Guild S200 No Bird?

mavuser

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So by that logic, is an X-79 not an X-79 without the matching headstock?

p1_upvlpfb55_ss.jpg

no id say that is still an X-79. no one really knows if that is a skylark or skyhawk anyway so not the best comparisson. The X-79 is a typical production Guild with many different variations and configurations. the Thunderbird is a top end solid body deluxe Guild. there are slight variations among the handful of T-birds...but all have the T-bird...
 

mavuser

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i stand by my prediction. no bird, no “thunderbird” TRC, no block inlays- all would be mandatory for the S-200 T-bird during that time period. also no S-200 electronics. Im pretty sure it is the S-100 as only the body shape and nothing else matches the S-200 other than some hardware, tailpiece etc. i think S-100 was too close in appearance to S-200 so they made it match the S-50 instead. the rare guitar that is the subject of this thread is a groovy one indeed. it looks just like the S-200 Thunderbird. I believe however it is one of the very first S-100 Polaras.

i will concede the early advertisement i referenced previously, from Hans’ book, which shows the T-bird body to match the jetstar, that guitar appears to not have the bird!!! (it does have the inlays) however, this appears to be extremely conceptual on several levels. I do not think any T-bird was every really made without the bird and the inlays at minimum.
 

GAD

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There's also no binding on the neck which is the first thing I noticed.
 

DThomasC

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i stand by my prediction. no bird, no “thunderbird” TRC, no block inlays- all would be mandatory for the S-200 T-bird during that time period. also no S-200 electronics. Im pretty sure it is the S-100 as only the body shape and nothing else matches the S-200 other than some hardware, tailpiece etc. i think S-100 was too close in appearance to S-200 so they made it match the S-50 instead. the rare guitar that is the subject of this thread is a groovy one indeed. it looks just like the S-200 Thunderbird. I believe however it is one of the very first S-100 Polaras.

i will concede the early advertisement i referenced previously, from Hans’ book, which shows the T-bird body to match the jetstar, that guitar appears to not have the bird!!! (it does have the inlays) however, this appears to be extremely conceptual on several levels. I do not think any T-bird was every really made without the bird and the inlays at minimum.

Mavuser, are we looking at the same photos? Here's one from the opening post:

n4dCR8s.jpg


How does that instrument not have S200 electronics? To me, it seems plausible that the two little knobs were replaced with normal sized ones, but all of the S200 knobs and switches are there, aren't they?

In the end, I don't really care what anyone calls it: S200, S100, S150. Titles aren't a thing for me, but I am interested in how much of it is straight up S200, and everything I see in the photo above is S200 except the neck (which we all agree on), the knobs and pickups, and the way the slider switch is mounted. Do we agree on that?
 

mavuser

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Mavuser, are we looking at the same photos? Here's one from the opening post:

n4dCR8s.jpg


How does that instrument not have S200 electronics? To me, it seems plausible that the two little knobs were replaced with normal sized ones, but all of the S200 knobs and switches are there, aren't they?

In the end, I don't really care what anyone calls it: S200, S100, S150. Titles aren't a thing for me, but I am interested in how much of it is straight up S200, and everything I see in the photo above is S200 except the neck (which we all agree on), the knobs and pickups, and the way the slider switch is mounted. Do we agree on that?

sorry i must have mis read or misunderstood the posts above about the differences you point out. i agree those electronics are the S-200 set up. However, at the time, I still believe this guitar was called the S-100. thank you for correcting me!
 

matsickma

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Is there a serial number stamped in the headstock and if yes what is it? A SN would indicate year and also possibly indicate if it is a "production" Guild or prototype. There are definitely two of them out there.
M
 

adorshki

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Is there a serial number stamped in the headstock and if yes what is it? A SN would indicate year and also possibly indicate if it is a "production" Guild or prototype. There are definitely two of them out there.
M

You do mean the guitar in the OP, right?
It was in the OP:
HPbVOMH.jpg


That's why I questioned if the s/n was also inscribed somewhere in the body to verify original neck.
Kurt?
Mav?
 

shihan

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Unless I missed it, we still don’t know if it has a kickstand...
Hans will know all.
 

fronobulax

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That's why I questioned if the s/n was also inscribed somewhere in the body to verify original neck.

In general, and we all know the danger of generalizations when it comes to Guild, solid bodies had a serial number on a label in the control cavity as well as stamped on the neck. However not all instruments actually left the factory with the label. But if you want to confirm the neck, check the control cavity.
 

SFIV1967

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The only other one I found like this is this one on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYsiyR5jMoI)
Welcome to LTG! The one on Youtube had a serial number 296xx, so about 9000 serial numbers before your guitar.

the serial number indicates its from '64
Your guitar is from 1965 not 1964. (last S/N 1964 was 38636)

So it wasn't from the same batch. Hans knows several of them looking like the one on Youtube, however he wants to tell the story in a future update of Part 1 of "The Guild Guitar Book". I am sure he will answer if yours is something else, otherwise he might just want to wait telling us.

Another different one from 1964 is this one: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n2boqhg6uobwvdf/PICT0027.JPG?dl=0
It was from the thread mavuser posted above.

Ralf
 
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mavuser

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i don’t believe the guitar has a control cavity in the back. should be all under the hood (pickguard), no? thats how the jetstar is. i thought the polara and tbird were the same. pretty sure there is no label, just the back of the head
 

mavuser

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also i would think it has the kickstand. if it *does not* have the kickstand and the back is all solid from the factory, that is very significant and in my opinion raises the dollar value of the guitar noticeably. if i owned that and it had no kickstand i would never, ever, ever, sell it. id probably never sell it with the kickstand, but i would definitely never sell it without the kickstand.
 

mavuser

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if anyone has one of these without the kickstand im interested to purchase, hit me up!
i don't care if the pickups were changed. cheers
 
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