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Guild made some really nice bass guitars in the 1970s. And this is one of them; the fretless version of the Guild B302 bass in walnut finish. It has a mahogany body with a set three piece neck, also mahogany with a maple stripe, and an unfretted rosewood fingerboard. Unlike all older Guild basses, The B302 was only available as a long scale (34") instrument.
Functionally, it is a very effective bass. Thanks to the mahogany body and neck it is fairly lightweight - weighing in at exactly 4.0kgs - and with a lovely tone. It's a great looking bass too, and a real pleasure to play! Fretless examples are pretty hard to find, but fretted B302s are great basses too. If you find one at a reasonable price, snap it up!
Model: 1978 Guild B-302F
Pickups: Two Guild eight pole single coil bass pickups.
Neck: Three piece; mahogany with a maple stripe, fretless. Rosewood fretboard. Width at nut 1 5/8"
Hardware: 2 volume and 2 tone controls. Schaller M-4-S tuners, Guild BT-4 bass bridge
Weight: 4.0kg
The 1978 catalogue (left) describes the bass in detail, but also lists other options; stereo wiring and an ash body. It had a 1978 US price of $440.
The quality of American guitars at this time is often brought into question, but this does not seem to have been a problem for Guild, this bass is certainly very well built, and very easy to play. One of the better vintage fretless bass guitars available.
Note, this bass has been modified slightly - the Guild B302 was strung to the bridge, not strung through its body. This bass has had holes drilled through its body, and the base of the bridge, to allow stringing with extra long strings. All the rage in the late 1970s!
Guild B302F soundclips
More soundclips of this bass through various vintage amplifiers here.
Guild B302F bass - a closer look
The Guild B301/B302 basses had the solid brass, chrome-plated BT-4 bridge, a vast improvement on the older Hagstrom-made bridge. Note this has been modified slightly in this case to allow through-body stringing.
There are volume and tone controls for each pickup, aswell as a three-way pickup selector switch.
The bass is fitted with two Guild DP-8 eight-pole single coil pickups; two poles for each string, "for even output".
Heel detail. The Guild B302 has a set (glued in) three-ply neck.
Headstock front with inlays; Guild logo and Chesterfield motif. The truss rod cover has the model designation, B-302F.
Reverse headstock detail; Schaller M4s tuning keys, with serial number stamped at the very top of the headstock. This dates this particular bass to 1978.
Guild mother-of-pearl headstock inlay detail
Guild truss rod cover with B302F model designation.
Body routes. The pickups are mounted to the base plates in the pickup routes, via two bolts that pass through the pickup itself. For a look at the wiring see Guild B302 electronics.
These metal plates screw directly into the body, much the same as soapbar P90 and similar pickups
1978 Guild B302F bass and blue-lined hard case. Note the Guild logo near the handle.
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