1971 Guild M-75 Bluesbird

I have had the M-75 for about a week now and have it pretty well set up and playing as I like it. I have tried the photo think a couple times and did not get it figured out but I will try some links.
http://imageevent.com/pwjohn/guitars?p=0&w=3&z=2
http://imageevent.com/pwjohn/guitars?p=15&w=3&z=2
lets see if this works.
Thanks John

John, the links lead to the PRINT menu for those photos. At least they do on my computer, but once you cancel the print function, they show up just fine. I love that guitar!! What a beauty! :encouragement:

No photos but the links seem to work. Here is a couple more photos. One of the of the pick ups and another of the bridge modification some one did. I am going to look for a replacement bridge but this set up works so good I will just leave it for now, it intonates perfectly with .010's Someone welded washers to some screws and then turned the ends down to fit the bridge inserts in the body. I put a little grease on the and they adjust just fine with no rocking. I will get rid of the rusty lock nuts and go with screw driver slots for adjustments.
http://imageevent.com/pwjohn/guitars?p=52&w=3&z=2
http://imageevent.com/pwjohn/guitars?p=58&w=3&z=2
http://imageevent.com/pwjohn/guitars?p=46&w=3&z=2

I really expected this guitar to sound and play pretty much like my 1973 S100 SC but I am but I am surprised how different it really is. At approx. 9 pounds it is heaver than my Les Paul and 3 pounds heaver than the S100, a lot of mahogany to say the least. It definitely sounds darker and the pick ups seen hotter also. The neck is the same width as the S100 but has more depth to it and is set higher off the body because of the arch to the top. Luckily the neck set is very good with plenty of height to the bridge even with the additional hardware. One strange thing is the pick up selector is wired backwards and can not just be turned around. The fretboard is ebony and the neck is one piece mahogany. I have never spent much time with one of these solid body M-75 and they don't seen very popular but I could be wrong. I found the missing binding in the case pocket so when I get the frets dressed I will have the binding put back in place. Overall the guitar cleaned up pretty good and look and plays a lot better than when I first picked it up. After trading in a MIM Cabronita telecaster I have about $450.00 into the guitar so a small price to pay for a old Guild with HB-1 pick ups. No phase switch or master volume so it has a smaller back cover with no label so I can't be sure of the exact model but I assume it's a standard M-75. Serial # is 53261. It looks like these were routed out and a top cap of mahogany was put on as there is quite a bit of wood routed out but is still a SOLID body guitar. As I said the pick ups seem higher in out put than my other Guilds and I wonder if there were changes to the pick ups over the years of manufacturing as with other manufactures. HB-1 paf's? Also the pick ups sound better to me set higher than my other old HB-1 guitars. I thought the turners had been changed but further research indicates these are the early Schaller turners as used before the change to the Grovers. It has the thin metal truss rod cover and the 3 line Chesterfield all firsts for me. I am not usually into black guitars but this one could change my mind... I'll call he Black Betty for now!
I will keep working on photos so I can post other photos of this and my other Guilds someday. I would enjoy hearing others comments on these early solid M-75's. Can you tell I am having fun?
Thanks John

Tom, yes, my name is John and I am computer challenged.
Thanks
http://photos.imageevent.com/pwjohn/guitars/websize/IMG_6049.JPG
http://photos.imageevent.com/pwjohn/guitars/websize/bb4.JPG

This is only a test, I am getting closer, I think.
http://photos.imageevent.com/pwjohn/guitars/large/IMG_6058.JPG
http://photos.imageevent.com/pwjohn/guitars/websize/IMG_6045.JPG

Re. pickups: there seems to be a fair bit of variation with the older anti-hums, so it wouldn't surprise me if the Westerly-era HB-1s—at least the earlier ones—vary similarly. My own in-depth experience with HB-1s has been limited to a lovely S-100 that I wouldn't have minded owning and an early M-80. Two quite different guitars played years apart.

-Dave-

I can see the photos fine. As Tom said just don't print (or go ahead and print!).

That guitar defines "mojo"!

walrus

Nice John. Love it!

Awesome ! Congrats.

A very fine guitar, John.

I have a natural mahogany finish M-75, with master vol & phase switch. Serial number dates to 1975. It's a terrific guitar, plays very very well. Nice neck shape, and I love those large, forgiving frets!

Enjoy!

Thanks for the comments guys and Ross it's good to know others are enjoying these beasts as much as I am. I have always look at them with lust but it is nice to finally have one. My birthday is on the 14th. so my wife is going to take me to a couple guitar stores to find the right black leather strap. Last year on my birthday we went to 7 guitar stores. For now I am off to play!
Thanks John

The Bluesbird went into the shop the other day for a fret dressing, binding replacement along one side of the neck, a small stress crack at one of the turners and a good set up along with anything else that comes up. I brought it to a shop in St.Paul called Vig Guitars. It's a nice little shop with very friendly people and run by Ted Vig who apparently has a very good reputation. I will keep you all updated in a couple weeks.
Thanks John

Sweet pickup (pardon the pun) John. I'm trying to recall where Vig Guitars is. Is it on Snelling south of 94?

yes, Vig Guitars is around Snelling and University and as I said they are real nice people there. I like to try and give my business to different independent shops and support them when I can. For my birthday my wife took me to 6 local guitar shops. I picked up strings, a t-shirt and a new strap for the Bluesbird. We are lucky as we have a lot of local small shops.
We should have another LTG MN get together again. I had a great time last one and it is always nice to meet like minded people. We could go on a Guitar tour de force, I know I missed as many stores as I made it to, maybe more.
Thanks John

Sounds like a good idea to me.

congrats on the guitar! Jealous.

Well an up date is in order. The guitar went through Vig Guitars twice and the binding is still lose and the frets still buzz. I Will try El Diablo Guitars thanks to a tip from DRC. But this about installing a Bigsby, I think it would need a B-7. The neck set is OK and the bridge is not bottomed out but I am not sure a B-6 would work with much brake angle at the bridge. I don't remember seeing an early M-75 with a Bigsby but I am sure someone has done it. Anybody got an nice beat up aluminum finished Guildsby to fit this beast?
Thanks John

powerwagonjohn said:

But this about installing a Bigsby, I think it would need a B-7. The neck set is OK and the bridge is not bottomed out but I am not sure a B-6 would work with much brake angle at the bridge. I don't remember seeing an early M-75 with a Bigsby but I am sure someone has done it. Anybody got an nice beat up aluminum finished Guildsby to fit this beast?
Thanks John

Click to expand...

I wonder if the top carve is a flat enough plane to mount one of the cut-down Bigsbys from an S-100? That would give you the benefit of being able to place the tension roller wherever it's most optimal b/w the bridge and TP, since it's a separate piece on those.

powerwagonjohn said:

Well an up date is in order. The guitar went through Vig Guitars twice and the binding is still loose and the frets still buzz.

Click to expand...

Is the buzzing consistent up & down the fretboard? If so you probably just need to loosen the trussrod a bit to add some relief. If not a proper fret-levelling should cure the issue.

I recently picked up a 1971 Gibson SG Deluxe, from when they briefly used a parallel neck/body arrangement a la Rickenbacker. The previous owner couldn't set the action (via the bridge) as desired at the upper frets without lotsa buzzing at the lower & middle frets, and thus let it go for a very reasonable price. First thing I did after restringing was check the relief. Sure enough the trussrod was too tight. When I removed the TRC I was amazed to find the adjustment nut and surrounding cavity enveloped in a thick coating of lacquer. My guess is this guitar had probably gone through its first ~45 years of existence without a single trussrod adjustment. !! After I chipped away the lacquer I found the nut was frozen…had to carefully apply some WD-40 to loosen it up, thus reinforcing my suspicion about the rod never being adjusted. Anyway I then set the relief to taste, lowered the bridge to taste et voilà! The guitar is now a fast & easy player up & down the neck. No buzzing. Sometimes the correct fix is also an easy one.

Oh, also: this guitar has a Bigsby-made, Gibson-branded B5 on it. I'm not keen on this particular model so I've disabled it by removing the arm. I like what it does for the guitar's sound (and balance) just by being there, though, so I've left the spring in place.

-Dave-