square shoulder J-50 adj

[silverscottio]

I know a guy who has Gibson J-50 from 1971, thats what year he guesses he bought it and i think it should be somewhere around there since it has square shoulders and they made square shouldered 45's and 50's in '69 and '70. It has that unfortunate adjustable bridge as well. however, it is in fairly good condition, save a very small crack in the heel of the neck (where he tried to drill a hole for a strap button) and the tip of the pick guard is lifting from the body. However, it does have some nice bearclaw on the top. He is willing to sell it to me for $500 which is obviously an absolute steal. My question is how much would a Gibson like this usually go for? $2,000?

 

this guy also has an old Guild D-50 made in westerly, RI (one heavy guitar!). Its in great shape (hasnt been pulled out of the closet in 15 years) but we have no idea what year its is. How much is this one generally worth? $1,000? The problem is both these guitars strings haven't been changed in years and years and they are way out of tune so it was hard to really get a sense of how they sound. Im assuming the Gibson is worth more but given a choice between the two, which one would you guys prefer based on sound?

[ksdaddy]

There is no way on God's green Earth that a 1971 J50 would bring $2000. $500 is a very good price IF the guitar doesn't need any more work than the crack you mentioned. If it is structurally sound and original it might bring up to $1000 but that is retail with setup, new strings, and ready to go, not "as-is, as-found, fresh from the yard sale". If it brought over $1000 it would be a case of a sleazy seller, a stupid buyer, or a combination of the two.

 

Guild serial number base:

 

http://www.dancipsax.com/iserialguildguitar.html

 

Guilds have always weighed a ton. The Guild may not(?) bring as much as the Gibson but that's based on market lust, not necessarily merit. A D-50 is nothing to sneeze at.

[gearbasher]

Guild's serial numbers are well documented. See the site KSD has posted above. Also, many Guild guitars (but not all) have dates stamped on either the neck block or the tail block. You would need a mirror and a flash light to see if the tail block is stamped. Late 70's/early 80's Guilds are great sounding guitars. Probably the best ones they've made. I sold an '80 D-55 that I'd give anything to have back.

[zombywoof]

Ksdaddy speaks the gospel.

 

The value of Gibsons starts to drop on guitars made from '61 on when the adjustable bridges become standard and all but the real high dollar guitars were finished on a conveyor belt system instead of the old spray booths on the 3rd floor of the Daylight plant. Guitars made after 1966, when Ted McCarty retired, go down further in value. McCarty's leaving is considered the end of Gibson's "Golden Age." Employees recall that after McCarty left, the new management did away with the elaborate inspection and check point system McCarty put in place and the number of guitars rejected dropped to almost nothing. The value then pretty much bottoms out on those made from '69 on when Norlin took over.

 

The biggest problem you may have with the Gibson and Guild is that if they have not been played in a bit, it may take some weeks to shake the cobwebs off and the guitar to open up.

 

Bottom line though, if given the choice between a 70s Gibson and 70s Guild, I would probably go for the latter. Those Westerly built Guilds tend to be exceptional guitars.