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Bass FS: Guild Pilot Fretless. Price drop.


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The "Jeebus, Tom, start acting your age" herd-thinning continues. And I got a nasty tax surprise to motivate me. I'm somewhat reluctantly thinning a couple of fine basses.

The other, a late 80's Guild Pilot Fretless. I've had this for 20 years, it was my first fretless. I much prefer the 5 string these days and this has spent most of its time with me in the case. Never gigged by me. This was my "Five foot nothin', doghouse bass playin' mom's" favorite. Even though she generally hated electric basses, she dug this one.

It's trans black, SOLID flame maple body, EMG P/J pickups, shaped kind of like a 1st Gen Cruisebass. The side dot position markers are where they should be for a fretless: where the frets would be if they were there, not in between them. No fretboard wear or grunge, plays slick as anything..

The bad: The previous owner was a cruel master. As can be seen from the photos, the headstock has a big finish chip (no damage to the wood). Similarly, down at the output jack end there is one large and one not-so-large circular scrape in the finish.

Beyond that, a number of little pinhead-sized dings and normal play wear. Not too hateful really. It's still a good looker and a good player. Rat fur covered HSC included.

Again, the overall shot doesn't do the finish justice.

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I'm thinking $300 + actual ship should do it.

Notes: CONUS only, PP Gift preferred. I'm willing to drive some to do a meet 'n' greet and a handoff.

hit me through the board or at: tomterifficATearthlinkDOTnet

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I was surprised when I got that one. I got pretty good with it up to about the twelfth "non-fret" pretty quickly, a matter of a few hours.

Still, it's a pretty slim market for fretless basses. I'm willing to wiggle on price/terms for this one since the other one already sold.

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Cool bass, I had a couple of these Guild USA Pilots a few years ago, including a fretless. Fun basses, well made, sound good, lightweight (yes, even in maple!), and to top that, even Hamer didn't use quartersawn maple for their necks, I think, but Guild did...although to be fair, Hamers are three-piece necks usually, anyway. I prefer the 'cake knife' headstock (which this is) over the pointy Jackson-style that Guild used on some of their basses, and that figured solid eastern maple body is a huge plus.

So, why aren't I buying this one? Because I'm broke, too. :(

Somebody needs to get this, it's a bargain; and fretless is surprisingly easy to play, once you develop the muscle memory...it didn't take me long. Besides, you know what they say about frets, fretlines, and intonation... :lol:

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Somebody needs to get this, it's a bargain; and fretless is surprisingly easy to play, once you develop the muscle memory...it didn't take me long. Besides, you know what they say about frets, fretlines, and intonation... :lol:

^ This right here ^

I got it out last night just to make sure it was all hunky-dory with respect to the details (and to have another play on it) and my hands remembered what to do in a matter of minutes. Besides you can't slide a harmonic on a fretted instrument. ;)

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I really like the looka' that Guild! If it had a lined fingerboard, my otherwise-reserved funds would be in jeopardy...

Good price on that one, too!!

When I went shopping for my first fretless a few years ago, I considered unlined to be a deal-killer. I got a great lined bass but it wasn't so comfortable for gigs. Three months later I picked up an unlined Cort in a Craigslist swap and upon first play came to realize that the lines are a complete non-issue.

All it takes to learn unlined fretless is to play along with some music. Your hands and fingers will learn where to go very quickly. A year-and-a-half later I picked up an unlined Guild Pilot fretless (solid poplar, single pickup, nowhere near as luxurious as this one) and it's my overall favorite bass. Great tone, great balance, great playability, extremely comfortable, and that quartersawn neck's stability has more to do with playing in tune than fretlines ever could. A year ago I probably would have jumped on this bass, but these days I have 6 basses and no band.

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Cool bass. I played a Pilot exclusively in the 90s, hundreds of gigs and a couple CDs. And plus 1 on the fretless thing. My only bass now is an unlined fretless Veillete-Citron, and I don't really think about going back to fretted. It's just FUN to go fretless!

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