Vintage Guild m20's & m30's

soma89

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Hey, I've been looking to buy a Vintage Mahogany Acoustic and got impressed by the look and sound of the m20. Doing some research into that, i discovered that guild also came out with a m-30 which attracted me because of the slightly bigger size. Has anybody ever played an m30 or seen one on ebay? How much money should i be willing to spend on one?

I've also looked into Martin 0-15's & Gibson LG O's but i just keep coming back to the m20 sound. I don't have the biggest budget in the world considering i recently graduated from high school but i'm looking for something in the $800 - $1200 range and I really dig the smaller mahogany tops. Thanks a lot
 

Jeff

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Soma,

Welcome.


There's a bunch of small body freaks here.

Your budget ought to handle an M 20 well enough, allowing you to be reasonably selective and find a nice one. , I suspect some are better than others, it'd be best to play one before deciding.

F 20's are the same size with spruce tops & seem to come up more often than the Mahogany topped M 20's. My F20 is a 57 & has maple laminate back, she's a little terror. Guild only made them this way for a few years till like 1958, subsequent models were solild mahogany bodies. Early models come up rarely & trade for whacko prices.

I have a dozen guitars & the F 20 is the one I'd keep if I could only have one. Little bugger has a big voice, tons of character, & covers up a lot of lame playing.

Guild is also building new F20's in China, their GAD line, (Guild Acoustic Design). They're new to the line, I've heard of no one here seeing or playing one. YOu can bet if I see one somewhere I'm gonna politely ask to play it. Chinese guitars get some Stepsister treatment around here but the lil GAD F20 is bound to be pretty as puppy for Christmas & if they're any good probably sell by the trainload.

Here's the link to the new GAD F 20 on Guild's website: base list price is $963, I suspect the street price $800 ish, Mebbe less ? GAD's depreciate like cannonballs in quicksand.

http://www.guildguitars.com/instruments ... 3819000821

Jeff

3819000821_md.png


Jeff
 

soma89

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Jeff said:
Your budget ought to handle a M 20 well enough, allowing you to be reasonably selective and find a nice one. F 20's are the same size with spruce tops & seem to come up more often than the Mahogany topped M 20's. My F20 is a 57 & has maple laminate back, she's a little terror. Guild only made them this way for a few years till like 1958, subsequent models were solild mahogany bodies. Early models come up rarely & trade for whacko prices.

I have a dozen guitars & the F 20 is the one I'd keep if I could only have one. Little bugger has a big voice, tons of character, & covers up a lot of lame playing.

Guild is also building new F20's in China, their GAD line, (Guild Acoustic Design). I've heard of no one here playing one of the new F 20's. YOu can bet if I see one somewhere I'm gonna politely ask to play it.

Here's the link to the new GAD F 20 on Guild's website: base list price is $963, I suspect the street price $800 ish, Mebbe less ?.

Ya I like them F20's, they sound really good. This guy on youtube plays one on some of his vids
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FisTGLGOcCU

The F20 is definitely up there for me, but first i wanna see where i go with the mahogany top thing.

How big are the Guild F20 and M20 guitars? like a Martin 0? On some vids on youtube they look like a something between a 0 and a 00 size but in others they look TINY.
 

john_kidder

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Been looking for an M-30 for quite a while, no success.

The M and F-20s are parlour guitars, 13 3/4" lower bout, 10" upper bout, 4 1/8" deep, 38" overall length. Just great little guitars, loud and clear, small fast necks (a little narrow for some).
 

Jeff

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The F & M 20's are a bit smaller than the Martin 00 15, I think noticeably larger than a Martin single "0". By the way I played a mahogany top Martin 00 15 a while back, cool little guitar it was.

Here's my F 20 next to a Guld D 25, D 25's are Dreadnaught size guitars. Correct cases seem to be non existent, the best fit I could find was a case designed for a Martin 00 & the F 20 slides around a bit. Needs to be padded with an extra strap or a couple socks for serious travel.

224721.jpg
224732.jpg
 
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I wouldn't call Guild -20 and -30 sizes parlor guitars in the historical sense (12 inches or less at lower bout) but rough equivalents to Martin 0 and 000 sizes respectively. M-20s are not that hard to find (though usually rather overpriced, thanks to Nick Drake fetishism), but M-30s are so scarce (made only 1959-64, according to Hans Moust) that it's hard to suggest a market price. I've seen exactly one in-person in 30 years of Guild watching, and I bought it. It's a 1959 with an oddball rosewood saddle that Hans thinks is a retrofit. I like the sound, though I've played sweeter and more refined mahogany guitars (for example, a 1925 Martin 2-17).

M30-sm.jpg
 

Jahn

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M30? Googled and found this later model M30. Pretty cherry red hog top, no?

GuildM30.jpg
 

hansmoust

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Jahn said:
M30? Googled and found this later model M30. Pretty cherry red hog top, no?

GuildM30.jpg

That's definitely an M-20, in spite of the fact that they say it's an M-30!
That M-20 is from the very end of the '60s; by that time the M-30 was already 'history'.

This is what an M-30 looks like.

M30_1.jpg


It's a completely different body shape.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Metalman

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hansmoust said:
Jahn said:
M30? Googled and found this later model M30. Pretty cherry red hog top, no?

GuildM30.jpg

That's definitely an M-20, in spite of the fact that they say it's an M-30!
That M-20 is from the very end of the '60s; by that time the M-30 was already 'history'.

This is what an M-30 looks like.

M30_1.jpg


It's a completely different body shape.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

Thanks, Hans. I have never even seen a picture of one until now. I want one!
 

BluesDan

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BluesDan said:
Soma.......this just listed on ebay, not an M-20, but its certainly all mahogany and may fit your budget.
http://cgi.ebay.com/USA-Guild-DV-5-Acou ... dZViewItem

I was seriously tempted to pull the trigger on this one.

First time quoting myself....I think.... :roll:

That went quick........gotta let me know how that baby sounds Hans........sure looks sweet.... :mrgreen:
 

fungusyoung

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Not trying to discourage your search for an M20, but if an M30 is what you're after... try a Martin 000-15. The new ones are now made of all sapele, but mine from 2003 is genuine mahogany. Not exactly sure when the change from mahogany to sapele was made, but it must have been recently... nor do I know how different sapele is tone wise... it's said to be in the 'hog family. Anyways, the 000-15 is an amazing guitar, and my pick for best value in the Martin line up... it's also within your range whereas even if an M30 surfaced, I doubt it would be.

Martin000-154.jpg

FYI: Kind of a crummy shot of my 000-15

Good luck!
 
G

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Here's my '62 M20, the sound is unreal due to the super thin top I think. Just pure fingerpickers delight all the way up the fretboard. I bought it in 2000 (for $500) when the M20 wasn't so known to be Nick Drake's axe. I change it to a bunch of different tunings and it handles them all. Wow a '58 is, I believe, the guitar that Nick used. Possibly a '59. There was a '58 that went for sale locally that was in great condition....but the price just soared up there. And do I really need two? YES!

m20.jpg
 

AfterDarkMusic

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sitka_spruce said:
AfterDarkMusic said:
I was checking what guild's were still active on eBay and came across this M20.

Just though I'd let you know about it.
Quite clean for its age, I would say.

Yeah, I'd have to agree. Thats guitar's dead sexy. Awesome color. I dig that gibson style headstock too.
 

sausgirl

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Hi all.
I have seen that M20 over and over. :shock:
It looks way too clean,like a refinish job.Too much $ I think but that is my opinion.
I recently traded for my 2nd M20.1967 and it was worth the wait.
Happy hunting,
Jan :D
 
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