NGD: Orpheum 12 OOO SHRW

[chazmo]

Hi folks,

Slightly belated, but finally got a chance to take some pictures of my new Orpheum 12-fret 12-string rosewood orchestra tonight. The guitar is flawless and wonderful.

Enjoy the pictures. It is truly old-timey magical, as if Martin had actually made one of these in the pre-war era. It's really very "me."

I think the case might actually be from a Newark Street. It really threw me for a loop when I first opened the box and saw this fairly little/narrow case inside. But it fits perfectly. As a "jumbo" guy (yeah, with jumbo guitars too ), it really shocked me. I love the playability.

<replacing all the photobucket stuff with uploads!!!!>

 

[chazmo]

As I mentioned to some of you, I have always wanted an F-312 in the herd... This guitar isn't one of those, but I think I killed two birds with one (expensive) stone.

Anyway, the sound is just magnificent. No disappointment at all about thinness or any biases about a small-bodied guitar. A keeper, for sure.

 

[killdeer43]

Beautiful piece of work. Congrats! :triumphant:

Joe

 

[chazmo]

Yeah, it sure is, Joe. Just put it down after an hour of noodling.

Silly me... I took all those pictures with the plastic pickguard protector on. That just came off.

 

[southernGuild]

Absolutely Beautiful Charlie! I can only imagine what she sounds like. So glad You'd happy and It's all yours to enjoy. What a wonderful Guild. Congrats Man!!!:soap:
"Thou shall not covet Chazmo's guiltar'........"thou shall Not covet Chazmo's guitar'. I'm a sinner, But I'm trying............

 

[Zelja]

"Thou shall not covet Chazmo's guiltar'........"thou shall Not covet Chazmo's guitar'. I'm a sinner, But I'm trying............

I think what John is saying is, if ever in the unlikely occurrence you do need to divest yourself of this beauty, he is calling "DIBS"!

Congratulations Charlie. Hope it gives you lots of pleasure for years to come (or at least until you sell it to John). Enjoy in good health & new surroundings!

Has anyone given a less than stellar review of any Orpheum? I know human nature makes it difficult when you just dropped some serious coin but every review I've seen here & on AGF has been extremely positive, which has been really encouraging to hear. Hope this line is continued under CMG.

 

[twocorgis]

Just a beautiful guitar Charlie, and I know our friend John in Australia would likely be pulling the trigger one on if there was another to be had of these rare beasts! And Zelko, I think the reason you don't see anything but stellar reviews on Orpheums is because they're flat-out stellar guitars, and a high water mark for Guild, at least as far as I'm concerned. They don't give anything away to any new guitar out there, regardless of price.

 

[srickl]

Jealous! Enjoy it!

 

[Christopher Cozad]

Very nice, Charlie! Congratulations!

(Any possibility of a soundclip, or two?)

 

[davismanLV]

Wow, Charlie!! That's a beauty for SURE!! And as has been said, a rare beast. How many of those did they make? Do you have any idea? At any rate, congratulations on the new guitar and I hope you enjoy the HELL out of it for many, many years to come!! :encouragement:

 

[6L6]

FANTASTIC guitar!!!

I've never played or even seen an Orpheum. However, just the soundclips from YouTube through my crummy computer speakers still sound great!

As for an F-312, here's a pic of my '73:

Somewhere along the line it was fitted with a compensated bridge. It plays effortlessly and in tune up and down the neck. Whoever did that work gets an A+ from me!

If it says "GUILD" on the headstock you KNOW it's a winner!

Enjoy that beautiful guitar to the max.

Bill

 

[jeffcoop]

Congratulations, Charlie--that's beautiful.

 

[gibsonjunkie]

ditto on the beauty part. Too bad you can't show it off in New Hartford at LMG 5...

 

[SouthernSounds]

Congrats, Charlie! :congratulatory:

It's good to see that the new kid in town is in good company. :friendly_wink:

And I second Chris's request for one or two sound clips, but in any case, enjoy and play her in good health!

A big hug, Chaz!
All the best,
B.

 

[SFIV1967]

Congratulations!
I think the case is the one that comes with the Orpheum models, others on the web look the same, even if they don't show it closed with that nice logo in top.
There was no Guild batch on the side on them. Ask Toni how the case looks that she got or other Orpheum owners.
Ralf

 

[chazmo]

Thanks so much, folks!

GJ, yeah, the whole thing is rather bittersweet for me, but I am very happy to be the caretaker of two of New Hartford's finest products, especially the Orpheum.

And, thanks, 6, for the F-312 pix. Someday I hope to A/B these two types of guitars and see how similar/different they are.

 

[walrus]

Very nice! You know what they say, "new home, new guitar" (or something like that...).

walrus

 

[twocorgis]

Congratulations!
I think the case is the one that comes with the Orpheum models, others on the web look the same, even if they don't show it closed with that nice logo in top.
There was no Guild batch on the side on them. Ask Toni how the case looks that she got or other Orpheum owners.
Ralf

Ralf, unfortunately the case the Guild chose to include with the Orpheums really isn't befitting a guitar of their price. It's a mid-range TKL case with a rather cheap looking silk-screened logo on it, and aren't nearly as nice as the cases that come (for instance) with the D55s. I ended up buying a Martin "Geib" style case for my Slope D that's identical to the one that came with my D18DC and am much happier with it.

The problem now is that the Orpheum OMs, with a lower bout of 15 1/2", are just a wee bit too big for the Martin OM size "Geib" case, and AFAIK, there's no jumbo size Martin case at all.

 

[chazmo]

I agree with Sandy's comment about the TKL case not being special, and I do think this might be the same case as the NS guitars that I recall packing up at LMG4, but it doesn't matter to me. The fit is perfect, if not fancy.

 

[Neal]

Fantastic instrument!

I wonder why, for these top-of-the-line guitars, there has never been an option for a custom wood case, with som nice inlay like the guitar has?

I have searched the Internet for a decent natural wood case but found only one very unattractive example.

Neal