Hey Gang,
I picked up a made-in-Westerly '77 F212XL NT last week in Dallas. The owner was a real nice guy, kind of 'our age'. He wasn't playing it much and wanted to move it on.
I saw the guitar on Craigslist and arranged to meet the Owner at a Starbucks. Not a bad plan for a Craigslist purchase, to meet in the open at a public place, but Wes & Ken, remind me to Stay Away from the Highland Park-area Starbucks from now on (that's a mega-rich suburb of Dallas, for all you out-of-staters).
Why, you wonder? While the Seller and I were exchanging introductory pleasantries at a table outside of the aforementioned Coffee Bar, a 45-ish, tennis-togged-but-nevertheless-a-bag of a bag lady appeared suddenly at the table next to us. She sat down and began drinking from TWO different 'covered-up' wine bottles, one in a paper sack and one in a plastic bag.
Now, I know that all of you vino enthusiasts will be glad to know that she was 'only' mixing different white wines, not red and white. What you don't know (and what made it all the more bizarre) was that, as she drank, she ate long red licorice sticks down to half-inch 'stubs'. Once the 'stubs' were the proper length, she tossed them over the head of both Guild Seller and Buyer, onto the asphalt parking lot behind me. Sip, Sip, Chomp, Chomp, Toss, Toss; Repeat!!
The Seller could see none of this, but I could see all of it taking place in my direct line of sight, just over his right shoulder. Wow, talking about keeping a Poker Face! The Art of the Guitar Deal!
In the meantime, the Guitar was so cool that I couldn't even find anything to negotiate about. Oh, the bridge was a little loose, but I mean, so what?
Pro:
1) There were no cracks, anywhere! Not in the top, the sides, the back, the neck, the bridge, nothing, nada.
2) No dings, anywhere.
3) The guitar had never been hot; no binding issues, no flattening of the shoulders by the neck, no top waffling around the sound hole
4) The finish wasn't worn through on the back of the neck, nor chipped (maybe a little gummy from playing).
5) The tuners were in good shape
6) The body's back and sides were shiny, after 32 years!
7) It sounded very good!
Con:
1) A very small amount of worm tracking in the middle of the back, about the size of a quarter.
2) A few very light scratches on the side (somebody must have played it!).
3) There were/are three small scratches on the top, about the size of 1/4 of one's little finger-nail, near the edges (we're fixing them with an initial lacquer build-up and will wet-sand them later).
4) The bridge was a little loose and, the top was pulling up, ever so slightly, behind the bridge.
5) I thought it was possible that the guitar needed a neck set, but I wasn't sure. Some guitar necks are a little underset. I have a hard time telling the difference between that issue and a guitar that really, really needs a neck set, especially when licorice stubs are flying overhead!
Anyway, I paid the man and drove back to Fort Worth. I took the guitar to my luthier, who said that it didn't need a neck set, but did need a few things fixed when the bridge came off.
The Fix:
Mark pulled the bridge, flattened the top (after it had a chance to relax with the bridge off), lightly shaved the bridge flat on the bottom (he said it warped along with the top), dressed the frets to address a bulge in the neck around the 12th fret, redid the nut, redid the saddle and re-angled the string slots behind the saddle for a better break-over angle.
The Result:
It plays wonderfully and has a big, loud, booming bass when you strum it. I'm going to change the strings tomorrow on both this guitar and my '68 F112. I'll A/B them and give you guys 'the rest of the story', as Paul Harvey used to say.
Here are some pics. They're not great (iPhone), but they are better than my sketches, amigos:
Front view. The 'white shadows' on the top are reflections of my shirt
Headstock face:
Headstock back. Bo Jangles Music Village in Laguna Beach? These tuners are Schallers right?
Back of the neck. You can see the maple stripe:
Reflection on lower back of body. Not a great pic, but you can see how smooth the body really is:
Neck heel. Thank goodness somebody else put a strap button on. I always feel guilty when I do it!
The label!
A closeup of the top grain near the bridge:
A pic taken earlier today at my fave record shop, Record Town, run by the Bruton family in Fort Worth. If you look closely, you can see the Yamaha-type case with the metal edging that the guitar came in. Anybody have a 17" Guild 12 string guitar case???
I picked up a made-in-Westerly '77 F212XL NT last week in Dallas. The owner was a real nice guy, kind of 'our age'. He wasn't playing it much and wanted to move it on.
I saw the guitar on Craigslist and arranged to meet the Owner at a Starbucks. Not a bad plan for a Craigslist purchase, to meet in the open at a public place, but Wes & Ken, remind me to Stay Away from the Highland Park-area Starbucks from now on (that's a mega-rich suburb of Dallas, for all you out-of-staters).
Why, you wonder? While the Seller and I were exchanging introductory pleasantries at a table outside of the aforementioned Coffee Bar, a 45-ish, tennis-togged-but-nevertheless-a-bag of a bag lady appeared suddenly at the table next to us. She sat down and began drinking from TWO different 'covered-up' wine bottles, one in a paper sack and one in a plastic bag.
Now, I know that all of you vino enthusiasts will be glad to know that she was 'only' mixing different white wines, not red and white. What you don't know (and what made it all the more bizarre) was that, as she drank, she ate long red licorice sticks down to half-inch 'stubs'. Once the 'stubs' were the proper length, she tossed them over the head of both Guild Seller and Buyer, onto the asphalt parking lot behind me. Sip, Sip, Chomp, Chomp, Toss, Toss; Repeat!!
The Seller could see none of this, but I could see all of it taking place in my direct line of sight, just over his right shoulder. Wow, talking about keeping a Poker Face! The Art of the Guitar Deal!
In the meantime, the Guitar was so cool that I couldn't even find anything to negotiate about. Oh, the bridge was a little loose, but I mean, so what?
Pro:
1) There were no cracks, anywhere! Not in the top, the sides, the back, the neck, the bridge, nothing, nada.
2) No dings, anywhere.
3) The guitar had never been hot; no binding issues, no flattening of the shoulders by the neck, no top waffling around the sound hole
4) The finish wasn't worn through on the back of the neck, nor chipped (maybe a little gummy from playing).
5) The tuners were in good shape
6) The body's back and sides were shiny, after 32 years!
7) It sounded very good!
Con:
1) A very small amount of worm tracking in the middle of the back, about the size of a quarter.
2) A few very light scratches on the side (somebody must have played it!).
3) There were/are three small scratches on the top, about the size of 1/4 of one's little finger-nail, near the edges (we're fixing them with an initial lacquer build-up and will wet-sand them later).
4) The bridge was a little loose and, the top was pulling up, ever so slightly, behind the bridge.
5) I thought it was possible that the guitar needed a neck set, but I wasn't sure. Some guitar necks are a little underset. I have a hard time telling the difference between that issue and a guitar that really, really needs a neck set, especially when licorice stubs are flying overhead!
Anyway, I paid the man and drove back to Fort Worth. I took the guitar to my luthier, who said that it didn't need a neck set, but did need a few things fixed when the bridge came off.
The Fix:
Mark pulled the bridge, flattened the top (after it had a chance to relax with the bridge off), lightly shaved the bridge flat on the bottom (he said it warped along with the top), dressed the frets to address a bulge in the neck around the 12th fret, redid the nut, redid the saddle and re-angled the string slots behind the saddle for a better break-over angle.
The Result:
It plays wonderfully and has a big, loud, booming bass when you strum it. I'm going to change the strings tomorrow on both this guitar and my '68 F112. I'll A/B them and give you guys 'the rest of the story', as Paul Harvey used to say.
Here are some pics. They're not great (iPhone), but they are better than my sketches, amigos:
Front view. The 'white shadows' on the top are reflections of my shirt
Headstock face:
Headstock back. Bo Jangles Music Village in Laguna Beach? These tuners are Schallers right?
Back of the neck. You can see the maple stripe:
Reflection on lower back of body. Not a great pic, but you can see how smooth the body really is:
Neck heel. Thank goodness somebody else put a strap button on. I always feel guilty when I do it!
The label!
A closeup of the top grain near the bridge:
A pic taken earlier today at my fave record shop, Record Town, run by the Bruton family in Fort Worth. If you look closely, you can see the Yamaha-type case with the metal edging that the guitar came in. Anybody have a 17" Guild 12 string guitar case???
