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The G Word


jedzep

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I do love Guilds, but the condition of that one would worry me. I typically won't go any lower than "very good" condition-wise on anything under consideration. It seems like on Reverb, a lot of folks tend to oversell the condition of their instrument.

 

On the other hand, sleepers do come along from time to time. Hopefully when you get it in hand, it will structurally be good to go.

 

Let us know!

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Yes, I did shop this with furrowed brow and plenty of questions. The bridge has a horizontal crack running through the pins, but I own a couple vintage BRW belly bridges that my luthier can swap out if need be. Despite claims of needing a reset the string height is 4/64ths down in the cowboy zone and not more than 1/8" up high, so I should be able to play that OK, especially tuned down which I do anyway. I'm used to rehabbing old acoustics, trying to stay optimistic, and normally, I wouldn't go near a 'Frankenstein', but it's a Guild model I've been chasing for a while. Gotta' do my part to keep my little guitar shop repair bench busy. y'know.

 

Returns (gulp) accepted.

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Thanks! I have to come here for uplift and encouragement. My family just scowls and rolls their eyes. They had better come around and at least fake the joy or I'll bequeath the guitars to my trusty dog Vito.

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To make a long story longer...I've been getting Guild Forum warnings and support about this guitar and CME, that apparently was returned at least once already. An in-hand CME staffer who played it gave it a good review, however just from the description it shouldn't really be listed as in VG condition. Later pics sent to me showed a faint image of a definite Hoboken label. Whew! At least there's one verifiable aspect. I see other funny details, a cracked bridge across the center of the bridge pins and a weird looking edge on the pick guard that appears to be a bad trim job. Who knows?

 

I spent some time back and forth with the staffer who started hinting that if I was unsure, they would cancel and refund at the exact same time UPS was sending me a track # and 'shipped' notice. So funny. This morning I woke up to an email from Reverb that the guitar was relisted and I could make a best offer. Alright...sure that's a timing issue, anyway, someone oughta' let the UPS driver know he's got an empty box on board.

 

I'm buying it with the knowledge I might snag a great player after I put a little work into it. I only own rehabbed guitars, when it comes down to it. One forumite suggested I find out what adhesive was used in the newer neck install because it might not be so easy to remove for a reset. Whaaa?! Got string height measurement of 4/64ths at the 3rd and 1/8 inch at the 10th. Hell, I'll play that all day long, especially at the D-D down-tuning I play at.

 

Stress.

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Speaking of Guilds, are the Fender era models any better or worse than the earlier ones or roughly the same?

 

To Guild's great benefit, Fender apparently kept their mitts off the design and construction of the Guilds. I think the consensus is that Guild quality is generally very stable throughout the years, although there are certainly those who swear by the Westerlys, and I imagine the Hobokens are coveted too.

 

My Corona-made JF30-12 (a blinged down F412 - it doesn't get better than this) has a 1 inch square decal on the back of the headstock says "Fender Hand-crafted in Corona, California." Just letting people know who's paying the salaries and the bills, I guess....

 

Actually, I think the more recent New Hartford production took everything up a notch. msp_cool.gif

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My five Westerly Guilds are all pre-Fender, which purchased Guild in 1995, so I can't speak first hand to changes thereafter, but I've read that things did not change appreciably at Westerly after the purchase (some additional QC steps were apparently put in place).

 

Mine span a range from 1973 to 1994, and the quality remained consistently high.

 

So many good guitars out there to enjoy!

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Short story...the Guild rolled in on the big brown truck, I peeled the poorly shaped p'guard off the over sprayed top with the edge of a Tortex pick, cleaned the glue off, buffed the top to a nice satin gloss, pulled the sloppy saddle that was leaning hard and splitting the r'wood against the bridge slot wall, smeared hide glue down in there, cut and shaped a nice new bone saddle, slapped the saddle in and strung up with new 80/20 12's. and HOLY CRAP, I got a real sweet little box. The sturdy build of an LG2 with the tone of a 0018. It's a remarkable instrument, but will need some tweaking. Also remarkable that it was listed in VG condition. CME hung a little loose on the description.

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Short story...the Guild rolled in on the big brown truck, I peeled the poorly shaped p'guard off the over sprayed top with the edge of a Tortex pick, cleaned the glue off, buffed the top to a nice satin gloss, pulled the sloppy saddle that was leaning hard and splitting the r'wood against the bridge slot wall, smeared hide glue down in there, cut and shaped a nice new bone saddle, slapped the saddle in and strung up with new 80/20 12's. and HOLY CRAP, I got a real sweet little box. The sturdy build of an LG2 with the tone of a 0018. It's a remarkable instrument, but will need some tweaking. Also remarkable that it was listed in VG condition. CME hung a little loose on the description.

 

 

 

Sounds promising, JZ! [thumbup]

 

 

BluesKing777.

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Yep...promising, to say the least. I did have it in the back of my mind to keep my herd rotating and put a few bucks back into my 'retirement' account, but I think all I did was add a guitar. So addicted (sigh).

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Yep...promising, to say the least. I did have it in the back of my mind to keep my herd rotating and put a few bucks back into my 'retirement' account, but I think all I did was add a guitar. So addicted (sigh).

 

 

Take the opportunities as they come, JZ!

 

Those guitars are rare as hen's teeth here. Matter of fact, the pawn shop visit of recent showed a whole lot of cheapie guitars I had never heard of. But my head got turned to the J200, a Bird and a OM28 and some others, but these days if you hit skid row down on your luck, you could probably stump up for a nice playable guitar, eg their Samick dread for $130......

 

 

BluesKing777.

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I did have it in the back of my mind to keep my herd rotating and put a few bucks back into my 'retirement' account, but I think all I did was add a guitar. So addicted (sigh).

My game plan was essentially to buy everything I've ever seriously wanted prior to retirement, build up a "guitar equity" for trading (if something totally irresistible comes along), and then go on the wagon. Almost a year into retirement, it has truly worked out well as everything gets rotated in, played, tweaked for fun, and played some more.

 

Moral of the story: Buy guilt-free now while you're working, and then sit back & enjoy!

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I'm buying it with the knowledge I might snag a great player after I put a little work into it. I only own rehabbed guitars, when it comes down to it.

 

Sounds like you got that great player with just a little work put into it. Well done! For the most part, I only buy used guitars, but I'm not the fix-it guy you are, so I like 'em in excellent condition. msp_thumbup.gif And man, the two Guilds I've got -- outstanding!

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