NGD - Guild S-100 Polara
Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:54 pm
I've always been a fan of the Guild S-100 that Kim Thayil from Soundgarden uses, but I never thought I'd actually own one. I always just saw it as a cool, but different, guitar. However, when Guild released the MIK Newark range at Winter NAMM 2013, and one of introductory models was a reissue of the S-100 Polara, my interest was peaked.
I held back from buying one, though, because I wanted to wait until the reviews and opinions of players started hitting the web—but they never did. Apparently, at least over here, Guild were back-ordered for months. Whatever guitars the dealers did receive were pre-ordered and gone as soon as they hit the shop doors. I don't know if this is a good thing or not, but I happened to find a nice guy selling one for €450 up in Dublin so I decided to take the train across the country and bring home a tidy new guitar.
And here is my MIK Guild S-100 Polara in perfect condition:
And for a little review?
It's good; very good. For €450 it was an absolute bargain. The quality is up there with my Japanese imports, and easily on par with many USA Gibsons and Mexican Fenders. I don't know what 'Handcrafted in Korea' signifies exactly, but wherever it's made it's an excellent guitar and I'm chuffed to bits with it. The pickups are rich, full, and incredibly balanced. The neck pickup is slightly duller than I want it to be, but I should be able to rectify this with some adjustments of the pickup height and with my amp.
The neck carve is very neutral and comfortable. It's slick and rarely encumbers you as you play. The tuners are strong and sturdy and barely ever go out of tune. With thick strings this thing resonates beautifully. You can feel it vibrate against your body as it sends the waves through your torso. It's nice and loud acoustically, and this to me is always a good sign, and has a uniformity and clarity to it. It's quite a heavy guitar, but it's manageable. I have a Japanese Ibanez AR100 that is heavier.
The fretwork is solid. Granted, it's not perfect—the high e string slips off the fretboard on the fifth fret too easily and there are a couple of dead notes past the 18th fret—but for the little I paid for it this is to be expected. Although I can't help with the slipping string, unless I replaced the whole fret, I can work on the fretting issues with my local technician. It also needs professionally intonated, but you'd have to do this with a £2000 Gibson.
The finish is nigh on immaculate and the detailing is beautiful. These little... 'details' that are unique to Guild and the S-100 really set the guitar apart from others, and this is something I've always looked for in an instrument. I love traditional designs, but slight variations and tweaks on them are even better. The three Japanese guitars I own all do this, as does my new Guild. The bronze indicators, that iconic tailpiece, the open-back tuners, the tall but narrow frets, they all make this instrument very special. Even the pickup housings and knobs are custom to Guild. I dig that a lot.
Overall I'm very happy. There is a rather unapologetic knot in the Mahogany body, but I think that adds a little to it. It'll grow on me I'm sure. The fretting issues, although most of which can be resolved, are not terrible considering the cost, the quality of the workmanship overall and the parts involved. If you fancy a sonically balanced, affordable instrument with quality on par with USA Gibson Studios, MIM Fenders, and MIK Reverends, that looks a little different, but not overly so, that resonates better than most, this could be something to consider.
I held back from buying one, though, because I wanted to wait until the reviews and opinions of players started hitting the web—but they never did. Apparently, at least over here, Guild were back-ordered for months. Whatever guitars the dealers did receive were pre-ordered and gone as soon as they hit the shop doors. I don't know if this is a good thing or not, but I happened to find a nice guy selling one for €450 up in Dublin so I decided to take the train across the country and bring home a tidy new guitar.
And here is my MIK Guild S-100 Polara in perfect condition:
And for a little review?
It's good; very good. For €450 it was an absolute bargain. The quality is up there with my Japanese imports, and easily on par with many USA Gibsons and Mexican Fenders. I don't know what 'Handcrafted in Korea' signifies exactly, but wherever it's made it's an excellent guitar and I'm chuffed to bits with it. The pickups are rich, full, and incredibly balanced. The neck pickup is slightly duller than I want it to be, but I should be able to rectify this with some adjustments of the pickup height and with my amp.
The neck carve is very neutral and comfortable. It's slick and rarely encumbers you as you play. The tuners are strong and sturdy and barely ever go out of tune. With thick strings this thing resonates beautifully. You can feel it vibrate against your body as it sends the waves through your torso. It's nice and loud acoustically, and this to me is always a good sign, and has a uniformity and clarity to it. It's quite a heavy guitar, but it's manageable. I have a Japanese Ibanez AR100 that is heavier.
The fretwork is solid. Granted, it's not perfect—the high e string slips off the fretboard on the fifth fret too easily and there are a couple of dead notes past the 18th fret—but for the little I paid for it this is to be expected. Although I can't help with the slipping string, unless I replaced the whole fret, I can work on the fretting issues with my local technician. It also needs professionally intonated, but you'd have to do this with a £2000 Gibson.
The finish is nigh on immaculate and the detailing is beautiful. These little... 'details' that are unique to Guild and the S-100 really set the guitar apart from others, and this is something I've always looked for in an instrument. I love traditional designs, but slight variations and tweaks on them are even better. The three Japanese guitars I own all do this, as does my new Guild. The bronze indicators, that iconic tailpiece, the open-back tuners, the tall but narrow frets, they all make this instrument very special. Even the pickup housings and knobs are custom to Guild. I dig that a lot.
Overall I'm very happy. There is a rather unapologetic knot in the Mahogany body, but I think that adds a little to it. It'll grow on me I'm sure. The fretting issues, although most of which can be resolved, are not terrible considering the cost, the quality of the workmanship overall and the parts involved. If you fancy a sonically balanced, affordable instrument with quality on par with USA Gibson Studios, MIM Fenders, and MIK Reverends, that looks a little different, but not overly so, that resonates better than most, this could be something to consider.
