Guild Guitar Amplifiers

[revBB63]

Mr. Ashton..ha ha @ "Masteramps hadn’t set the industry on fire (no 50L6 pun intended), but.." that's a great article thanks for the link. I thought 'here it comes, they're gonna mention the 99-U Ultra Piggyback.." nope. Wawawaaa.
Think I'm going to have to send paypal $ to that Bluebook thing with the ONE mention online of my amp (besides in here).
Yeah Bill staples!! I was thinking if I can find some of that blue/grey Ampeg style cloth I'll recover it, you know if it ever catches on fire until then, the staples cant even be seen unless ya gawk
So you're guessing yours is a 63..it would be cool if mine was, I was born that year!!
I'm going to keep re-searching!

[Bill Ashton]

What you have to do is look at clues, unless you can find a catalog cut.

The speaker in my 66-J is a Jensen P12R, with a 1959 date code...but the pots all have 1963 date codes...cannot remember the trannies...so, it cannot be any older than a '63 due to the pots used. Looking at the handle and the tolex-or-whatever one would think it should be older, but it cannot be.

Same type of logic can be used on yours.

[revBB63]

ok that's good to know um I found this thing in the blue book of guitars and amps online that has info on it too, but as i filled out all the forms and came to the checkout they dont take paypal hahaha so I couldnt look. What a waste of 10 minutes! It's $14.00 for the whole Guild Chapter or $4.95 for the one amp. Grrr now I'm gonna hafta get a prepaid mastercard! but tell me, how DO you date the pots? Details pls. & Thank you.

[Bill Ashton]

If its the "Blue Book" by Feistag, I personally would not buy it. In the past I found too many common things missing, or if the kid didn't know he would list "no information" or some similar thing...he got my $20 or whatever once, but not again. And now Premier Guitar or some magazine uses him as an expert...

I am sure there is another thread regarding this, but every electronic part has an "EIA" code. xxx-xxx, xxxxxx, xxx-xxxx, xxxxxxx First three numbers are the EIA code for the manufacturer, the next three or four give you the year of manufacture and the week of the year it was manufactured. The transition between the 50's and the 60's need a little intuition, as 529 might be 52nd week of 59 or the 52nd week of 69

I would expect the transformer codes, can capacitor and pot codes on your piece to be of the six digit variety; we know that the amp had to be produced in the early 60's, so any "9's" in the dating would be '59 (like my Jensen speaker), any "1's or 2's" would probably be '61 or '62, because we know Guild didn't make any amps such as yours in the early '50's.

Hope that helps. Google up dating by EIA code and there is probably a better explanation.

[revBB63]

this is actually what is stamped on the PT: PT-106
926129
two 2's two 9's hmmmmmmmm...
so it's a '62, cuz that's what I want to believe heh heh. I'll try the pot code too. Just have to take that chassis out again.
Thanks again Bill. If you ever want to know how to turn your amp up louder, or stomp on some overdrive, just ask me. I'm an expert on that subject!

[revBB63]

this is the BB website, I'm not sure if it's the one you speak of, but I will be cautious, Money's Money!!
https://store.bluebookinc.com/Home/Default.aspx

[Bill Ashton]

OK...yea, that is the book I was thinking of, probably I had the 1st edition or so...too many holes, I wouldn't buy it again, sorry...maybe he has gotten better, someone speak up and put me in my place!

As to your power transformer date code. "926" is the manufacturer, "129" is the coding for the date that it was built...the power transformer. 29th week of something ending in "1." Well, we know it cannot be 1951, and certainly isn't 1971, so it has to be 1961.

I used to have a listing of the manufacturer codes, but cannot put my finger on that now...

So with only the info here, we know the amp cannot be any older than July(?) 1961 as it has a component with that date in it. The potentiometers give you another clue/date and the can cap and maybe even the eletrolytics may give another clue/date if they have not been changed out.

[revBB63]

Learning is fun. So we know when the PT was manufactured. is the can cap that big nasty can that's next to the tubes in front of the PT and above the power cord?? if it is there's a buncha numbers on that and the top row says: SYNCRO ME 50845 which i cant find on the webnet and may be a replacement part..am now reading catalogues by subscription only GEEZ!

[revBB63]

MR. BILL I FOUND IT!!! went through all the guild catalogs. the 99-U Ultra Piggyback made it's debut in 1963!!!! 30 watts output with 12" Super Power Concert Speaker! don't know why I thought it was a 2 x12" but I've had a lot of gear..they were only available as the head and a 1 x12" or 1 x 15" cab and with the lock joints they made one piece sort of..ha ha The cabinets were not sold alone I might have to give you my user name and password to this site when i'm done with it, I paid for a month.

[revBB63]

hmm is it there, i havent yet figured out this forum posting stuff aha

[Bill Ashton]

Excellent! Good work! Although we sensed it, that has to be a pretty rare beast. Sadly, not necessarily rare in terms of desirable/expensive, but not commonly seen on-the-hoof.

Almost looks like they were trying to used the cab shape of the new BF Fenders, without changing their chassis. Glad that you are playing her regularly, and waving the Guild banner high

Take care and best of luck.

[revBB63]

Thanks for your help on this. Ya know, I don't think we love our Guilds for how much they are worth but we love them for what they give back in super sweet tone, highlighted by the strum of a sweet Telecaster through a good compressor and analog delay..it's bliss.
BTW my 99-U has a 'dusty clean growl' does your Guild do that?

[Bill Ashton]

My 66-J is clean up to max on the volume control, not unlike a non-reverb Fender Princeton; my 99-J has some other harmonic thing going on, probably the cathode-biased 6L6 tone...haven't really cranked it often, as I fear for the old Oxford speaker. last time I used it was with an OCD pedal and it was just right.

[revBB63]

yeah depending on the guitar mine goes clean for miles, my Melody Maker (i have to clean boost it to match my teles' output) just sustains. My Tele is never too bright, but gets spanky up north on the Vol. But my Joan Jett Melody Maker burns @ 3:00
The cathode bias 6L6 tone is that 'dusty clean growl' it's a little dark and it envelops the notes, and, chords just hang there...

I just recorded the JJMM into her via the M.X.R. Distortion 3 (with no distortion just lots of output and clockwise tone ) vol up to 7 bass 4 treble 7 wow what a glorious roar.
Only gripe. I wish the trem was more choppy. But at least Guild got it right calling it Tremolo and not Vibrato

hmmm I want one of those OCDs. Never too many boost flavors.