Guild Johnny Smith, Guild Benedetto Johnny Smith, Heritage Johnny Smith

**Marty Grass** · 06-24-2022, 02:50 PM

I got one of the last Guild AAs, the Patriarch series. It's post Benedetto. The finish was thin in comparison. I heard today from the guy who bought that from me years ago. He's still happy with it.

I don't understand the thick finish on the Benedetto series, but it is beautiful.

**Stringswinger** · 06-24-2022, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by Marty Grass

I got one of the last Guild AAs, the Patriarch series. It's post Benedetto. The finish was thin in comparison. I heard today from the guy who bought that from me years ago. He's still happy with it.

I don't understand the thick finish on the Benedetto series, but it is beautiful.

My Westerly RI built Guild Benedetto Artist Awards did not have a thick finish. I think the thick finish was only on those GBAA's and GBJSA's made in Corona California and it might have something to do with California's absurdly strict laws.

**Marty Grass** · 06-25-2022, 08:08 AM

I got my GBJSA from a great guy who worked at Fender. He was the artist representative for Fender and did not play jazz. Here is what he told me.

The "front office" told him and some others that there were some unsold Benedetto guitars that Fender wanted to offer to employees to get rid of them. There were maybe four, as I recall. He looked at them and got either one or two. My guess is that the price was very good for him. He had only one when I caught up with him.

This one is it: Guild Benedetto Johnny Smith Award 2002 Opulent Brown | Reverb

**Max405** · 06-25-2022, 10:07 AM

MG, wow that is a beautiful guitar. Even the case is supreme!
JD

**Jabberwocky** · 06-25-2022, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Marty Grass

I got my GBJSA from a great guy who worked at Fender. He was the artist representative for Fender and did not play jazz. Here is what he told me.

The "front office" told him and some others that there were some unsold Benedetto guitars that Fender wanted to offer to employees to get rid of them. There were maybe four, as I recall. He looked at them and got either one or two. My guess is that the price was very good for him. He had only one when I caught up with him.

This one is it: Guild Benedetto Johnny Smith Award 2002 Opulent Brown | Reverb

FMIC was flogging them off for $3500 each. Steve Hoffman, the guy from Classic Records, posted about buying one for that price in about 2006. The GBJSA had an MAP of $7000 originally and sold for about $5600, street price. $5600 was a lot of money back then, between 1999 and 2005.

**2bornot2bop** · 06-25-2022, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by Marty Grass

I got my GBJSA from a great guy who worked at Fender. He was the artist representative for Fender and did not play jazz. Here is what he told me.

The "front office" told him and some others that there were some unsold Benedetto guitars that Fender wanted to offer to employees to get rid of them. There were maybe four, as I recall. He looked at them and got either one or two. My guess is that the price was very good for him. He had only one when I caught up with him.

This one is it: Guild Benedetto Johnny Smith Award 2002 Opulent Brown | Reverb

Wasn’t that guitar listed on this forum?

**Marty Grass** · 06-26-2022, 08:20 AM

It was by. me. Someone got it and sold it to Grinning Elk, if I'm recalling correctly.

**rob taft** · 06-26-2022, 05:45 PM

I own a GBAA that I purchased new in 2000 for $5500. The first one I received in Mar of 2001 but it had some finish flaws that were in my opinion unacceptable for a guitar in this price range. The replacement arrived in or around July of 2001. The finish which is Opulent Brown is very thin. This guitar is one of my best playing and sounding guitars I own. The unamplified tone is very articulate but soft in volume. The floating Benedetto pickup suits this guitar perfectly in my opinion. If I was purchasing a used GBAA today, I would focus on the early Westerly built guitars.

**Max405** · 06-26-2022, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by Marty Grass

It was by. me. Someone got it and sold it to Grinning Elk, if I'm recalling correctly.

Marty, I remember being by Patrick’s house one night and I could have sworn he told me the HE SOLD an Artist Award to Grinning Elk. I wonder if it was the same one?
JD

**Marty Grass** · 07-02-2022, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by Max405

Marty, I remember being by Patrick’s house one night and I could have sworn he told me the HE SOLD an Artist Award to Grinning Elk. I wonder if it was the same one?
JD

My recollection is the same as yours. But I sold a GBJSA to someone who then sold it to Grinning Elk. Something like that. Grinning Elk popped up twice for us.

**ScotStirling** · 08-29-2022, 09:08 PM

I purchased (and still own) the Guild Benedetto Johnny Smith Award in Opulent Brown that Patrick sold to Grinning Elk. He was expressing some regret about letting it go because it was one of the best sounding guitars he had ever owned (he didn't like the finish), and told me where it went. Grinning Elk still had it, I got it, and now it lives in Arizona. But the paperwork was apparently mixed up with that of a different serial number -- whoever sold it to Patrick owned at least two of the same model and apparently switched cases or paperwork).
Went back and looked at the emails around this -- Patrick got it from Howard Eidel who apparently owned another GBJSA at the same time. And Fender (which inherited the records of those made) said this was the last built in Opulent Brown, which was apparently not a very popular choice, although I love it.

**charleyrich99** · 08-30-2022, 08:11 AM

Originally Posted by ScotStirling

I purchased (and still own) the Guild Benedetto Johnny Smith Award in Opulent Brown that Patrick sold to Grinning Elk. He was expressing some regret about letting it go because it was one of the best sounding guitars he had ever owned (he didn't like the finish), and told me where it went. Grinning Elk still had it, I got it, and now it lives in Arizona. But the paperwork was apparently mixed up with that of a different serial number -- whoever sold it to Patrick owned at least two of the same model and apparently switched cases or paperwork).
Went back and looked at the emails around this -- Patrick got it from Howard Eidel who apparently owned another GBJSA at the same time. And Fender (which inherited the records of those made) said this was the last built in Opulent Brown, which was apparently not a very popular choice, although I love it.

I played one of these yesterday and while it had a great acoustic voice, I had trouble dialing in a good electric sound. It was very muddy sounding. I turned the bass on the amp way down and it got better but still wooly. Are you getting a good electric voice? Flats or rounds?

**pilotony** · 08-30-2022, 11:24 AM

[QUOTE=The GBJS is an extraordinary guitar.
And by the way your playing is fantastic. Don’t sell yourself short.
Outstanding job Archie.
Joe D[/QUOTE]

Joe, any tune or guitar you play sounds extraordinary.

Tony D.

**2bornot2bop** · 08-30-2022, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by ScotStirling

I purchased (and still own) the Guild Benedetto Johnny Smith Award in Opulent Brown that Patrick sold to Grinning Elk. He was expressing some regret about letting it go because it was one of the best sounding guitars he had ever owned (he didn't like the finish), and told me where it went. Grinning Elk still had it, I got it, and now it lives in Arizona. But the paperwork was apparently mixed up with that of a different serial number -- whoever sold it to Patrick owned at least two of the same model and apparently switched cases or paperwork).
Went back and looked at the emails around this -- Patrick got it from Howard Eidel who apparently owned another GBJSA at the same time. And Fender (which inherited the records of those made) said this was the last built in Opulent Brown, which was apparently not a very popular choice, although I love it.

Opulent Brown was the finest finish on the GBAA’s, imo. I searched high and low for that finish but had no luck. I saw that guitar in Patrick’s collection and asked him about it. He said “I sold it.” I replied, no you didn’t! He said he regretted selling it.

It’s interesting too that there’s one single of these guitars that was stripped to bare wood, and is now in a natural finish. That’s the finest one I’ve ever seen!

**ScotStirling** · 08-30-2022, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by charleyrich99

I played one of these yesterday and while it had a great acoustic voice, I had trouble dialing in a good electric sound. It was very muddy sounding. I turned the bass on the amp way down and it got better but still wooly. Are you getting a good electric voice? Flats or rounds?

I think it has a glorious sound, acoustic and plugged in (through a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight). I use the Thomastik-Infeld flatwounds that Patrick had on it; can't recall what set specifically are on it right now.

**charleyrich99** · 08-30-2022, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by ScotStirling

I think it has a glorious sound, acoustic and plugged in (through a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight). I use the Thomastik-Infeld flatwounds that Patrick had on it; can't recall what set specifically are on it right now.

Good to know. Did it require any special eq settings?

**Stringswinger** · 08-30-2022, 03:24 PM

I have posted this in other threads on the subject of the Guild-Benedettos but for the sake of letting future purchasers of these guitars know, I will post the following in this thread:

I owned two of the Westerly RI built Guild-Benedetto Artist Awards. They were very fine archtop guitars made with great woods and had a beautiful design. The second one was much louder acoustically than the first. While I found the acoustic sound balanced, to my ear the high notes were a bit thin when amplified. The non adjustable Benedetto pickup made any adjustments in that regard impossible. Of course a pickup swap probably would fix that for those (like me) who like a "thicker" top end in their single note lines.

The main reason that I sold both of them was playability. I found the necks to be chunkier than I like (though I was able to adjust to it) and the Guild scale length of 25 5/8 inch made the action a bit stiffer than I like. Had those guitars had the 25 inch scale that Bob Benedetto favored, I would still own one of those guitars. Most living room players might not notice the extra 1/8 inch to the scale, but some will (as I did).

Now you know.

**Hammertone** · 08-30-2022, 04:07 PM

Playablity?
Chunky necks are easily sanded or shaved down.
And if you like a guitar but the scale is not to your taste, or it's too small, a decent luthier can saw it off and make a new neck to your specifications.

**Stringswinger** · 08-30-2022, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by Hammertone

Playablity?
Chunky necks are easily sanded or shaved down.
And if you like a guitar but the scale is not to your taste, or it's too small, a decent luthier can saw it off and make a new neck to your specifications.

I never considered those things.

And never will

.

**mr. beaumont** · 08-30-2022, 08:08 PM

Ah crap, this thread has basically turned the Guild/Benedetto JS into my dream guitar.

**Hammertone** · 08-30-2022, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by Hammertone

Playablity?
Chunky necks are easily sanded or shaved down.
And if you like a guitar but the scale is not to your taste, or it's too small, a decent luthier can saw it off and make a new neck to your specifications.

Originally Posted by Stringswinger

I never considered those things.
And never will

.

I knew you'd say that, ha! OK, Perhaps sawing the necks off of your D'As might be a bit ill-advised, but there's no shortage of other suitable candidates. I've got one in the works right now. I'll post pix when I get it back!

**2bornot2bop** · 09-02-2022, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Ah crap, this thread has basically turned the Guild/Benedetto JS into my dream guitar.

With today’s prices they’re practically out of reach for most players. At $4500 they were a decent buy, but not at $7k, imo.

**Marty Grass** · 09-02-2022, 06:18 PM

I've had the great fortune of owning two and playing another. It's funny that the scale length difference is notable c/w Gibson and Heritage, but it's not bad. I didn't like the heavy lacquer that much. In fact I stripped it off of one I owned and put a thinner finish of clear on it. That sounds extreme, and it is, but the factory finish checked like a broken mirror, probably due to the cold when it was shipped.

Another issue is the pickup. Some don't like the Benedetto. I thought it is nice. It is certainly hotter than the Heritage pickup.

I have a couple of Heritage JS's. I would not consider them inferior at all in sound, construction or playability. The GBJSA is a very fine instrument and would not fault anyone for preferring that guitar over a Gibson or Heritage.