Hey there...new Guild owner here x2!! Gotta tricky question....

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Hi everyone..I am the proud owner of not one, but two vintage Guild guitars. One is a 1977 X-500 in really good shape. I call it the Rolls Royce of guitars.
My other one, is a 1963 Guild Jetstar. Its all original, and in decent shape. It plays well and I like the pickup. What I don't like, is the bridge. It made for 4 wound strings so I can't intonate the G. Not really that big a deal, but I can "hear" the bridge when played acoustically. Its very annoying. I put a couple toothpicks in the bridge mounting holes, and tightened the screws as much as possible.
But...its not a great bridge. Its only held to the body by two small wood screws. Would it be awful to drill into a 54 year old guitar? I think it would be way better with a stop tail bridge, like a Les Paul Junior.
Whaddya think???

I would post pics, but I don't like image hosting websites and this site doesn't allow direct uploads. But its cherry red and in decent, but played shape.
Cheers
 

adorshki

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My other one, is a 1963 Guild Jetstar. Its all original, and in decent shape...
I would post pics, but I don't like image hosting websites and this site doesn't allow direct uploads. But its cherry red and in decent, but played shape.
Cheers

Hi Jim welcome aboard!
I'm not a 'leccie guy but I think an unmolested early Jetstar is rare enough that it deserves preservation.
I do know there's 2 schools of thought here, mine, and the one that says "It's your guitar, do what you want with it", which I now also agree with most of the time.
Anyway, hang in there, I bet you'll get at least a couple of suggestions on how to deal with the bridge without having to do anything "irreversible".
Also be aware that your first few posts are vetted by moderators before being "released" so don't panic if your replies don't pop up right away. Keep watching for a couple of days.
 
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txbumper57

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Congrats on 2 great Guilds. They are your guitars and you can do what you want with them but my advice is to keep them as original as possible if that is what you are going for. You can fix that intonation problem by just buying a set of strings with a wound "G" or a Wound Third as they call it. They are easy to get and that would avoid you making any alterations that are not reversible to the Jetstar. I am all for making a guitar comfortable and right for the person who is playing it as long as there are no irreversible mods made to it like drilling holes, etc... Pretty much everyone who makes electric strings makes a set with a wound third in any size you want. If you can't find them local they are all over Amazon. Just a suggestion of course and congrats on a great pair of Guilds!


TX
 

AcornHouse

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Congrats, and Welcome! I have both of your guitars (and if you ever want to see them again you'll leave $10,000 in unmarked bills in...)
While it's true that they are yours to do with, I feel that it's worthwhile working with the quirks of a vintage guitar, rather than fighting against it. I'm fine using a wound G set on my Jetstar (and my S-90, which has the same bridge), and have no problems going back and forth between them and my non-wound G guitars. I use D-Addario 10s for both versions.
 
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Thanks guys! Its not even the G intonation that bugs me. I play mostly sitting around the tube unplugged. The guitar just has a bad tone acoustically and I know its coming from the bridge. i have played a few vintage Gibson's and the old wood just has a beautiful tone acoustically that this one is missing.
 

Neal

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Welcome.

There are so many examples of people, with good intentions, irreparably altering a vintage guitar in their desire to improve it, that it has filled hundreds of threads on this forum.

My thought would be keep it real, keep it original, take all that it has to give you in its native form.
 
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