1981 Guild B-50 Super-Jumbo Acoustic Bass Guitar

At 18" wide and nearly 7" deep, the Guild B-50 is really the only acoustic bass guitar made on a commercial scale that's worth playing acoustically. If you're playing with a few folks playing acoustic instruments and you have decent finger technique (or, better yet, you don't mind flatpicking it Violent Femmes-style -- which is where I think ABGs come into their own sound), you definitely can hear it carry in a group.

It's also more comfortable than it looks, too. It's got a short 30 7/8" scale length and a tapered body with a narrower (for a jumbo, mind you) waist that lets you get your arms around it and play near the soundhole without fatigue. If this were an acoustic guitar and I was trying to chord it all night...? Oof! As a bass, though, the design works. It's still ginormous, though.

This one was here for customer repair -- though I think the owner might be interested in selling it? -- and it received the usual things old Guilds need -- a neck reset and bridge reglue, among other stuff. Now that it's done-up it plays spot-on and quick. To really make the most out of an acoustic bass guitar, though, you've really got to dial-in a little "relief" into the neck so that if you attack the strings in the middle fret positions you don't get slap from the strings on the frets. It's annoying but it's truth. Bass strings, frets, and super-quick action tend to disagree on acoustic instruments as I've found out from multiple banjo bass and mandobass excursions.

Repairs included: neck reset, bridge reglue, hairline crack repair near pickguard (treble-side top), hairline crack repairs (2) near soundhole edges, fret level/dress, relocation/new slot for bass-side saddle (it's a 2-saddle setup and Guild never placed the bass saddle in the right place... sigh... though I did make an extra saddle for the "wrong place" saddle slot just to cross my Ts), setup, cleaning...

Top wood: solid spruce
Back & sides wood: ply mahogany
Bracing type: x
Bridge: rosewood
Fretboard: rosewood
Neck wood: mahogany
Action height at 12th fret: 3/32" overall
String gauges: 100w, 70w, 50w, 40w (would be better with 100-80-60-40)
Neck shape: slim C
Board radius: ~12"
Truss rod: adjustable
Neck relief: straight
Fret style: wide/low
Scale length: 30 7/8"
Nut width: 1 5/8"
Body width: 18"
Body depth: 6 3/4"
Weight: 7 lbs 15 oz

Condition notes: there's a repaired hairline crack on the treble-top near the bottom of the pickguard, 2 repaired tiny hairlines at the soundhole, average finish weather-checking throughout, average playwear/usewear throughout including a smaller spot of disturbed finish on the back where a strap must've laid against the back of it in heat (not too obvious), the truss rod cover has a chipped-out top edge, the saddles are replacement bone and I cut a new slot for the bass-side saddle (leaving the original slot, too), and there's a bunch of blotchy finish wear/chipped-out/worn-through spots on the back of the neck.

It comes with: its original hard case in beat but functional condition.