Guild Thunder I

Mine's a 1967 model. I play mostly progressive rock in a band and record my own stuff. This is my favorite studio amp. It really does growl when you turn it up. Like most have said, it relates well to a "Champ". I think it sounds better. It doesn't lack in features, especially for being 40 years old. Sure, tremelo depth would be nice, but this is seriously the sweetest pure tremelo I've ever heard come out of an amp. I've rigged mine with a foot-switch and I use it constantly. No stomp-pad tremelo is going to beat this amp's natural one.

I run a Mexican Tele and Epiphone Dot Studio (hollowbody) through the amp, usually. The hollow-body suits my rythm-minded playing style and the Tele is used for lead. The only thing that held this amp back initially in the sound dept was the speaker. I replaced it with a Tone Tubby. Enough said.

It's lasted 40 years. I think that mine sat for a while. When I got it, I gave it a re-tube and had my guitar tech do a cap job as well. Came back sounding amazing. It still does and that was about a year ago. I play it at least 3 times a week. Some have complained about no stand-by. Sure, it would be nice, but mine sings from the second you turn it on. Just let her warm up for 5 minutes and you're good to go. If you have a break of 15 minutes or less, just leave her on. She loves electricity. Mine has one quirk...when set level, it starts to lose volume, but if you tilt it foward (I place a pedal I don't use underneat the back edge) it sings like a sailor! No clue why. Don't want to pay someone to find out. I just tilt it down and it's wonderfully awesome.

Warranty ran out 39 years ago.

For what these little guys go for, there's no reason not to pick it up. If mine ever pooped out, I would constantly scour E-Bay (and beat you at the last second) for another one. These amps are very budget friendly. Simply put, you can't beat this amp in the "bang for the buck" area. It's just not possible.

I have a Guild Thunder 1 amplifier(T1RTV). It has three input jacks, normal, brite, and mic.The volume switch is a combo, has a bright switch(pull it out). Has a built in foot pedal for reverb/tremolo. Speed / Strength control for tremolo, also reverb control. One 8" CTS SPEAKER (Original) and One 12" speaker also original. Seven tubes and has never needed service. Tone Quality is incredible, Reverb with spring tray. Early sixtys, 1963 or earlier. One channel rated at 97 watts, probably around thirty the actual output. Paid $300.00 for the AMP and got a Gipson 63,SG custom with it(about 1972) . Guitar appraises at 5,000.00 noe

As I said before mostly Gibson 1963, SG Special guitar. Great sound for the studio or practice. Low distortion, but with pedals sounds great. "FX55C Supra Distortion" also use a Boss DD-3" REAL COOL. Does not have all the bells and whistles, like newer amps, many of them does not have the tone.

It's early sixties, so reliability isn't the question. Still sounds great, stored inside have treated with care.

Do my own service.

Playing over thirty years, play every day unless ill.

Sweet tremolo , perfect for the house or moderate jam.Dual channel built in 1966. we like to rock and although it lacks the power to keep up with the the peaveys and marshalls I would recommend this jewel to any player . Still all original but have thought about replacing the tubes for more crankability.

straight clean amp until it gets cranked up then i will concur , it sounds quite "champlike". Play a Gibson Firebird and Les paul"I am a Gibson kinda guy", however I think my Iceman sounds great through it too. Good tone when using analog distortion , the digitals come thru a bit funny though.Have tried B.C. rich and they all sound great.

It lasted this long with no repairs.Got it a few years back from a fellow who's Dad played accordian through it .For a hundred bucks Canadian you can't go wrong. I have only ever taken it to mod jams because it just would'nt stand out compared to what were using. We like to play loud as we can when gigging.

From what I know this was the final amp constructed by Guild before Fender bought them out and turned it into the twin reverb. My sources may not be correct on this but then again they have come thru before. The bass player plays Guild basses and a rickenbacher he seems to like the guilds.

Yes i would try to find another , in fact I already am.Play regular on a Marshall mode four(like I said LOUD).And I swear by it as a stage amp.Gibson Les paul studio and Firebird are my main axes.I do wish the thunder 1 had reverb though , but a simple rigging and you've got it though. If you ever come across one of these vintage gems you should buy it.It is a cool little amp, I am very impressed with its all around playability. Not as versatile as the new stuff but it looks and sounds realy cool.I have been playing for 25 years now and its unfortunate that i only came across this beauty 4 years ago.

Sure....it doesn't have reverb...but that's cool because who needs it? Bass, treble, and two input levels are all a guy needs to jam. Everything else makes you sound like a girl. Why don't you get your nails done while channel-switching, eh?

The tremolo is so succulantly sweet it's ridiculous. I read one review on here that said it lacked depth....i think that depth could be improved but i still love it. i mean, hello country western! a depth knob would be nice, but i love the trem so much i rigged up an external footswitch for it.

No standby isn't a problem. it has a built in cap to discharge after the power's turned off. The fact that there is no standby doesn't decrease the life of this amp.

AMAZING.

like everyone else has said, this is perfect for recording anything. I use it for anything that i put on the analog or the computer. it's loud enough for the studio (or your house) but it's no 100 watter. Tone is impeccable. I'm in the process of replacing the original 10" CTS....and i know that a Jensen will make one heck of a difference!

I've had to put some cash into this guy to keep him running. Probably have about $250 invested if you count purchase price but it's def worth it! With new matched, biased tubes and the speaker in the mail...i honestly can't wait.

Like everyone else said, it MADE to sound clean. My boss overdrive does the trick for immediate distortion live....and when recording, i just turn the volume past 3/4's and it does just fine. I might miss the alnico when i go to ceramic....but we'll see. i'll keep the old one just in case.

Well, mine's had some issues. The transformer died shortly after I got it (probably about 6 months) but i was playing it weekly. I'm pretty sure that it sat for most of its life and the tranny just couldn't handle it. It was a pain to hunt down a replacement. Not many amps use the 6GW8's.

Call me stupid for "ruining the value" or whatever but i will never sell this amp. I put on matching knobs cuz it was missing a few/had mismatched ones and i actually detolexed and painted the thing. the faded blonde looked pinkish and, in my opinion, i know it's vintage even if the original tolex is long gone. Now it's a nice, dark brown with the original woodgrain. gorgeous.

i went to the 3-prong as everyone should.

with these constant mods including a footswitch, new tubes, new speaker, new tranny, i expect the caps to die on me but they're holding strong. i think that this amp is a reliable one if everything is on the same page. when you strengthen one thing, it shows how weak another is, ya know?

Just doesn't exist.

This was my first tube amp ever. This amp is what made me get into them like i am today. I do not think I would trade it for the world! If you come accross one and you have the extra cash, i would say, pick it up. There is growing interest in this little devil and you will surely get what you paid for it as long as you're not paying $1,000's.

If you honestly need a recording amp, this will do it for you. It's loud enough, quiet enough (quietest i've ever played), and i can't get enough of the trem!

i'm a young pup compared to most @ the ripe 'ol age of 22, but i know that this thing was pumpin' out tone before i was conceived. I consider it a fine wine.

I don't know why other reviewers have rated this low in features. If it is point-to-point handwired and built as well as this, it should get at least an 8, even it just has a tone knob! Since it has tremelo, polarity reverse, hum control, a higher gain input, a bright option & separate tone controls for bass & treble, it gets an extra bump!
An out, reverb, and tremelo depth control would have made this 10

I've spent a goodly amount of time tweaking it to my satisfaction, but it started out sweet to begin with. Popping in a high quality ceramic speaker really opened it up.

Pretty hard to get a bad tone out of this --it puumps out bright cleans, thick cleans, & a coupla flavors of nice drive. Killer acoustic tone, tone, too, maybe one of the best for that. But, the drive is underated in previous reviews--I like what it pumps out with my 'bucker axe...a lot.
Lotsa jalepeno for what might be at most a 12 watter with a 10".
Amazing focused bass, too, for a little box w/10". But it'll go crystalline if you want it with a coupla knob turns.
Very quiet amp in terms of noise! Awesome recording amp.

It is a rock. Never let me down for a moment...and it is about 40 yrs old!

Guild got eaten by Fender, so now it is just a logo wielded by the nightmare bloodsuckers at Fender which is supported by customers, not vice versa!

Had it for some years now & it always delivers. Almost always astonishes fellow musicians with its overall tonality and performance. I've had more than two amigos go on a search for one of their own after hearing mine. Very flexible, nicely compact and light for those gigging at smaller venues. These are one of the true remaining steals in vintage amps.

1966 Guild Thunder I. This little amp has no reverb, and no foot switch for the nice Tremomlo. So I use my Digitech RP200 to add some reverb. I would not call it versatile by itself, but it's a sweet sounding little beast.

Amp has normal and "High Gain" channels, no channel switching, foot switch, loops, or anything else. The volume knob has a "Pull for Bright" switch in it. Essentially it only has Bass, Treble, and volume, plus on/off and speed for Tremolo.

I wish it had a built in spring reverb, but the RP200 adds it for me. I only use the Tremolo to play around, since it doesn't have a foot switch. It sounds great, but cannot adjust slow and fast enough for me. Maybe the oscillator caps need replacing to give it the full adjustment range.

I play this amp only in the "studio" (my bedroom). It has plenty of power to rock the house.

I use this amp exclusively with a USA Strat Deluxe Plus with stock Lace PUPS. The RS200 has a feature to convert between humbucking and non-humbucking PUP sound, and I use that feature often. Actually have not tried any other guitar with this amp, because the strat sounds so sweet through it.

I have played everything from James Taylor to Hendrix through this amp, and it sounds great with all. There is a slight amount of ringing from one of the original Guild-branded tubes sometimes. May break down and order some new ones some day.

This amp is SUPER clean. In fact, that is probably why it wasn't that popular. However, I push the RP200 into it with lots of grind and it rocks. Probably would be perfect for a Jazz guitarist by itself, but it responds very will to some massaging of the signal up front.

40 years old. Perfect condition. Looks new!

This amp is quite simple. I would not hesitate to gig with it, but I would ALWAYS have a backup for any gig.

As far as I can tell, it has all the original tubes and components.

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I've been goofing off with guitars since 1978. Been playing electric guitar for only a few years. Have a 65 and 69 Super Reverb, several old Hammond organ amps converted for guitar, some old boutique stuff. This amp is my current favorite and should be for at least another week, until the next one comes along.

If it were lost or stolen, I would try to find the reverb model, but I would not hesitate to replace at the price I paid. I bought this amp because it is in pristine condition and unique.

I recommend it to anyone. It's a nice, clean-sounding amp.

Early to mid '60's tube amplifier. Class A, point-to-point hand-wired. 10" CTS AlNiCo speaker. Bass, treble tone knobs are separate; tremelo has separate switch and separate knob speeed control. T1-12, tube line-up (original Amperex Holland-made) is (1) 6CA4, (2) 12AX7/7025 and (2) 6GW8 output tubes. Very clean until driven (over 7 on volume) and then very nice break up. Cleaner and more stable than a Super Champ -- better tone, too. Good for blues, jazz, but lots of headroom and quite clean -- so also good for country, etc. In the 12 to 15 watt range -- and is surprisingly LOUD. Original 2-tone grill cloth (nifty!)

Excellent with a Tele or Strat; verrrry nice with an older Guild. Sounds particularly nice with a friend's Danelectro. Nice jazz tones, clean, good bass response with more than sufficient headroom. Overall a very useable, solid amp. Solid pine(not cheap pressboard) and well constructed. Over 7 on the volume the amp starts to break up, but I would never call the distortion "brutal." Reminds me of a 6L6GC based amp or a Deluxe. Excellent broad-range frequency response. Again, a very useable amp that's gigable and sounds great in a variety of venues.

Well constructed and it has its original Amperex tubes in it, so I'd have to say its fairly reliable. It hasn't crapped out on me yet -- so that's saying something given the miles this amp has traveled. I don't send amps out and do most of my own servicing, so if it ever breaks, it's fixed on the spot.

These guys still in business? Sheesh, I dunno... Don't need warranties or guarantees or anything -- like I said, if it breaks, I'll just fix it.

I've been playing for over 30 years and this is a VERY nice amp. Definitely superior to a Fender Champ/Superchamp with regard to much better overall tonal response. Holds its own against the big boys, but keeps it tight and clean. The amp is in near-mint condition, so its been well cared for. I've got Fenders, Gibsons and all kinds of misc. stuff, but have found a niche passion for these old Guilds and Voxs and Richenbachers -- and the class they bring to your playing. Not an easy amp to find, but if you do, GRAB IT! If "discovered" by the Gretch heads and Vox hounds, the price of this puppy will quickly escalate -- right through the roof...

T1-12. 1X12 Tube Combo. Jensen "Special Design" speaker (not sure of exact model, or whether it's original--may have been covered in previous reviews). Tube complement has been addressed. Best tremolo I've ever played, in any form, with only a speed knob. Treble, bass, volume with pull-bright switch. One channel, two inputs (High Gain and Normal). No reverb (don't need it, but it'd be nice. I really want to hear the reverb model, what with the freaky separate speaker thing and all, but...). No effects loop, no speaker out. I tried to find out the wattage, I think it's around 12 watts. Footswitch for tremolo would be nice, but... Super smooth looking--my wife even commented on it, and lets me keep it on a pedestalesque table in the corner of our tiny living room. Way cool two-tone grillcloth, cursive logo, tan tolexish covered open-back cabinet, (though mine has some sort of makeshift faux-backing attached, some of which is actually balsa wood. Balsa wood?) Much easier to carry than my previous, extremely inferior ampware. I'll list later. 8 for features, if 10 is maximum versatility. 10 for features, if 10 for features is maxmum versatility of tones with least amount of unnecessary controls. Therefore, 9 for features. More volume would be the only thing I would ever dare to wish it had. And maybe a standby switch, but that's it. And I wish it was grounded.

10. 10. 10. Use it with my present 2 electrics--a 1999 '72 Tele Custom Reissue with stock neck humbucker and stock bridge single-coil pickups and rosewood fretboard (I HATE maple fretboards); and a Global Strattyjaggyjazzys.g.master copy ($58 at the pawn shop, plus replaced tuners) with 2 single coils, one tone, one volume (rosewood fretboard, and for some reason, a zero fret. Hm. Turn the amp's bass knob all the way up, and treble all the way down--adjust volume for as loud as possible without severe breakup (not that that's a bad thing), keep tone knobs on guitar on the lower side, and play one long note or chord or whathaveyou and pretend you're the organ player at the First Church of Tone. Bring treble levels up and bass levels down at random with the guitar and amp to emulate violins, cellos, French horns (yep), Sousaphones, harmonicas, blowing across the tops of bottles, piccolos, etc. Don't forget the bright switch!)And it also has plenty of amazing guitar sounds. I had to literally try (with not a great deal of success) to get any unpleasant tones out of this thing, and there are very few. Smooth break up, great crunch, and oh lordy the sustain. And I can't even speak about the tremolo. Tremolicious.

Sadly, a 7. It's lasted this long (about 38 years), but I don't know it's history. They don't make 'em anymore. I hope to be able to depend on it. No obsolete or hard to get tubes, though. I want to get it grounded, on accounta I don't wanna die yet.

Sadlier, a 5 or so. Haven't had to have anyone work on it yet. The warranty probably isn't this long, either.

Been playing guitar with amps for about 8 years. Play drums and keyboardy stuff, too. Singalittle. Other unmentioned guitars are a Yamaha FG336SBII acoustic, and a '56 Gibson LG-1 acoustic with an active IBeam pickup installed--and that sounds good through this amp, too. Seriously. Best amp I'll probably ever own. Sounds amazing quiet or loud. I think you can compete with a full drumset if you're drummer actually plays WITH you. I'm going to try to find another--if not to buy it, just to see if other ones sound this good. I can't believe these people before me got theirs for the prices they did, and don't really have the same opinion of it. Maybe get 'em serviced or replace the tubes or speaker. Unbelievable amp. Oh, yeah--and there's so little noise or hiss, I almost forgot to mention it until I reviewed my submission.

1965 practice or small club amp. All original, barely used beauty. Original Mullard power and recitifier tubes, RCA preamp tubes. Original cover. This amp is in perfect condition and must have been in the closet all these years ..... what a score! Low power, surprizingly loud British Invasion Machine....made in the USA!

Very alive and dynamic. I turn it all the way up with a Hamer Newport Pro and get a total kick out of playing it. Hey Bulldog solo.....without any pedals! Great sonic value. I bought it for my 11 year son.......but he'll have to wrestle me for it. Super cool!

This particular one is brand new so it's fine. I'm not sure about the others out there.

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What a great little amp! If you find one put some fresh NOS tubes in it and turn it up! (I didn't have to as this amp has not been used). Personally, I find the other scores a little on the low side but try it for yourself. It's cheap enough!

Early to mid 60's---2 inputs--tremolo--two 6gw8's(power tubes)one 6ca4 rectifier and two 12ax7's--12inch bell-cone alninco---no reverb-tremolo a little noisy but ok----tubes used are 9 pin radio tubes--pretty clean sound---in process of replacing all tubes and cleaning all circuits

cool headroom for a small amp pushed at 5-6 volume on neck pick-up--using strat style guitars---break-up not that great on a humbucker with amp cranked

so far so good

too old for warranty---Guild(Fender) would laugh me off the face of the earth if i inquired about service work---simple class A tube amp---Most any repaiman can fix this one

25 year player---i have lots of 5watt to 20watt amps for recording-playing around the house---This one is fun all the way around---cool 60's deco look and sound---