me as a CS rep to try and sell them to Guild's disgruntled dealers, many of whom had stocked S series guitars to have them sit forever unsold on the racks. A few dealers blew them out below cost and that didn't make them happy. The response I often got was, "You guys make great acoustics, but the electrics? Forget it. Can't sell them."

I was friendly with the NJ/NY sales rep, Bob Bromberg, the most successful sales rep in the company, and he had trouble selling those S electrics after a while. So did a lot of the other reps, like Millie Detgen in California, Eli Rabkin in New England and Tony Colantonio in Baltimore/DC. All of them constantly complained to Neil Lilien, asking for a more conventional looking guitar they could sell. That was about the time that they brought back the M-80. Shortly after, Lilien and Leon Tell were shown the door after driving Guild sales into the gutter with unwise business decisions, and Mark Dronge took over as president of the company. Mark was and still is, a smart guy, who looked at trends in the industry and helped bring in the "Big Hair" guitars, like the X-79, X-88, etc.

Mark is now president of DR Strings in Emerson, NJ. He's a nice man. I enjoyed speaking with him recently.
 
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walrus

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And now the S model guitars are on reverb and eBay for over $1,000! Who knew?

walrus
 

GAD

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Not feeling deprived at all. Just thankful I don't own one! I can understand how some people like the freaky uniqueness of the S models, but the shape and the thin neck always turned me off. Here I was, working for a company that had a line of electric guitars that was so controversial and unpopular at the time. It was a real challenge for me as a CS rep to try and sell them to Guild's disgruntled dealers, many of whom had stocked S series guitars to have them sit forever unsold on the racks. A few dealers blew them out below cost and that didn't make them happy. The response I often got was, "You guys make great acoustics, but the electrics? Forget it. Can't sell them."

I was friendly with the NJ/NY sales rep, Bob Bromberg, the most successful sales rep in the company, and he had trouble selling those S electrics after a while. So did a lot of the other reps, like Millie Detgen in California, Eli Rabkin in New England and Tony Colantonio in Baltimore/DC. All of them constantly complained to Neil Lilien, asking for a more conventional looking guitar they could sell. That was about the time that they brought back the M-80. Shortly after, Lilien and Leon Tell were shown the door after driving Guild sales into the gutter with unwise business decisions, and Mark Dronge took over as president of the company. Mark was and still is, a smart guy, who looked at trends in the industry and helped bring in the "Big Hair" guitars, like the X-79, X-88, etc.

Mark is now president of DR Strings in Emerson, NJ. He's a nice man. I enjoyed speaking with him recently.

Always love your stories and insights.
 

Quantum Strummer

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I'm glad Guild made my S-100s and I think they're fine guitars, but at the same time I can understand why they've never sold that well. Wrong name on the headstock. For all our talk about tone and feel, I'm convinced these things are less important to many (most) players than brand affiliation and the status this brings.

It's a shame Guild never came up with an original electric design that really took off. OTOH it shouldn't be a surprise 'cuz there haven't been many such designs.

-Dave-
 

DrumBob

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Thank you, Gary.

JohnW63...Who woulda' thought those weird Ovation electrics would become collectible, but they have. They're worth more than Charlie Kaman ever thought they would be. He'd probably be amazed if he was alive. I actually always liked the Breadwinner, the one shaped like an axe blade. One of my guitar playing friends told me he wants to get one someday. Prices on Ebay and Reverb start at $850 or make an offer, to over $2200 if ordered from Japan. Most are in the $1295 asking price, but like any weird guitar, a seller has to find a buyer willing to pay, and that's 95% of the battle. The VG 2017 Price Guide values the Breadwinner at $800 in excellent shape.

As to why electric guitars looking like a Les Paul or a Strat are more popular, the answer is very simple: Gibson and Fender are the two most successful manufacturers of electric guitars in history, and guitar players, regardless of their age, level of talent, or musical leanings, are usually conservative souls who want guitars that looked like they did in the good old days. There's a certain amount of attraction and romance attached to Les Pauls and Stratocasters that's magnetic to a lot of players, mainly because their heroes played them. There's no romance attached to an Ovation Breadwinner or a Guild M-75, unfortunately. Nobody of any real popular commercial value played them enough to cause a buzz among guitarists, even though Steve Marriot posed with a Breadwinner for a magazine ad. I would almost guarantee Marriot never played it live, and probably sold the one(s) he received as part of his endorsement fee.

Let's face it: Guild was essentially a copyist manufacturer back in the day when it came to solidbody guitars and even semi hollow models. Their MO was to take a popular guitar like a Les Paul or an SG and re-imagine them with subtle improvements, like three screws in a pickup bezel, or a coil tap. Guild rarely came up with anything truly original. Not to demean what they made. The guitars were always quality. But they were almost always basic copies of something more popular. Even the S-200 Gumby featured the Fender Jaguar circuitry.
 
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Hobbesickles

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I'd like to point out that younger generations are starting to pick up electric Guilds because of their uniqueness. One of the more well known players being Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. I have a few guitar playing friends around my age that want to buy my Guilds off of me so they can present themselves as different from the norm; plus they love the way they sound and play.

It's also a cheap way into a 'vintage' guitar.
 
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GAD

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I'd like to point out that younger generations are starting to pick up electric Guilds because of their uniqueness. One of the more well known players being Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. I have a few guitar playing friends around my age that want to buy my Guilds off of me so they can present themselves as different from the norm; plus they love the way they sound and play.

It's also a cheap way into a 'vintage' guitar.

I see this too. I'm honestly quite surprised at the popularity of the Thunderbirds.
 

DrumBob

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I see this too. I'm honestly quite surprised at the popularity of the Thunderbirds.

I am too, to be honest, but maybe the design's time has come, after all these years. Back then, the Thunderbird was considered too weird looking for most guitarists, and let's face it; Guild got into the solidbody guitar game very late. The T-Bird didn't see the light of day until 1963, about fifteen years after Leo Fender debuted the Telecaster. Mark Dronge told me that his father hated rock 'n roll and wanted no part of a "plank" guitar for a long time. Mark finally talked him into it.

The Explorer and Flying V were failures when they were released in 1958, and now look at them. They're considered iconic designs. Go figure.
 
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Quantum Strummer

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I love offset designs in general, and '60s weird in particular, so getting a T-bird at some point was inevitable. :encouragement: Great to see other folks getting into 'em.

-Dave-
 

matsickma

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I always wondered why Guild didn't capitalize on Keith Richards playing Satisfaction on Ed Sullivan with his customized M65?!
I guess Guild was to late to the rock n roll party to appreciate they just had a huge free endorsement from the Rolling Stones.
M
 

walrus

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I always wondered why Guild didn't capitalize on Keith Richards playing Satisfaction on Ed Sullivan with his customized M65?!
I guess Guild was to late to the rock n roll party to appreciate they just had a huge free endorsement from the Rolling Stones.
M

Or if Mark Dronge had handed that Guild 12-string to Harrison instead of Lennon, would it have been used on an album? Or maybe in the "Hey Jude" video? Or whatever? In general, The Beatles were not 12-string enthusiasts, but you never know.

http://equipboard.com/pros/john-lennon/1966-guild-starfire-xii-12-string-guitar

walrus
 

DrumBob

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Or if Mark Dronge had handed that Guild 12-string to Harrison instead of Lennon, would it have been used on an album? Or maybe in the "Hey Jude" video? Or whatever? In general, The Beatles were not 12-string enthusiasts, but you never know.

http://equipboard.com/pros/john-lennon/1966-guild-starfire-xii-12-string-guitar

walrus

Mark told me the story behind that. He was a huge Beatles fan and John was his favorite. There was almost no security in the hotel where that press conference was taking place, so he just walked in with the guitar and went straight for John and presented him with the 12 string Starfire. If you look at that famous photo of Mark and John, you'll see that George is looking around and seems to have a bit of a frown on his face, as if to say, "Why didn't you give that guitar to me? I was the one playing 12 string on the records."

By 1966, The Beatles were basically done with using 12 strings prominently on their records, so once again, Guild was a day late and a dollar short.
 

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My main beef with the S-100 is the lack of beef in the necks...Otherwise the combination of hog body & HB-1s is hard to beat especially the late 70s ones with the neck angle & sturdier bridge. It is better balanced than an SG and the neck is more stable - not as rubbernecked as the SG. I also find the slightly offset body more attractive than an SG. To me it's a better design than its inspiration but of course it's very derivative & people no doubt said "why get a copy when I can get the real thing". If only Angus had been given an S-100 to try things may have been very different.

The S60s/70s/300s - yeah they are weird looking but I find them oddly appealing but I wonder if I would have that feeling if it was by another manufacturer. My own fanboyism for the brand certainly impacts on my thinking. I heard that they were designed to be very ergonomical, comfortable to play etc. I have no experience so I can't say. The Hamer Eclipse is another guitar which is supposed to be ergonomical as well but is also kind of funny looking (but more traditional than the S-300 et al). It didn't find much of a market either. Guitarists are pretty traditional so odd shapes don't always do so well.
 

walrus

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I like the look just fine - very different! But the "ergonomic" part you mention is what I really wanted. I recently just had a second surgery in my stomach area (kidney removal and transplant 6 years ago, second kidney removal and hernia repair two months ago).

My S-60 is very comfortable both sitting and standing, it sort of "fits" in my body sweetly, and it's light weight was also something I wanted. Not everyone wants a single pickup, but I'm having lots of fun with it.

Unfortunately, it has made by Bluesbird lonely - the BB neck seems huge after playing the S-60, and after the second surgery, it became less comfortable to play. We'll see what happens.

In fact, on this nice Sunday morning I just rocked out with the S-60 for a few hours - love it!

walrus
 

walrus

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Speaking of player endorsements - as I've posted before, I am taking video lessons with Paul Gilbert via ArtistWorks.com. On a forum there, I mentioned the S-60 within a thread where a student was complaining about discomfort while playing.

Gilbert replied to the thread topic, and also included this comment: "And that Guild S-60 is a cool guitar. They made a Guild S-300 too. I always wanted one.".

So there was at least some love out there for the S models among players. FYI, Gilbert is an Ibanez guy, and has numerous signature models with them.

walrus
 

Zelja

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I was eyeing that S-60 & D30mans's S-300 as well. If our dollar was as good as it was 4 or so years ago I would have sprung for one of them I think despite any misgivings about neck size. Glad you got the S-60 & are enjoying it. 1 x HB-1 equipped hog rock machine! It has to sound great!! Also good to hear that the ergonomics side of the design works. Hope your health problems are behind you - that's a lot to go through.
 

walrus

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Feeling good, thanks, Zelja!

Couldn't resist the more than fair price GAD was offering, and where else can you get a guitar that comes with such an eloquent and detailed review? :wink:

walrus
 
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