The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #51

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    I have this Guild Savoy reissue with the reissued pickup. I can attest it is a great guitar and can get that 50s jazz guitar sound with a good tube amp. It is true that the laquer on the outside is thicker than I'd like it to be but my guitar does NOT have laquer on the inside.

    I agree that the guy gets a good sound from it on that Youtube video. My only criticism would be in relation to some of his single note tones. It sounds like he has the guitar volume pot cranked way up and he has buried the acoustic sound of the guitar. If you turn the Savoy's volume pot to about 4 or so and bring up the amp volume you get a really beautiful acoustic sound and less 60 cycle hum it seems.

    Of course, the reissue Savoy is not a hand carved D'Aquisto but it is perfectly serviceable guitar for a working player. It records well also.

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  3. #52

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    > is stewmac the best source for control pots for this?

    The stew mac pots may be for humbuckers. You might want to experiment with some different resistor values. As mentioned above, there used to be a schematic on the Web, and perhaps there is one with your pickup.

    Not cheap, but the vendor might consult on the project:

    ac accessories

  4. #53

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    Pots are not specific to pickups.

  5. #54

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    I'm happy to say that I just picked up my D'Angelico with the reissue 1100 DeArmond pickup on it, and the sound is fantastic!
    Many years ago I had a DeArmond RC 1000 on it, and though it was very good, it didn't pick up the top E string well enough, and someone reported that the Korean shop that is making the re-issue for Guild has reproduced it so well, that it had the same problem.
    The 1000 also used the monkey bar to secure the pickup, and it was a real PITA because the screws would come loose and the pickup would move. The tone and volume controls were also a PITA, because you had to use a smaller sized jack that would always fall out and had an electronic hum that was very annoying.

    Since I bought the re-issue 1100 for only $60, I decided to follow Roger Borys' advice and have it attached to the pick guard instead of having him drill a hole in the neck and attaching it with the thin bar provided.

    Roger was able to find a much better volume and tone control than the POS one I still had from the old RC 1000, and it has 1/4 inch jack rather than the smaller one the RC 1000 used.
    According to Roger, it wasn't an easy job in an email he said- " Pickup works well. Was a pain in the ass getting it to fit. Had to cut the pole pieces. The guitar sounds really good acoustically and electrically."

    It sounds much better than the RC 1000 sounded,with the high E string perfectly picked up, and has that beautiful bell-like sound that Johnny Smith and Kenny Burrell's D'Angelicos had.
    It also has that incredible sustain that Smith's guitar had, and Roger had to literally kick me out of his shop because he wanted to go home, and i couldn't stop playing it through his Polytone Mini-Brute.
    Roger emailed me a picture of it, and I'll try to post it if I can figure out how to attach it.

  6. #55

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    That is very interesting, thanks a lot

    and great to have someone like Borys as your tech !

  7. #56

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    A friend came round a few days ago with an A-150 Savoy sunburst with the Rhythm Chief 1000 reissue, through my amp it sounded great and there was no trace of lacquer on the inside, it also had a nice musical quite loud acoustic sound, the build quality and finish was excellent. IMO for the price range it is outstanding quality the only criticism I have is it would be better with a stealth volume control instead of the knob on the pickguard.

  8. #57

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgcim
    I'm happy to say that I just picked up my D'Angelico with the reissue 1100 DeArmond pickup on it, and the sound is fantastic!
    Many years ago I had a DeArmond RC 1000 on it, and though it was very good, it didn't pick up the top E string well enough, and someone reported that the Korean shop that is making the re-issue for Guild has reproduced it so well, that it had the same problem.
    The 1000 also used the monkey bar to secure the pickup, and it was a real PITA because the screws would come loose and the pickup would move. The tone and volume controls were also a PITA, because you had to use a smaller sized jack that would always fall out and had an electronic hum that was very annoying.

    Since I bought the re-issue 1100 for only $60, I decided to follow Roger Borys' advice and have it attached to the pick guard instead of having him drill a hole in the neck and attaching it with the thin bar provided.

    Roger was able to find a much better volume and tone control than the POS one I still had from the old RC 1000, and it has 1/4 inch jack rather than the smaller one the RC 1000 used.
    According to Roger, it wasn't an easy job in an email he said- " Pickup works well. Was a pain in the ass getting it to fit. Had to cut the pole pieces. The guitar sounds really good acoustically and electrically."

    It sounds much better than the RC 1000 sounded,with the high E string perfectly picked up, and has that beautiful bell-like sound that Johnny Smith and Kenny Burrell's D'Angelicos had.
    It also has that incredible sustain that Smith's guitar had, and Roger had to literally kick me out of his shop because he wanted to go home, and i couldn't stop playing it through his Polytone Mini-Brute.
    Roger emailed me a picture of it, and I'll try to post it if I can figure out how to attach it.
    >Wow Sgsim,$60 for an 1100. Tell us where we can get more. Congrats on the job. It's nice having Roger close to do the work for you. Mark Campellone mounted one that way for me years ago. I've always been surprised no one else has been doing that. You can even wire the the whole pickup assembly like Heritage does with quick disconnect plugs. That way you can interchange it with other guitars. Can't wait to see the photo.

  9. #58

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    When the Guild RC 1100 re-issue first came out, music stores were selling them for $60.
    I was lucky enough to find a guy who owned a music store online who sold me one for that price about a year ago.

    The guy I got it from ran out of them pretty quickly. I've heard that they're now selling for $350, and the RC 1000, $200.

    I waited a year to get it done, because my 1935 D'A needed some work done on it, and I figured i might as well get Roger to put the pickup on it, also.

    When I heard that the guy on ebay who makes a living buying, repairing and selling only DeArmond pickups changed his mind about the Korean-made Guild replicas, I knew they were worth getting. Originally, he thought they were going to be junk, but I guess he tried them out and liked them.

  10. #59

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgcim
    When the Guild RC 1100 re-issue first came out, music stores were selling them for $60.
    I was lucky enough to find a guy who owned a music store online who sold me one for that price about a year ago.

    The guy I got it from ran out of them pretty quickly. I've heard that they're now selling for $350, and the RC 1000, $200.

    I waited a year to get it done, because my 1935 D'A needed some work done on it, and I figured i might as well get Roger to put the pickup on it, also.

    When I heard that the guy on ebay who makes a living buying, repairing and selling only DeArmond pickups changed his mind about the Korean-made Guild replicas, I knew they were worth getting. Originally, he thought they were going to be junk, but I guess he tried them out and liked them.

    Yeh I'm guessing that apart from the mystical, magical world of 'hand wound' pickups, replicating a RC shouldn't be harder than getting the same parts and putting them together.

  11. #60

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    For those that have tried the red RC 1000 repro, would you recommend getting the repor or the Armstrong single coil for getting closer to a vintage 1100 sound? In other words, is the repro's value limited to the cool visuals or does the 1000 sound closer to the more expensive 1100 model than the modern Armstong with pole pieces?

  12. #61

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    I have a Savoy from when Fender was involved. Supposedly they were designed the pick up to be as close as could be to the old ones. I love the guitar but it was almost unusable as the low E & A were so bassy I couldn't really use it to play live or record with. Turn the bass down or treble up & the higher strings got too trebly. The answer? A cheap Danelectro Fish & Chips eq. Worked quite well. A $20 pedal to make a $1100 guitar sound right. I will probably eventually go with a better higher end Eq. At least I'm having some fun with it now.

  13. #62
    I own a pair of the repro 1100s and a small pile of original 1100s. I finally got around to comparing the originals vs the newer models...and, to my ears, they're essentially identical. Blinded, I wouldn't be able to distinguish new vs old. If you ever get the chance to pick up one of the new units for a reasonable price, jump on it (or let me know and I will).

    1100s are my absolute favourite pickup and I haven't heard anything that comes close.

    I haven't yet had a chance to compare the 1000s but, at the price they're selling for, it's probably just a matter of time...

  14. #63

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    I played a guitar with a 1000 reissue recently, I can't compare it with an original as I haven't played one but IMO the reissue has a great sound.

  15. #64

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    The repro RC1000 is said to be very faithful to the original by those that have played both. It is available at Guild Guitars for $120. I am hoping the 1100 is made available soon.

    https://shop.guildguitars.com/produc...-mount-pickup/

  16. #65

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    That's a good deal, but if you factor in the additional costs it takes to put it on the guitar without drilling a hole in the side of the fingerboard, buy a good tone/volume control, and all the electrical work, you're going to spend a lot more than $164 to use it.

    When I bought mine for my D'A, I thought it was going to be a simple procedure, like when I had the RC 1000 on the D'A. With the RC 1000, it's easily installable by yourself, but in actual use the RC 100 was a nightmare to use.

    The 1/8 jack would constantly come loose, the the screws on the attachment betwixt the bridge and the tailpiece would also come loose, the pickup would fail to amplify the high E string loud enough, and there would always be a buzzing sound from the crappy volume/tone control DeArmond supplied.

    But the sound i got out of that thing with my Peavy Vintage amp that had two 12 inch SRO EV speakers was incredible.
    I recall a pianist, who always offered constructive criticism on my playing said, "Your chord melody stuff is so basic, but with that guitar/amp/pickup you have, it sounds great."

    My other guitar at the time, a Gibson Barney Kessel Custom, sounded like a damn hick guitar compared to my D'A!

  17. #66

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    Considering that a vintage gold 1100 with a neck rod and no volume/tone control would set you back $300-$600 or so, this is a good deal. The seller's warnings about breaking the neck rod in the installation process tells me that it is probably made out of cheap Asian metal, so to some extent, you do get what you pay for.

    Regarding the original Dearmond mounting system and controls, if you have pieces that are in good original condition, install them properly and clean the pots, it should work perfectly with very little noise and very high gain. I use a vintage 1000 with the original mounting system on my Epiphone triumph and have no issues. The 1/8 jack can be problematic, it is not as secure as the screw on connector that my earlier 1000 had, but it permits you to use modern cables which is a plus.

    For me, a Dearmond Guitar Mike, 1000 or 1100 are all excellent pickups to use with a carved archtop. There are none better that I have heard. YMMV

  18. #67

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    Does anyone know if the new Guild pickups are noisy — hum, that is. Thanks

  19. #68

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    I've tried both, and they are no noiser that the originals.
    Both are extremely well shielded.

    Quote Originally Posted by Stringswinger
    Considering that a vintage gold 1100 with a neck rod and no volume/tone control would set you back $300-$600 or so, ...
    I know the post is from 2015, but at that price, I'd take a dozen of them, please.

    Last edited by Hammertone; 09-29-2020 at 09:16 PM.

  20. #69

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrhmedia
    Does anyone know if the new Guild pickups are noisy — hum, that is. Thanks
    I have a reissue RC1100 and am really pleased with its noise levels. Most of my noise problems are buzzing dimmers and power supplies. The RC1100 shielding seems pretty effective at bringing that down.

  21. #70
    joelf Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by snoskier63
    As Guild was recently sold to Cordoba they are currently working on getting production up to speed, which should be very soon based on everything I have been hearing on LTG COM. I feel that Guild guitars compare favorably with any other guitar at the same price.
    Agree. I owned an x500 for a while, never should have let it go. I also bought an Artist Award, but the sound was lousy, even after Attila Zoller installed one of his pickups, so I went back to the store and exchanged it for an Epl Zephyr Regent Deluxe and a partial refund. (That one sounded great, but the neck moved faster than the gas needle on a Camaro, so I eventually dumped it too).

    Guilds seem to have a bright sound. I'm told it's the shorter aging of the wood that does this. I wonder how I'd like them now, since I've long since settled on a darker, flugelhorn-like sound with P-90s. (I don't want to change pickups and violate any instrument with holes, etc. It's almost like they have souls)...
    Last edited by joelf; 12-20-2023 at 07:52 AM.

  22. #71

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    Curious to see how it shapes up. I paid big bucks for a NOS vintage 1100 when my archtop was rebound and refinished.