Guild Pilot Bass 4 Knob Reviews 5

Already have a pair of Pilots, fretted and fretless, and they are really great as to comfort and tone, but then I saw this one hanging at Parkway [Rt9, Clifton Pk, NY] and I was in love.... But it cost more than the combined price of the other two: $600 really clean barely used condition, with fitted case in decent shape. Being unwilling to trade in my other Pilots I traded a Gibson Tobias that had already fell into dis-use because of the Pilots I am already playing. This Pilot is quite different from the others [see below].

While I love my "plain" Pilots, this one shares only the shape, and the the same bridge and tuning pegs, but since player comfort is a major element of the Pilot series, shape of neck and body is a big deal to me. It's medium-light weight, very good hang balance, and the neck plays like it's an "air guitar". I'm still playing the stainless roundwounds that it came with and this is one nasty big bottom chainsaw in the pudding, any flavor. I can max out the treble and it just keeps enriching the tone rather than overwhelming the bottom. Never gets honky. PJ with reversed P [my favorite].

Would rather have a PU blend knob instead of seperate gain knobs. Exagerated jazz bass body style combined with oversize 4-in-line peghead requires very slightly over-average-size gig bag. No battery, no sound, strictly active. For a Pilot bass, this one was expensive. See below for premium features.

This is like a Custom Shop Pilot compared to my other two: Fully bound, very black ebony fretboard with large incredible abalone inlays on the same maple one[?] piece neck as on regular Pilots, comfortable and easy. Unlike the opaque-painted poplar wood of normal Pilot bodies this one is tranparent charcoal[? or black?] over tiger striped flamed maple. There are no top or back laminated tiger maplee on this, the whole body is SOLID tiger stripe flamed [as you can see the grain follow around the edges from top to back]. Schaller roller bridge and campact cast tuning machines, neat roller string tree for the flat Fender-type headstock. PJ Bartolini PUs with reversed split-P. 2 gain knobs plus treble and bass, very active, the bass level can be explosive and the high end can torture your drivers [regular Pilots have a 3-knob EMG set up].

I think I'm gonna sell my G&Ls!!

Golem rated this unit 5 on 2004-02-19.

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