NGD: Finally, officially a member of the Guild guild

Mr. Lumbergh

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Messages
114
Reaction score
0
Location
Initech, Inc.
It's official: I'm now a member of the Guild guild. :cool:
My Bluesbird arrived today. You may not, but my friends on Strat-Talk know, I've been on the hunt for something Lester- or SG-ish for a while now. I loves my 'Trons and own a few guitars that have them, but there isn't anything quite like the sound of a full-size bucker, and so when I saw a deal on this for half the normal price from Nashville Guitar Store, I went ahead and bit.
The reason for the ridiculous price is that the guitar was marked as "refurbished." Instead of sending their defects/returns back to the factory as Fender does, or destroying them as Gibson does, Cordoba apparently sends them to an "authorized refurbisher." The condition on this one was advertised as:
“When this guitar came in from the factory, the authorized refurbisher couldn't find anything wrong with it. No repairs or modifications were made to the guitar - they simply gave it a set-up and left it alone. It looks and plays like new. Back of the headstock is stamped "used" and original serial # has been replaced with a new one.”
Sure enough, my own visual inspection didn't find anything wrong. The workmanship was excellent; there were no finish flaws and the binding was very well done. One of the complaints that some have of the Korean Guilds is the inlay of the logo on the headstock is sometimes a bit off-kilter, but this one looks to be nicely centered. I'd have preferred one of the Ice Tea Burst finishes, but the glossy black on this has a depth to it that didn't have any flaws that I could see. Their version of a "Classic C" neck is more like a Fender's "Modern C;" it has a nice roundness to it, but isn't as thick as Fender's Classic. The "medium jumbo" frets are likewise a bit narrower, but about as tall. It shouldn't be hard to get used to. The pickups are the Duncan JB/59 set, an SH-4 bridge and an SH-1 neck, which gets a lot of accolades.
So then I plugged it in, and found a likely reason for it to be returned: selecting the neck position on the switch greeted me with silence. I confirmed via the tap test with a small screwdriver that the pickup was working, and that the volume and tone controls worked in the B+N setting. Bridge only worked as well, but nothing from neck-only. It seemed I found the reason why I was returned...
I didn't want to give up right away, so I fidgeted with the switch and was able to get it working intermittently after a couple minutes, and reliably after a couple more. Cool. Played it clean for a bit, then kicked on a bit of drive. YEAH!
The JB at the bridge (16.4K DCR) was supposed to dominate the 59 at the neck (7.4 DCR) according to the reviews that I've read, but I didn't actually find that to be the case; it seemed the 59 was louder, so my own setup including setting pickup heights will be an order. This is also the lightest guitar I have, coming in at around 6.5-7 lbs. This is due to the chambered mahogany body, and this also gives it a clear, resonant sound when playing unplugged. Even cooler, I discovered while writing this review that the tone controls are push/pull pots that switch the pickups into series/parallel mode to get a sound closer to a single coil. How cool is that? As far as I can tell from researching this online, only the first hundred or so of the latest Newark Street models have this, and one of them appears to be mine. :cool:
Is this the Les Paul slayer I was hoping to get? In some ways, yes; I have a dual-bucker sound that gets me close to those sounds with the same control layout and similar pickups, but it doesn't quite have the mid-range thickness that I normally associate with a Lester, and the body's a bit thinner and chambered. In this way, it seems to sound a bit more like an SG. This is all based on some low-level playing with my practice amp though, I'll be able to open it up a bit more tomorrow afternoon on the tube amp and will learn more.

The good:

Great workmanship. The finish and binding are excellent, as are the inlays in the fretboard and headstock.
It settled in very quickly after being brought up to pitch, and a nice gentle relief is in the neck.
The sound: not quite a Les Paul, but close. Nothing I don't think a mid-range bump can't get me a convincing representation of.
The pickups. I first thought that I'd eventually be replacing that JB with something along the lines of a Pearly Gates, but these two are a better match than I thought and seem like they could be quite versatile.
The price. All this for less than $500?
The balance. There is no neck dive at all.
The weight. This may be the lightest guitar I have, lighter than my Strats and Teles. It seems to be a bit less than my Gretsch 5120.
Versatility. As I said, I only just now discovered the push/pull switches. I'm gonna have fun tomorrow figuring out all the sounds that are in this thing.
Those little brass brads by the knobs to index where the controls are. Only Guild does this that I know of, and it's actually pretty handy and cool.

The bad:

The tuners. They're the open-back Grover, same as my Gretsch 5120 came stock with. They will also be the first thing to change as they were on the Gretsch. They're stiff, and the tiny bean-shaped peg doesn't give much to grab on to or torque to turn. Not a fan.
The otherwise-excellent Tone-Pros locking bridge doesn't have notches cut in the saddles for the strings! They're free to slide back and forth a bit. This seems like a fairly large oversight to me.
The nut is cut a bit too high. I'll have to invest in a set of files, or take it in for an adjustment.
The new serial no. seems a bit cheap, and is just a sticker applied over the original. This is nitpicking though.
The setup is a bit high for my liking. I'm sure I can drop it a bit; there's no buzz anywhere on the neck.

The ugly:

The tips of my fingers. I've been playing longer than normal and digging in harder than normal.
There is no other ugly. This is a beautiful guitar.

237288-b61816257c0002dc6c5047b283e402ba.jpg

Winston on the desk giving his approval while the Tele in the background thinks "****, more competition?"
img_0002-jpg.274390

The binding on the neck and body are both flawless, and the cream color just fits with the classic black.
img_0004-jpg.274392

The nut is cut a bit too tall. I'll have to get it filed properly.
img_0005-jpg.274393

The stickers are a bit cheap-looking, and the tuners... I do not like them in a box, I do not like them with a fox. I do not like them here nor there, I do not like them anywhere. I will be upgrading them soon, and it will hold much better tune.
237294-5fbc4ced16028d90b9b67d5565f7065a.jpg

Beautiful mother of pearl inlays. The iridescence changes depending on how you angle it to the light.
237295-ba2a71f3d16c1bf2ffe4305d9cdb3068.jpg

Those inlay blocks are pretty basic as far as shape, but are beautiful to see in person.
img_0009-jpg.274397

WTAF is up with the saddles? No notches? TonePros, you need to be on your game. @GAD, this seems to be a bigger issue than you thought when you posted your review. These will be getting switched.
img_0010-jpg.274398

Even on an mid-level guitar, this is mother of pearl inlay. Beautiful.
 
Last edited:

chazmo

Super Moderator
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
25,443
Reaction score
7,105
Location
Central Massachusetts
Looks great! Congrats, and it's certainly good news that you like your new NS Bluesbird and that you're happy with the workmanship.
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,582
Reaction score
17,798
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
Nice write-up! Cool that you got the push/pulls! I wish mine did. Re: the USED thing, Fender did that when they owned Guild as well. My first Bluesbird was a Fender Custom Shop model that was stamped USED:

_B0Z2594_800.jpg


The bridge is not a TonePros thing. TonePros sells the bridges without notches: bridges

Pic from their site:

PRODUCT_AVR2-C.jpg


If you think about it this makes sense. The wouldn't want to sell bridges for each individual string gauge and neck width. The saddles should be notched by the guitar manufacturer for the guitar they're installed on. It's actually an easy thing to fix if you have the right tools, but I agree that it's a terrible mistake to make by Guild.

Congrats on the guitar! For what you paid the foibles are worth dealing with.
 
Last edited:

fronobulax

Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
24,708
Reaction score
8,836
Location
Central Virginia, USA
Guild Total
5
Welcome. There is a persistent belief that in the early days of the Newark Street models (under FMIC) the Korean factory attempted a sunburst Bluesbird. That effort allegedly failed miserably and the results were quickly hidden under a solid finish. Some of those were allegedly offered to dealers as a "special edition" of the Bluesbird and sold as new. If, for the moment, we pretend that story is basically true, I wonder if your guitar was one of those that didn't make it to a dealer? It sat somewhere in a factory or warehouse, FMIC had noted it as being "not the guitar we were trying to build", CMG rediscovered it and decided to get rid of it through the refurbishment pipeline rather than push it through the dealer network when it was essentially a non-standard guitar. If true that might explain alot.
 

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,956
Reaction score
8,019
Location
Massachusetts
Very nice! Thanks for the review - congratulations!

walrus
 

Mr. Lumbergh

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Messages
114
Reaction score
0
Location
Initech, Inc.
welcome and congrats. nut too wide? use fatter strings! ;)
Not too wide; the width is actually quite comfy. I think that's because I play a lot of Gretsch in addition to my Fender, which is similar. The slots aren't cut quite deep enough, so the action down at that end of the board is a bit too high and goes a bit sharp when I fret on 1 or 2.
Nice write-up! Cool that you got the push/pulls! I wish mine did. Re: the USED thing, Fender did that when they owned Guild as well. My first Bluesbird was a Fender Custom Shop model that was stamped USED:

_B0Z2594_800.jpg


The bridge is not a TonePros thing. TonePros sells the bridges without notches: bridges

Pic from their site:

PRODUCT_AVR2-C.jpg


If you think about it this makes sense. The wouldn't want to sell bridges for each individual string gauge and neck width. The saddles should be notched by the guitar manufacturer for the guitar they're installed on. It's actually an easy thing to fix if you have the right tools, but I agree that it's a terrible mistake to make by Guild.

Congrats on the guitar! For what you paid the foibles are worth dealing with.
Interesting; maybe it's something Guild has always done, and Fender and Cordoba just kept it up. It's one of the only makers I've seen doing this. I've also never seen a TOM bridge that wasn't notched; it's something I also thought you mentioned in your review as being odd.
You wouldn't happen to know a good replacement set of tuners that won't require modding would you?
Welcome. There is a persistent belief that in the early days of the Newark Street models (under FMIC) the Korean factory attempted a sunburst Bluesbird. That effort allegedly failed miserably and the results were quickly hidden under a solid finish. Some of those were allegedly offered to dealers as a "special edition" of the Bluesbird and sold as new. If, for the moment, we pretend that story is basically true, I wonder if your guitar was one of those that didn't make it to a dealer? It sat somewhere in a factory or warehouse, FMIC had noted it as being "not the guitar we were trying to build", CMG rediscovered it and decided to get rid of it through the refurbishment pipeline rather than push it through the dealer network when it was essentially a non-standard guitar. If true that might explain alot.
That would be cool. The push/pull makes more of a difference than I thought it would, my previous experiments with it were underwhelming but I'm actually using them here. I'd like to see a burst finish, that could be cool. The Iced Tea finish is beautiful too, but would have set me back over twice as much as I got this one for.
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,582
Reaction score
17,798
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
Interesting; maybe it's something Guild has always done, and Fender and Cordoba just kept it up. It's one of the only makers I've seen doing this. I've also never seen a TOM bridge that wasn't notched; it's something I also thought you mentioned in your review as being odd. You wouldn't happen to know a good replacement set of tuners that won't require modding would you?

Oh - don't get me wrong - it's messed up that guitars shipped with unslotted saddles. I was just pointing out that it's not TonePros fault - it's Guild's.

Sorry - I don't know of any direct replacements for those tuners as I haven't looked into it.

That would be cool. The push/pull makes more of a difference than I thought it would, my previous experiments with it were underwhelming but I'm actually using them here. I'd like to see a burst finish, that could be cool. The Iced Tea finish is beautiful too, but would have set me back over twice as much as I got this one for.

Coil splits are very pickup-dependant in my experience so they don't work on every guitar. When they do work I think it's a great feature to have.
 

DThomasC

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2014
Messages
1,283
Reaction score
187
Location
Finger Lakes, New York, USA
I have a fix for the open back Grovers that makes them operate a lot more smoothly. It involves removing one screw and replacing a nylon washer with a flat washer and a wavy washer available from McMaster.com.

I need to take some photos and put a short write up in the tech section. For anyone that doesn't feel like waiting, the flat washer is McMaster number 92409A305 and the wavy washer is 9714K22. The only difficult part is that the screw is held in place with blue Loctite. It takes a bit of muscle to get it to let go, so be careful not to strip the head of the screw. Use a good screwdriver, not an old one with a worn out tip. Heating the screw with a soldering iron will cause the Loctite to release if you want to try that.
 

Guildadelphia

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2015
Messages
310
Reaction score
10
Congrats and welcome. That's really pretty odd that the bridge saddles weren't notched....easy fix however. If you take it to a Pro, they can attend to your high nut slots and slot and radius the bridge saddles to match the fretboard. The guitar should play like butter after that, not to mention staying in tune. Regarding sounding like a Les Paul.....well the heavily chambered, different sized body would absolutely contribute to the difference in tone but that could be a good thing IMO. NS Bluesbirds, especially with the coil splitting feature have a much more varied tonal palette than a Les Paul....and remember, your amp is 50% of your tone. Also, don't forget the tone knobs on the amp.
 
Top