Budget rockabilly/jazzboxes from Guild @ Sweetwater

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

...I'm also looking forward to figuring out what strings work best on it. Flatwounds would be period correct and I will be trying some...

Given the DeArmond Dynasonic pickups on yours, I'd follow the default modern Gretsch setup and slap on a set of flatwound 11's to start; go down to 10's if it sounds like the tone is "choked" (as I did - counterintuitively, I might add - on my White Falcon), up to 12's if you want more dynamic range and "wood" in your tone, 13's if you're going straight-up jazzzbox - BTW please note (pun intended) that in all cases a wound G is mandatory for proper tonal balance. FWIW I've been most successful with D'Addario Chromes: relatively inexpensive for flats (about 50-70% less than some of the Euro brands), easy to find, clearer/brighter-sounding than the old-school round-core stuff, easy on the fingers with exceptionally long life - and they'll allow you to set your action far lower than with roundwounds (a hack all the '50s jazzers and rockabilly carts knew, in order to get those fleet-fingered licks with 12's and 13's - and occasionally 14's for some of the jazz guys)...

[Steve DeRosa]

They're back - and this time starting @ $699:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...vibrato-blonde
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...tar-gold-coast
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...al-malibu-blue
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...ar-scarlet-red

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

They're back - and this time starting @ $699:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...vibrato-blonde
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...tar-gold-coast
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...al-malibu-blue
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...ar-scarlet-red

I bet they are ones people bought the last couple weeks and returned. That’s what Sweetwater calls a “demo.” It’s what I call “used.”

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

I bet they are ones people bought the last couple weeks and returned. That’s what Sweetwater calls a “demo.” It’s what I call “used.”

They tag their demos as such - these are new w/warranty...

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

They tag their demos as such - these are new w/warranty...

Right, but even the demos come with a warrantee. “Demo” doesn’t mean it was out in a shop for walk-in customers to try. It means a guitar was boxed up, shipped, unpacked, played by someone for a time, shipped back, and then sold by Sweetwater to someone else as a “new” guitar. I find their MO not completely dishonest, but a bit misleading to the consumer. YMMV.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

Right, but even the demos come with a warrantee. “Demo” doesn’t mean it was out in a shop for walk-in customers to try. It means a guitar was boxed up, shipped, unpacked, played by someone for a time, shipped back, and then sold by Sweetwater to someone else as a “new” guitar. I find their MO not completely dishonest, but a bit misleading to the consumer. YMMV.

Check the listings again - as I write this the demos are specifically tagged as "demo" (one is tagged "price drop"), the regular stock is not...

[GoPappy]

Apparently, they are all gone now.