Guild Basses?

[The Bear Jew]

I started jamming with some new friends for a change of pace as a side project. It's been fun, and I like it.

 

The bassist is a cool guy--he's not the flashiest or most technical player I've ever met, but he's dead solid, his meter is flawless and once he hears something, he can play it back perfectly.

 

This is a side project for him, too. His main band tours a lot and has been written up in a lot of metal publications, so that generally keeps him busy. It looks like that band might be taking a longish break, so we decided to try writing some stuff together.

 

His rig is pretty standard for metal dudes--torn-up Ampeg 8x10 fridge with an older Peavey Mark IV head (it's about 20 years old). He uses some kind of hand-made pre-amp pedal (a friend built it) and some kind of fuzz (another pedal made by a friend).

 

Sounds like the world is going to cave in when we play together.

 

But I didn't mention the bass, did I?

 

It's a Guild B-302.

 

Looks like this (without the pick-guard):

 

http://liveassets.rationalpathinc.netdna-cdn.com/usercontent/gear/2325295/p1_ueb5dxvgz_so.jpg

 

Holy crap. He has it strung with heavy-gauge rounds. It sounds ridiculously enormous... not like a P-bass, but it does have something of that P-bass piano thing happening without the clank. I can play upper-register harmonies to his lower-register parts without hearing any of the usual tonal disparity that usually comes into play in those situations.

 

In short... wow. That bass sounds killer.

 

Does anyone else have any experience with these basses?

[Danzilla]

I've played a similar one before, with single coil pickups and no active elctronics switches. I think it's a short scale bass, but didn't feel as tiny as some others (EB0, Hofner). A decent and under-appreciated axe. A friend of mine has the guitar version as his main instrument.

[jcadmus]

I always thought their basses were kind of underrated. That particular model is not especially attractive, but in general their basses were well built and sounded good.

 

The Starfire and Pilot basses were somewhat iconic, of course.

[kenfxj]

Always wanted to try one. Great tone. Ali McMordie of Stiff Little Fingers played one (showcased below).

 

[video:youtube]

[b5pilot]

I haven't seen one of those basses in quite a while. Yes, Guilds are under rated in my opinion. Hard to beat a Guild for playability and tone. It's just the styling of Guild basses is a bit wonky and probably why they didn't have the success they should have. I'm a big fan of Guild basses as you can see in my avatar that's my ol' Guild Pilot 5 I've had for 20+ years.

[_Sweet Willie_]

haven't played many guild basses. the guild pilot is a nice bass.

 

the bass in question in the thread-starting post seems like a true rawk-bringer. nice.

 

peace.

--sw

[jeremy c]

Did you know that Guild is now owned by Fender?

[b5pilot]

Did you know that Guild is now owned by Fender?

 

Yes, I did. The bass line was then updated a bit and sold under the DeArmond name. At least the Pilots and Asborys were. I used to have one of the DeArmond Pilot 5s. Nice bass but not as nice as the original Guilds in my opinion. The DeArmond line has been discontinued for many years now although I'm not sure about the Asborys. The only Guilds remaining are the acoustic guitars. Original pilots are collector items now as are other models of Guild basses and are getting a bit more difficult to find. Especially the 5 string models. As for that B-302 they are definate rock machines!

[Mark Schmieder]

Owned a couple of Pilots in the late 80's until late 1991. The one in the above picture looks familiar to me but I can't remember if I ever played one. I think a high school friend might have had that one, alongside his Gibson (which I seem to recall him buying due to Tull's bassist at the time using one, or maybe someone in Roxy Music?).

 

My recollection is that Fender bought Guild to terminate the brand, except for maybe some entry-level acoustic guitars. My first "serious" dreadnought acoustic guitar was a Guild, and I gave it to my sister for her high school graduation.

[kenfxj]

Guild B402-A on da bay.

 

Fender-era (I think) Pilot for $250.

[b5pilot]

Yeah you'll find lots of DeArmond pilots. Guilds are more rare.

[Basshappi]

The Guild 301/302 models are awesome sounding basses. I have played a few right handed models and always liked their tone and their bombproof construction. They even made lefthanded models. I've had my eye out for one, a 301 fretless in particular, but regretably the ones I've seen have usually gone for much more than I've wanted to pay.

 

Being a fan of the Peavey MkIV amp I found Eric's statement that they are not uncommon amoungst metal players rather interesting.

[b5pilot]

Those Mark IV amps are pretty nice and damn near bullet proof.

[The Bear Jew]

Guild B402-A on da bay.

 

OK, after looking at this link, the bass in question is definitely the B-402, not a B-302. Nice. Good to be able to know more about it.

 

Guild electric guitars are fairly well respected, too--the S-100 (Gibson SG-like creature) is kind of hard to find, but it's sought-after. I didn't know anything about the basses other than that they exist... I'd never played one. I could be a convert. The one my buddy plays sounds excellent.

 

Regarding the Peavey bass head, I don't know if the Peavey Mark IV is a "standard" for metal guys, but I don't know many folks who don't have at least one bit of Peavey gear in their stockpile somewhere. It's never particularly fancy sounding (not that it matters that much for metal), but it's always fairly powerful and close to indestructible. For folks like my friend, who needs his gear to be solid and dependable, it's a good option for touring and rehearsals. He uses whatever they have in the studio when it's time to record.