Here’s my new guitar - it’s a Guild Polara Kim Thayil edition. If you’re not a millenial - Kim Thayil was the lead guitarist for Soundgarden, one of the biggest bands of the 90s. He played a Guild as they rose to fame.
It’s Guild’s take on an SG with a slightly different (I think cooler) look. Lopsided horns. It balances well without major neck dive unlike regular SGs.
Despite the fact it’s an artist edition, it’s an inexpensive mid range guitar. Made in Indonesia. But it plays well and feels great in my hands.
I thought I’d do a video demoing it - check it out. And for a bit of fun - can anyone name all the songs that the riffs are from? No cuts in the video, so plenty of mess ups and the world’s worst playing of a Pearl Jam riff in there (there’s a clue).
So far, I’m loving this guitar. The 24.75" scale length feels good in my hands and the neck is smooth but not too skinny. The pickups are lower output than the high output Seymour Duncans in my Fender so I’m getting a different sound even though they’re both dual humbucker guitars (what can I say, I love humbuckers). The volume knob cleans up well.
I’m yet to get it set up, but I’ll definitely be taking it to a luthier to lower the nut. I had that done on my Fender and it made a huge difference to playability. It’s currently a bit high for my taste.
Thanks to everyone that helped me figure out what to do in the other thread.
Congratulations on your new guitar!
It’s a cool one, but I simply can’t agree that it’s cooler than an SG. And of course I’m not biased at all.
I recognize all of them, but the 90s was my time to stop paying attention to the band, member names, and even song names! I was in Seattle during those years and listened to a lot of local bands on the radio. Some made it and some didn’t. The local radio station morning show lead host would invite bands and made some casual recordings in his “garage”.
Happy NGD, JK ! Nice demo of your new guitar. I like the body shape a lot and very nice sound also, so I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun together . Enjoy!
HI, JK. Happy NGD. It seems we play very similar axes, my one is not Kim Thail signature, but I love it. It’s definitely my favourite guitar since I bougt it.
Nice guitar, not my favourite color, but the shape is cool.
Regarding the riffs, I think I can recognize Soundgarden’s Spoonman, Rage Against the Machine’s Killing in the Name and AC/DC’s… Back in Black? No idea about the rest (and I’m not familiar with Pearl Jam, so me not knowing is not related to how well you play that one).
Nothing better than the inspiration of a new guitar.
Looks and sounds real good man. Appricieate the sound bites.
I’m from the 60’s and 70’s so won’t be to good at picking the names of the songs your playing, though I do recognize a couple of the licks. I just can’t name them…
Looks like yer gonna get your Rock & Roll on now,
Time to, Turn it Up!
Now that’s a good looking guitar and sounds great, too. Very cool demo video. By the way, great to see some of your playing again, it has been a while.
! Nice demo of your new guitar. I like the body shape a lot and very nice sound also, so I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun together 
. Enjoy!
