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Clip of my '65 Guild Thunderbird S-200

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
799
A subscriber on youtube asked me to do more clips of my Guild Thunderbird. I planned to do a full explanation of this...but got interrupted and had to bag it part way through...but I'll do a more thorough video demo of this guitar soon. It's a truly unique beast and has some really great things going for it, beyond it's Gumby-like exterior.

They were made from really straight mahogany. I don't thing I've seen straighter, cleaner grain on any guitar. The body shape, while bizarre compared to better known guitars is actually really comfortable and hangs on your shoulder perfectly. It's super easy to play sitting or standing and is just play comfortable. The pickups are fantastic. Guild used small humbucking pickups that to my ears, share a lot with good PAFs in terms of sound and performance. They can produce a very clear and articulate sound but will grind with the best of them when the amp is cranked. Can be a bit microphonic...but that's not necessarily a bad thing in my book. The neck is moderately chunky one-piece mahogany with no volute. Extremely comfortable. The original frets were those "fretless wonder" types...uggh...not usable. I had it re-fretted 4 or 5 years ago.

The guitar does employ a truly odd and unique switching system. It has one switch that sets your "mode" and determines which vol/tone controls you're going to use (there are two pairs, but you can't use them all at the same time). In mode 1, you're using just the neck pickup with the first pair of vol/tone and everything else bypassed. IIMO, this seems to have been intended for "Jazz" players as it's bassy sounding (they use a resistor to roll off some highs, I think). In mode 2 the other three slider switches become available and the other pair of vol/tone knobs become usable (and the first pair on NOT bypassed). These enable you to turn each pickup on/off individually. A third slider uses a cap to filter out low end, IIRC, so you get a twangier sound.

But anyway, it's a great playing and sounding guitar.

 

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
799
Right...the kickstand guitar.
Muddy played one, right?
Yup, in fact, the previous owner left a plastic back with an old San Francisco Examiner article about Muddy and a feather in it. Not sure the significance of the feather, lol. Here's a great clip (killer harp solo by Paul Oscher!) of the man woikin' his Thunderbird hard! His rhythm player has one too...maybe a promotional deal from Guild...?

 

IMMUSICRULZ

Well-known member
Joined
May 25, 2021
Messages
616
The sunburst Guild Thunderbird your playing in the video is just clean sounding. Wish I had one! I think Dan Auerbach played one in the Black Keys, and Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains also played Guild guitars.
 
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