When Guild reissued the iconic HB1 pickup, they made them look exactly like the vintage models. They’re supposed to be made exactly the same way in order to get the same sound, too, but the jury is still out on that. The problem is that since they look very similar, I’ve been afraid that someone would use that fact to try and pass of new ones as vintage. Why? Because a vintage pair of HB1s can sell for $300 or more and the Newark Street HB1s are less than half that new (and even less on the used market).
Well, I’m sorry to say that it’s happened. Let’s look at how I immediately spotted these as fakes and how you can too. Read More

