K.O.M.A.
Member
I x-rayed my 'bird and thought the pics were pretty cool. The chambers are much bigger than I would have guessed.
![BluesbirdP90-1.png](http://[URL="http://s249.photobucket.com/user/KOMA2008/media/BluesbirdP90-1.png.html"][IMG]http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg232/KOMA2008/BluesbirdP90-1.png)
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![BluesbirdP902-1.png](http://[URL="http://s249.photobucket.com/user/KOMA2008/media/BluesbirdP902-1.png.html"][IMG]http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg232/KOMA2008/BluesbirdP902-1.png)
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Bluesbird P-90 chambers
- Thread starter K.O.M.A.
- Start date
drc
Senior Member
That's crazy cool
Wow! Astounding! I love the stripe of the truss rod!
That would make a very cool wall poster...
walrus
That would make a very cool wall poster...
walrus
jcwu
Senior Member
Interesting tailpin!
leonc
Member
wow...those are big chambers. Hey I wonder what's going on under the bridge? Almost looks hollow...but I'm guessing that's not the case...is it?
K.O.M.A.
Member
That would make a very cool wall poster...
walrus[/QUOTE]
I'm working on that very thing right now
walrus[/QUOTE]
I'm working on that very thing right now
K.O.M.A.
Member
I wondered the very same thing, It does look like it's hollow under the bridge
FNG
Enlightened Member
I'm working on that very thing right now[/QUOTE]''
My thought exactly. You probably could sell a couple of those.
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I'd love to see the difference in a nightbird!
I visited the Corona factory shortly after they moved Guild construction over there. I noticed a stack of BB blanks chambered out and mentioned the hollowness under the bridge. Red Dave, who was running the bodies, said the Guild guys insisted that it be there. When I got home I yanked the threaded post on a Nightbird and fed a guitar string down it...it's also hollow under there.
This is a very interesting design aspect, one I've not seen repeated on any other semi-hollow builds.
matsickma
Senior Member
Interesting that you can see the difference in single coil bobbin thickness between the Neck and Bridge pickup. If I recall the bridge on the Blues 90 and Bluesbird 90 were extra wound P90's. I know they are a hot aggressive sounding pup.
Walter Broes
Enlightened Member
Cool, so are these guitars really light?
K.O.M.A.
Member
Wow! I hope my pic didn't reveal any trade secrets!
K.O.M.A.
Member
Well, I guess you'd have to define really light. I just did a left arm - right arm comparison with my 3 other electrics. Definately lighter than my Les Paul, about the same as my S100, and heavier than my Strat.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2009
- Messages
- 23,285
- Reaction score
- 19,111
- Location
- NJ (The nice part)
- Guild Total
- 112
My nightbird was 9 pounds, which was surprising as it was heavier than my old Historic R9, though to be fair it was a physically larger guitar.
matsickma
Senior Member
I made a measurement of a few guitars. First thing to note is Westerly Bluesbirds and Blues90's have thicker bodies than the Corona counterparts. The Westerly BB & B90 are similar to the Nightbird and Nightengale body depth. When measured on the bass bout at the inner bend (waist) the Westerly BB and the Nightbird/Nightengale are a hair above 1 7/8 inch deep. The Corona BB90 is 1 11/16 in deep.
The Corona model BB90 weighs in at 8.8 lbs. and the Westerly BB at 9.0 lbs. The neck on the BB90 is thicker than the BB so it may explain why the two are so close in weight. The Nightbird/Nightengale weighed in at 10.3 lbs. The "Nightengale 90" was one of the old Westerly bodies routed for P90's. It also has a Guildsby which may explain the increased weight from GAD's guitar. As a reference I also weighed a 80's Setzer solidbody Bluesbird and it weighed 11.8 lbs. and was 1 3/4 inch deep. The Setzer Bluesbird guitars may be the heaviest guitar Guild ever made so it was a good reference.
I remember years ago when I had a spruce top Nightbird it was a pretty heavy guitar. I thought the selected wood had a lot to do with the weight. The Corona BB90 is the lightest of the bunch and seems noticeably lighter than the Westerly BB even though my weight measurements say they are within 0.2 lbs of each other. Maybe the weight balance issue is due to the heavier neck and the resulting change of balance.
My weight measurements don't have great repeatability over time. I made two measurements each time to each guitar and they repeated and then repeated the bunch. Their seemed to be about 0.5 lbs. of variation when I came back at the end and made the measurement.
The Corona model BB90 weighs in at 8.8 lbs. and the Westerly BB at 9.0 lbs. The neck on the BB90 is thicker than the BB so it may explain why the two are so close in weight. The Nightbird/Nightengale weighed in at 10.3 lbs. The "Nightengale 90" was one of the old Westerly bodies routed for P90's. It also has a Guildsby which may explain the increased weight from GAD's guitar. As a reference I also weighed a 80's Setzer solidbody Bluesbird and it weighed 11.8 lbs. and was 1 3/4 inch deep. The Setzer Bluesbird guitars may be the heaviest guitar Guild ever made so it was a good reference.
I remember years ago when I had a spruce top Nightbird it was a pretty heavy guitar. I thought the selected wood had a lot to do with the weight. The Corona BB90 is the lightest of the bunch and seems noticeably lighter than the Westerly BB even though my weight measurements say they are within 0.2 lbs of each other. Maybe the weight balance issue is due to the heavier neck and the resulting change of balance.
My weight measurements don't have great repeatability over time. I made two measurements each time to each guitar and they repeated and then repeated the bunch. Their seemed to be about 0.5 lbs. of variation when I came back at the end and made the measurement.
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SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Interesting pictures, I missed the original post on 2/9.
@Maury: Is yours a Westerly or an Corona Bluesbird 90?
Because I also thought that not only the body thickness was different but also the shape of the chambers inside between the two locations. (I can't say where I read that, I just think to remember so, maybe there was even a picture of a raw Bluesbird body in a Guild catalog?)
That was one of the pictures I found, seems to be like the one in the X-ray:
I think to remember that my year 2000 Bluesbird has different looking chambers inside, the compartment where the 4 pots are is completely closed on all sides, not open towards the tailpiece as the one in the picture above. So that would also indicate to me that there seem to be different chambers between models.
And my year 2000 Bluesbird is quite heavy. I never weighted her but it feels heavy to me.
Ralf
@Maury: Is yours a Westerly or an Corona Bluesbird 90?
Because I also thought that not only the body thickness was different but also the shape of the chambers inside between the two locations. (I can't say where I read that, I just think to remember so, maybe there was even a picture of a raw Bluesbird body in a Guild catalog?)
That was one of the pictures I found, seems to be like the one in the X-ray:
I think to remember that my year 2000 Bluesbird has different looking chambers inside, the compartment where the 4 pots are is completely closed on all sides, not open towards the tailpiece as the one in the picture above. So that would also indicate to me that there seem to be different chambers between models.
And my year 2000 Bluesbird is quite heavy. I never weighted her but it feels heavy to me.
That's roughly what they are:
Ralf
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K.O.M.A.
Member
Ralf, it's a Corona