1978 F40 BL what's it worth? is it a desirable guitar?

[chrisnickey64]

this is my first post so go easy on me.....here's the rub: i aquired a nice blonde jumbo from mother . it was purchased for her by my father and all of us kids new in 1978 for Xmas . she rarely played it and it spent the better part of the last 30 years in its hardshell case. one small dime sized patch on the neck where the finish wore thru due a brother playing it with some surgical tape on his hand (the glue from the tape reacted w/ the finish ....dumb ass stoner!) and a few peices of the neck binding chipped off which i glued back on and you can't tell by looking at it that i did. other than that it's a true NOS relic from the past. i would never sell it but i would like a ball park figure on what it's worth might be. these seem to be sorta rare ,i've searched the internet and came up w/only 1 picture of my guitar and very little info about it.. was it an unpopular model? i do know that dave van ronk and john prine both used this particular model around that time (mid-late 70s) because i saw both live and up close back then ,but can't seem to find much info about this model on the web. anybody got any info or thoughts about the Guild F40 BL acoustic jumbo? thanks gang chris :?:

 

[GardMan]

Chris,
Welcome to LTG! A couple years back, the guy who does my setups had his early 70s F-40 blonde (I think it was a '74?) for sale in his shop with a tag price of $1000. His was in VG-E condition... typical pick marks on the guard, but very few nicks and dings. Saddle was a little low, but still reasonable break angle on the strings. I played it a couple times... very sweet, clear tone. Comparable to my G-37 (also an arched maple back, but a dread with less bling). It did sell... but I don't know what the final sale price was.

Just curious... does your have a mahogany or maple neck? I think Tom's was mahogany (but I may be mis-remembering), like my '74 G-37. The G-37 necks changed to maple ~'78. Watching eBay, it seems the maple-necked versions of the G-37 (post '78) command higher prices than the earlier mahogany-necked versions.

I'd add that the BEST source of info for anything Guild-related is fellow LTGer Hans Moust, author of the Guild Guitar Book. Volume I (to 1977) is a definite 'Must-have", but has been scarce recently (tho' I have heard it is being reprinted). we all anxiously await volume II!
Dave

 

[capnjuan]

Hi Chris and welcome to LTG; pictures always help ... directions for posting them click this link. I don't follow the model closely but maybe +/- $1,000 depending on condition and particulars. Again, welcome to LTG!

 

[adorshki]

HI Chris welcome aboard! You've found the BEST place on the internet for information about vintage Guilds, because the vast maojority of members are owners, not just people looking to sell a guitar they know nothing about.
Are F40 BLondes desirable? H--l yeah! Just ask Dave Van Ronk and John Prine! :lol:

 

[hojo199]

this is my first post so go easy on me.....here's the rub: i aquired a nice blonde jumbo from mother . it was purchased for her by my father and all of us kids new in 1978 for Xmas . she rarely played it and it spent the better part of the last 30 years in its hardshell case. one small dime sized patch on the neck where the finish wore thru due a brother playing it with some surgical tape on his hand (the glue from the tape reacted w/ the finish ....dumb me stoner!) and a few peices of the neck binding chipped off which i glued back on and you can't tell by looking at it that i did. other than that it's a true NOS relic from the past. i would never sell it but i would like a ball park figure on what it's worth might be. these seem to be sorta rare ,i've searched the internet and came up w/only 1 picture of my guitar and very little info about it.. was it an unpopular model? i do know that dave van ronk and john prine both used this particular model around that time (mid-late 70s) because i saw both live and up close back then ,but can't seem to find much info about this model on the web. anybody got any info or thoughts about the Guild F40 BL acoustic jumbo? thanks gang chris :?:

A life long friend of mine bought one of these in that same year of 1978. He still has it. It's got 13's on it and plays (and sounds) wonderful. I played it for an hour last week. You can do no better. Enjoy!

 

[frettedstrings]

Hey Chris, Welcome to LTG. Here is a picture of a D40, even though this one obviously is not Blond.

GUILD D-40
http://www.westerlyguildguitars.com/guitars/d40.html

Specs For This Model:
http://www.westerlyguildguitars.com/guitars/specs/d40.html

 

[killdeer43]

F40 from Westerly Guilds website. Is this the one? If so, it's a beauty.

http://westerlyguildguitars.com/guitars/f40.html

Welcome to the Guilded Bunch. :wink:

Joe

 

[chrisnickey64]

F40 from Westerly Guilds website. Is this the one? If so, it's a beauty.

http://westerlyguildguitars.com/guitars/f40.html

Welcome to the Guilded Bunch. :wink:

Joe

that's the one! ....mine's in mint condition too! i love it and would never dream of selling (it was mom's after all...) plan to have a little work done on it to get the action a bit more to my liking and maybe add a fishman piezo /sound hole combo pup system so i can play it out once in a while ..... then pass it along to my kid when he's old enough to NOT put stickers on it and leave it lying around out of its case. ....heh heh i guess that why my mother waited til i was 45 to pass it along to me! thanks for the info gang!

 

[chrisnickey64]

this is my first post so go easy on me.....here's the rub: i aquired a nice blonde jumbo from mother . it was purchased for her by my father and all of us kids new in 1978 for Xmas . she rarely played it and it spent the better part of the last 30 years in its hardshell case. one small dime sized patch on the neck where the finish wore thru due a brother playing it with some surgical tape on his hand (the glue from the tape reacted w/ the finish ....dumb me stoner!) and a few peices of the neck binding chipped off which i glued back on and you can't tell by looking at it that i did. other than that it's a true NOS relic from the past. i would never sell it but i would like a ball park figure on what it's worth might be. these seem to be sorta rare ,i've searched the internet and came up w/only 1 picture of my guitar and very little info about it.. was it an unpopular model? i do know that dave van ronk and john prine both used this particular model around that time (mid-late 70s) because i saw both live and up close back then ,but can't seem to find much info about this model on the web. anybody got any info or thoughts about the Guild F40 BL acoustic jumbo? thanks gang chris :?:

maple neck w/rose wood fret board and an ebony truss rod stripe up the backside of the neck