F20 & F30's (maple)

[fungusyoung]

This might be one for Hans, but I'd like to get some idea of how rare F20's & F30's (Westerly era preferred) were made with maple sides/back.

Here's one from New Hope, but it's much more than I want to or can spend:

http://www.gbase.com/gear/guild-f-20-1986-natural

Any other options for maple sides/back in this size? I think all the F40's are quite a bit larger, no?

Thinking of selling of my GF30 because it's larger bodied than I expected it to be for a mini jumbo. Feels much closer to a jumbo. There's minimal difference between it & the JF30-12 I owned in the past in terms of body size/depth so as awesome as it sounds, it just isn't comfortable enough for me to consider playing it out regularly. I'll probably also sell my Little Martin travel guitar since I don't need to travel much anymore by air.

Love maple & have an all mahogany 000 that I love, so I'm thinking another small bodied guitar would be cool. Might go with a Gibby LG-1 if (which is also mahogany) if I find the decent F20's & F30's to be priced higher than I expected.

 

[Jeff]

This might be one for Hans, but I'd like to get some idea of how rare F20's & F30's (Westerly era preferred) were made with maple sides/back.

.

I wouldn't know about maple F30's, but I have been watching F20's for some time, pretty safe to say maple F20's are up the rarity scale a ways. My 57 is maple plywood, I've only seen a very few of these come to market,.

I'm pretty sure I played the maple archback at New Hope while in Arlington. It's the only one I've ever seen.

 

[capnjuan]

Hi Michael: at page 119, the Book of Moust indicates only the early F20s like Jeff Heard's came in maple; '59 and later in mahogany. Meesley Beesley says the F20 - still in mahogany - discontinued in 1986 and re-issued (you go Fender :wink: ) in 1990. Neither source says that any F30s were maple. J

 

[fungusyoung]

This might be one for Hans, but I'd like to get some idea of how rare F20's & F30's (Westerly era preferred) were made with maple sides/back.

.

I wouldn't know about maple F30's, but I have been watching F20's for some time, pretty safe to say maple F20's are up the rarity scale a ways. My 57 is maple plywood, I've only seen a very few of these come to market,.

I'm pretty sure I played the maple archback at New Hope while in Arlington. It's the only one I've ever seen.

Dang!

Thanks, Jeff. Yeah, I was kind of surprised by how much that one is going for, particularly compared to the GF30 since a GF30 is basically just more of the same exact materials & the guitars are from the same general era. Plus, I'd guess only about 1000 GF30's were made (not ultra-rare by any stretch, but not plentiful either).

Oh well... if anyone has any other ideas on small bodied maple guitars that won't break the bank, I'm all ears. I'd prefer not to pay a premium based on rarity because I'm just looking for a player & not something I'd be purchasing as an investment.

Kinda kicking myself for letting that F30R go right about now!

 

[fungusyoung]

Hi Michael: at page 119, the Book of Moust indicates only the early F20s like Jeff Heard's came in maple; '59 and later in mahogany. Meesley Beesley says the F20 - still in mahogany - discontinued in 1986 and re-issued (you go Fender :wink: ) in 1990. Neither source says that any F30s were maple. J

Thank you, John! I'm guessing that one at New Hope is extremely rare (which is a real shame for me) now because it's an '86... so it's probably something they made ad hoc like they did with a lot of other stuff during the Westerly years.

Look forward to Hans' Volume 2!

 

[hansmoust]

at page 119, the Book of Moust indicates only the early F20s like Jeff Heard's came in maple; '59 and later in mahogany. Meesley Beesley says the F20 - still in mahogany - discontinued in 1986 and re-issued in 1990. Neither source says that any F30s were maple.

Hello capnjuan,

As you know 'The Guild Guitar Book' only covers the period from 1952 to 1977.
The change to maple for the back & sides on the F-20 took place halfway the '80s. During the '80s the sales of the F-20 had slowly dropped and the model was discontinued not long after the body wood was changed from mahogany to maple.
Consequently they didn't make too many of the maple version but enough for them not to be extremely rare.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[capnjuan]

at page 119, the Book of Moust indicates only the early F20s like Jeff Heard's came in maple; '59 and later in mahogany. Meesley Beesley says the F20 - still in mahogany - discontinued in 1986 and re-issued in 1990. Neither source says that any F30s were maple.

As you know 'The Guild Guitar Book' only covers the period from 1952 to 1977. The change to maple for the back & sides on the F-20 took place halfway the '80s. During the '80s the sales of the F-20 had slowly dropped and the model was discontinued not long after the body wood was changed from mahogany to maple. Consequently they didn't make too many of the maple version but enough for them not to be extremely rare.

Hi Hans; thank you. I accurately quoted the only source in print covering the era. If you have reason to believe that there are factual inaccuracies in both the Blue Book and the Beesley book, then you should set the record straight. Respectfully, John

 

[fungusyoung]

Thanks again, guys.

Hans, I really look forward to Volume 2!

I'm leaning towards a 60's Gibson LG-1 right now instead of an F20. While not as articulate tonally, the LG-1 is a sweet little guitar that would suit my needs very well. It's also a rather inexpensive option for me to consider... unless I see an F20 from the 80's or 90's that's priced attractively.

So much for maple!

 

[Ian]

Hey I'm kinda interested in how a 60's LG1 is the right price but an F29 is too expensive ? Only FG1's I've seen about are similar $'s or more expensive than F20's or F30's ? BTW, have you played an F20 ? I found them very small, quite a bit tinier than an F30. Smaller even than a 00 Martin, so unless you are real sure that's what you are after might pay to see if you can play one first !!

As a side note: That's the whole issue with this game, sometimes you're chasing dragons, rare guitars that you are simply going by reputation on. There's no chance of playing them before purchase, so you have no way of knowing how the size suits before even venturing into sound and condition issues. According to Frosty, there's a huge variation in the Hoboken F30's (I'd assume the F20's to be the same), you might end up paying a heap of money for something that's either the wrong size or isn't a good sounding one. I judged the size of the F30 to be right for me after playing an Hoboken F20 and a GAD F30R. I'd also bought a Martin 00, which in retrospect was probably a mistake !! The perils of online buying I'm afraid...

Cheers, Ian

 

[fungusyoung]

Hey I'm kinda interested in how a 60's LG1 is the right price but an F29 is too expensive ? Only FG1's I've seen about are similar $'s or more expensive than F20's or F30's ? BTW, have you played an F20 ? I found them very small, quite a bit tinier than an F30. Smaller even than a 00 Martin, so unless you are real sure that's what you are after might pay to see if you can play one first !!

As a side note: That's the whole issue with this game, sometimes you're chasing dragons, rare guitars that you are simply going by reputation on. There's no chance of playing them before purchase, so you have no way of knowing how the size suits before even venturing into sound and condition issues. According to Frosty, there's a huge variation in the Hoboken F30's (I'd assume the F20's to be the same), you might end up paying a heap of money for something that's either the wrong size or isn't a good sounding one. I judged the size of the F30 to be right for me after playing an Hoboken F20 and a GAD F30R. I'd also bought a Martin 00, which in retrospect was probably a mistake !! The perils of online buying I'm afraid...

Cheers, Ian

Nice post, Ian... I'm learning all the time & you are so right about the online purchasing mysteries. The internet is great & a pain in the neck at the same time that way.

I thought the F20 was marginally smaller than the F30, but I'm glad I didn't make any moves if this is way off. I owned an F30 (Westerly) & thought that was a great size. It was similar to a 000. And, I'm as shocked as you are, but if the F20's at New Hope are indicative of what's out there they are substantially more than the LG1's I've been looking at. I might have a deal locked up on one already that involves trading some effects, etc. for it, but in total it's coming to me for a value of around $750 & it has no major issues. I've seen several of them under $1000, including one in great shape that a guy in Canada was looking to sell for around $850. The F20's at New Hope are $1100 & just under $1500.

I was more intrigued by F30's initially until I saw that some F20's were made of maple back/sides. Ideally, I'd love to take an inch or so off the depth & width of the body of the GF30 I have... but we live in an imperfect world!

 

[chazzan]

I have a mahogany f-20 from 1983- with an arched back!!!!!!

looks similar to the one New Hope is selling but w/o the bling

I like the very small 0 body

sounds like a nice little folk guitar with that slight "boxy" sound

they changed from flat to arched back in the early 1980's- I've played a few 70's and 80's f-20's each guitar sounded different, unfortunately one sounded very dead with no life at all.........