M-85

[hansmoust]

Are (were, I guess - past tense) any Guild basses built with a volute? After you mentioned this I checked my JS-IIs, one a '70, the other a '72, no volute on either. I can't recall my guitarist's late 70s B-302 to remember what that headstock looked like.

Hello dlenaghan,

You will not find a volute on any Guild guitar made after 1970. I only mentioned the 'no volute' because Happy Face in his original posting thought that the bass in question was from 1969. It it had been from 1969, it probably would have had a volute.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Happy Face]

I put a set of not-so-expensive rounds on the M-85. (I want to decide which Guild should wear rounds before putting on those expensive TI rounds.)

It's interesting - with the JS-II (with flats) I set a nice tone for each pickup, leave the selector in the middle and use the volume knob of the bridge pup to change the tone when I play. But with the 85, I've found (at least at practice, which is pretty loud) that I often use the switch to select just one or the other pickup.

Not sure if it's mostly because of the rounds or the bass. But to be able to use the bridge pickup alone is pretty useful. Especially for the Who set the other night.

 

[dlenaghan]

But down the road, maybe I'll restore it. I'm seriously pondering putting a reissue Starfire bridge on my warhorse JS-II. That would free up an un-molested harp bridge for the M-85. But that'll happen when it happens.

It's a tool!

I just noticed this. Unfortunately, I don't think it will fit. I got a reissue bridge as well to try out the modern saddle with screw adjustments instead of the original harp with the rosewood paddles on my JS-II, and the bolts that seat the bridge in the body are spaced differently on the RIs. A 50 dollar mistake I could have avoided with a quick message to the seller and a ruler, but at the time I jumped on the bridge because I thought it was the only one available.

I don't know if my RI bridge is for the Guild or the DeArmond, though, so perhaps not all RI parts are equal in size.

 

[Happy Face]

Understood. I did about what you did a few years back.

But this time I'm going for it. It's over with a luthier friend now. He's filling the original holes and drilling new ones for the RI bridge. My main interest is to clear up the intonation prob on the E string.

(PS - hope you noticed my posting on the EB3 cases!)

 

[fronobulax]

I put a set of not-so-expensive rounds on the M-85. (I want to decide which Guild should wear rounds before putting on those expensive TI rounds.)

It's interesting - with the JS-II (with flats) I set a nice tone for each pickup, leave the selector in the middle and use the volume knob of the bridge pup to change the tone when I play. But with the 85, I've found (at least at practice, which is pretty loud) that I often use the switch to select just one or the other pickup.

Not sure if it's mostly because of the rounds or the bass. But to be able to use the bridge pickup alone is pretty useful. Especially for the Who set the other night.

FWIW - I had rounds on my SF I w/bisonic and after 30 years moved them to my JS II with Guild humbuckers. I was amazed at how much closer the sounds were and actual backed off on my disdain for the buckers because it was the buckers with old flats that sounded the worst. On the Starfire I dial in the sound and volume I want and then tend to stick with it so everything ends up sounding the same. That philosophy carries over to the JS and I find I use the neck PU solo most of the time.