DESCRIPTION:
Guild Liberator Elite, transparent charcoal, nine made world wide.Active Bartolini Pickups.

Every once in awhile you find a guitar that's almost too beautiful to play. It's just enough to sit there and admire it, not risking a ding. A good case in point is this drop-dead gorgeous 1988 Guild Liberator Elite, one of the last guitars to be produced before Guild got out of the solidbody electric game in the late 1980s.
The Guild Liberator Elite was a limited edition top-of-the-line introduced in 1988. Sitting above the set-neck Liberator (DiMarzios) and the fancier "seemless heel" Liberator II (EMGs), both poplar guitars, the Liberator Elite employed materials and workmanship equal to the best solidbodies. It had solid mahogany body with a bound, bookmatched flamed maple carved top. The glued-in mahogany neck had the "seemless heel," a two-octave bound ebony fingerboard, and wonderful pearl "rising sun" inlays. Pickups were active Bartolini units with an active onboard boost function. Pickups were controlled by three three-way mini-toggles with off in the middle and reversed phase orientation in either end position. This had one volume and one tone control, gold hardware, and a Floyd Rose double-locking vibrato. Finishes were amberburst, cherry sunburst, and transparent charcoal.

The Liberator Elite was a special guitar that plays like a dream. Active Bartolinis aren't everyone's cup of tea, but they're darn good pickups, capable of kicking butt with minimum noise -- great for a rack system or recording.
By Michael Wright | Published: March 8, 2006 All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. http://www.vintageguitar.com/1998/guild-liberator-elite/