Re: Any Guild Bluesbird people?
Regarding the Guild Bluesbird.....I have owned three of them over the years. I have also owned two Les Pauls. I am a full-time working musician, teach for the National Guitar Workshop, Guitar Workshop Plus of Canada, Blue Summit, have online guitar lessons with JamPlay.com, have five CDs out under my name, and have recorded numerous TV commercial and film soundtracks.
The Guild Bluesbird is nothing like a Les Paul. The chambering is NOT like the chambering on some of the newer Les Pauls. The Bluesbird is mostly hollow under that solid maple top. It was designed originally (as the Guild Aristocrat) to be a 3/4 size, thin-bodied archtop with no F-holes (several Guild models had no F holes). That traditional continued through its evolution into the M-75 and the Bluesbird. I still own one now. The Bluesbird is a snappier, more resonant and far less dense of a sound than the Les Paul. It lacks all that mahogany, and therefore it lacks a lot of the midrange power of the LP. Some people liken it to an "inflated Telecaster". It also weighs a lot less than most Les Pauls. Personally, I like weight. I find the Bluesbird to be a little lighter than my personal preference, but one can get used to weight, whether heavy or light.
The Bluesbird is, of course, a full inch larger than the LP, and the cutaway is the old Macaferri/Selmer style of cutaway, which is really hip.
Personally, I love the way the Bluesbird looks. It has a really good sound, but it is nothing like a Les Paul or an ES-335 even. It is much less dense and midrangey than even the ES-335.
Some people point out that Robben Ford has played Bluesbirds and that those Fender Esprit guitars are similar. That is true. Carvin's new semi-solid guitars are also similar. However, I have opened for Robben twice and have taught at workshops with Robben and I have never seen Robben use those guitars. In fact, he usually plays a Les Paul or a Tele these days.
Have you wondered why more big-name pros have not used the Bluesbird? Well, I think that it could be that the guitar lacks a certain amount of midrange and sustain that many solidbodies and even semi-hollows have. Its sound is unique.
What I am telling you is from experience. Great guitars, but in a category of their own, and they are certainly the model from which some guitar companies are making some of their new models. They are semi-solid though....not semi-hollow. Good luck.
